Standing Firm

“If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.”

Those words are from Isaiah 7:9. Isaiah was a prophet in the Old Testament and was speaking to King Ahaz who was facing his enemy in battle. Ahaz was so fearful of the enemy that the Bible tells us “the hearts of his people were shaken as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind” (Isaiah 7:2). But the Lord sent Isaiah to King Ahaz, assuring him the enemy would not win. This wasn’t part of God’s plan for Israel.
Standing firm in one’s faith is a battle every Christian faces because faith is constantly challenged by human intellect. The world says our security lies in the things that physically surround us such as homes, bank accounts, and even family and friends. Yet like Ahaz’s situation, we learn all of these things can easily become jeopardized and when they are, where do we turn for our security?
This year will hold many changes in our lives, some good and some bad. Most of what happens may be completely out of our control. From my own personal experience, I’ve discovered God often shakes the foundation of our lives so that we learn to stand firm on the foundation of our faith.
When we face adversity, how often do we turn to friends for comfort or human intuition for solutions? What if we looked at change as the workings of our Lord in our lives? We can’t expect others to understand our actions that stem from standing firm in our faith when others rely on human intellect to rationalize all that is happening. When I think back on my own life, how crazy it must have sounded to some people when I told them about leaving my job to write a Christian book. Yet, as we grow deeper in our relationship with Christ, we become foreigners to the world and at times, may even appear crazy.
Standing firm in one’s faith reminds me of the story about Noah found in Genesis. Only one man on the earth found favor in God’s eyes by standing firm in his faith. The world was filled with corruption and Scripture tells us God grieved over His creation. (Genesis 6:6) Can you imagine God grieving over his children for their actions? Do you think God grieves over us today when our ways don’t reflect His and we don’t stand firm in our faith?
Noah never lowered himself to the actions of slander, gossip and corruption of those around him. Back then, people had never seen rain, so because of human nature, we can presume neighbors were mocking and ridiculing Noah as he stood firm in his faith and built an ark to withstand a flood that was about to wipe out the earth. Despite what the world thought about Noah, Noah only cared about what God thought of him.
Whatever we face in the upcoming months, we must remember God faces it with us. He never goes on vacation and will get us through anything we encounter when we earnestly seek His counsel. That should be motivation enough for us to want to live favorably in His eyes, and most importantly, stand firm in our faith.
Stand firm in your faith no matter what happens. God has a history of shaking our world and taking us out the norm so that He can play a larger role in our hearts. Change doesn’t have to be an obstacle, but a divine moment to be seized. May this year and every remaining year be one of facing change with a divine perspective and embracing adversity with the power of our Holy Spirit.

“Do not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The Lord Almighty is the one you regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread, and he will be a sanctuary”

(Isaiah 8:12-13)