OVERCOMING FEAR AND EMBRACING FAITH: (A story of Courage, Questions, and Unshakable Hope).
CHAPTER FOUR: CRACKS BENEATH THE ROBE
Sunday mornings were meant to feel safe. But this Sunday felt different.
As Pastor Daniel stood behind the pulpit, his voice steady and strong, Eliana sat in the front row, her hands trembling in her lap. The sanctuary was full, the air thick with expectation. Her father preached about unshakable faith, about trusting God without fear, standing firm even when doubt tried to creep in. His words carried power, drawing murmurs of agreement and nods from the congregation.
Eliana felt every sentence like a spotlight.
Each declaration seemed to pierce straight through her carefully constructed mask. Unshakable faith. The phrase echoed in her mind, colliding painfully with Maya’s voice from earlier in the week and the questions that haunted her nights. She could almost hear the whisper again: If God is real, why are you so scared?
Her chest tightened. She clasped her hands together, hoping no one noticed how they shook. The message that lifted others felt like it was tearing her open. Instead of comfort, she felt exposed, like her hidden fears were being laid bare before everyone.
If they knew the truth, she thought, if they knew how afraid I am. . . .
The thought went unfinished, but the weight of it settled heavily on her heart. Disappointment. Shame. Silence.
She stole a glance at her parents. Her mother sat with eyes closed, quietly agreeing with the sermon. Her father spoke with confidence, unaware that the very words he preached were stirring a storm inside his daughter. Eliana wondered how someone so close to faith could feel so far from it.
By the time the service ended, she felt exhausted.
People greeted her warmly, praising the sermon, commenting on how blessed she must be to have such faithful parents. Eliana smiled automatically, her responses rehearsed, her heart miles away. Each compliment felt like another reminder of the role she was expected to play and how badly she feared failing it.
That afternoon, the weight became unbearable.
She avoided her parents, offering short answers and quick excuses before retreating to her room. Once inside, she closed the door and leaned against it, her breath uneven. The silence she once feared now wrapped around her, heavy and suffocating.
Guilt pressed in from all sides.
She felt guilty for doubting. Guilty for hiding. Guilty for feeling like a fraud in a house built on faith. She sank onto her bed, burying her face in her pillow, wishing she could silence the questions, erase the fear, and become the girl everyone believed her to be.
But fear had already found the cracks.
For the first time, Eliana realized something unsettling: the robe her father wore in the pulpit symbolized strength, authority, and certainty but beneath it, he was human. And so was she. The image of perfect faith she had been trying to live up to was beginning to fracture, revealing something raw and fragile underneath.
She didn’t know yet that cracks were not signs of destruction but of transformation.
As she sat alone, tears sliding quietly down her face, a realization began to form slow and trembling, but real. Faith that was never tested could never be trusted. And perhaps her fear, her doubt, and her breaking were not proof of failure… but the beginning of something honest.
This Sunday did not end with answers. It ended with exposure.
And though Eliana felt like she was falling apart, the foundation of her faith was quietly being prepared for something stronger, something real, something unshakable.
Thank you for Reading 💜
CHAPTER FIVE. . . Stay Tuned!
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