When heat is applied to a sword, the intention is not to destroy the metal but to prepare it to withstand pressure when used in a battle. If the metal is tempered, it can then be used to pierce and cut through what would otherwise cause it to fracture. Likewise, when facing resistance, resilience is required. It is much easier to go through what we experience when we understand why the challenges are necessary. Throughout every obstacle, God has His eye on the finished product. Job understood this process when he remarked, “But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10). In his book, “Tempered Resilience,” Tod Bolinger quoted Dr. Martin Luther King in his “I Have a Dream” speech where King shared a similar idea. “This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.”

This hope is not mere wishful thinking, but it is a full engagement in the work of God, confidence that His intentions will be carried out, and ultimately, that He will receive the glory that He exclusively deserves. We must learn how to exercise faith from those who have gone before us, and that a mountain of despair is but an opportunity to face the giants of our day with unconventional weapons. Although years of preparation may cause some to become weary and even wish to abandon the process, the God-given purpose continues to burn in the hearts of the faithful as an everlasting flame. Those who are resilient keep coming back, even after a setback. God allows those who belong to Him to be retooled and restrained as the enemy’s strategies may shift in time. Even though the methods may change, the principles will always remain the same.

We experienced many changes in 2025, and some people encountered heartaches and difficulties where their faith was shaken, yet they were not brought to the level of despair. Their questions became inquires to know the Lord as He would reveal Himself in ways they had never known Him before. Those who are resilient are forged by their circumstances rather than being destroyed by them. As the years come and go, their inner man is being strengthened day by day, month by month, and year by year. On this topic of spiritual resilience, the great theologian and philosopher, Helmut Thielicke once wrote:
We ourselves at the end of the present year, also belong to this landscape between the evening
of a drowned world and the morning of a new day, to this landscape after the flood. Like the people
of the Ark, we have survived the dreadful storms, and we can now survey the ruins from Mount Ararat.

In retrospect, we now understand why we were spared death as the reward of the martyr or a penalty to the enemy. We are here for a purpose that is much greater than ourselves—you were made for this, and you have been called to this! As we approach the year 2026, let us remember our purpose, our calling, and above all, our God who made us, who saved us, and who directs us towards our greatest good for His glory!