We are going to continue to work on the principle laid out for us in Isa 7:9b: (If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.") Last night, we saw an example of what it means to "stand firm" when Hezekiah took his "emergency" to the Lord in Isa 37:14-20. (This is a great prayer and worthy of further meditation!) One thing about Hezekiah's example that we can take to heart--he wasn't perfect! His faith had some "wobbles", but eventually come to a committed dependence upon the Lord. This isn't to excuse our times of unbelief, but rather to acknowledge that they may come. If they do, we can rest assured that God will be working to bring us back to the point of belief, in fact He is longing for us to turn back to Him (Isa 30:18). And when we do turn in repentance from unbelief to belief, we can count on the Lord's deliverance (Isa 30:15). (Remember, deliverance means that the Lord will see us through, and not that He will make every bad thing go away.)
Now here is the thing that I would like you to consider for the week ahead: what does it "look like" to stand firm in one's faith? Start to think through Biblical examples,and you will see this is actually a fairly deep question. The first thing that you will note is that to stand firm in one's faith is always associated with a response to the Word of God. For example, read Exodus 14:1-14. Then decide what it looks like for a person to stand firm in their faith at the point when Moses thundered out, "Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. . . you need only be still." (Ex 14:13-14)
Now what makes this interesting--what makes Christianity a constant and relational challenge--is that this is just one of many possible ways you can stand firm in your faith in response to the revealed will of God. Give it some thought and see how many different ways you can come up with--based upon other Biblical settings.
See you on Wednesday!
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