Austin's Blog

In the crucible of suffering and loss, bereaved parents and anyone walking through trials find that their need for sound theology and doctrine becomes urgent and profound. Why? Because it is the great truths of Scripture that comfort, console, and sustain the believer as they are tested in this dark world. As Charles Spurgeon said, “I know nothing which can so comfort the soul; so calm the swelling billows of grief and sorrow; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as a devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead.” You need your best theology in your darkest night. You need deep truths when the waves are the fiercest.

It is in those trials and tribulations that your theology is tested and refined. What you believed before is proven now, experienced as true in a deeper, more profound way. You once knew the sweetness of your theology as honey, but now you have tasted it anew. C.S. Lewis famously observed, “You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you. It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong and sound as long as you are merely using it to cord a box. But suppose you had to hang by that rope over a precipice. Wouldn’t you then first discover how much you really trusted it?”

What is the constant refrain you hear from believers who have fled to God as their refuge during the storm? The rope held. He was there. Elisabeth Elliot affirmed this truth, saying, “Out of the deepest waters and the hottest fires have come the deepest things that I know about God.”

When life’s storms threaten to overwhelm, anchoring ourselves in the character of God—His sovereignty, love, and faithfulness—brings the only true peace and comfort. God promises His people in Isaiah 43:2: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.” His Word assures us that He will be near. For the grieving heart, good theology is not just a resource but a lifeline, guiding the soul to the One who alone can bring beauty from ashes. Give yourself to the life-giving and inexhaustible reservoir of His truth.