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The Bible is full of admonitions to be strong in the Lord, to stand firm. Here are just a few of them: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous!” (Joshua 1:9a NASB); "Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be firm, immovable..." (1 Cor. 15:58a NASB); and "Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong." (1 Cor. 16:13 NASB).
Does anyone besides me have trouble with this? I mean, I understand the importance of standing strong, and I desire in my heart to do just that. In the moment, however, when those waves of trouble begin to strike, it is so easy to fall... It has happened too many times to count, and it keeps on happening, no matter how hard I try! Why would God ask me to do what appears to be impossible for me to do?
Take last week for example. I have been trying to cash in my husband's retirement savings. Unfortunately he is not cognitively able to make these kinds of decisions at this time, but two years ago, when he was still cognitively capable, he signed a legal document giving me full power of attorney over his finances. Why, then, was the bank insisting that this document was not enough? Why did they insist upon a letter of incompetence from his doctor?
And that was the second great frustration. His doctor is no longer the one we've had for the past several years. As soon as he went into a care home, he received a new doctor, and four months later, not only had I not been given the chance to meet her, but she refused to return my calls, and for all practical purposes it appeared that she ignored the notes I had asked the nurses to leave on her board! How could I make my concerns known to her when she wouldn't talk to me?
It didn't matter how many times I've taken—and failed!—the "surrender to God" test and the "stand firm in your faith despite the circumstances" test. I failed them yet again...
At the end of the week, God finally got through to me, and I surrendered both to Him. I told Him I trusted Him to guide the doctor who wouldn't talk to me, and I trusted Him to find a solution for the bank.
It was Wednesday of the following week when my husband's former doctor called and said she could help with the bank letter, and by the end of the day, said letter was turned in to the bank!
Then, shortly after speaking to his doctor's office, the phone rang. It was my husband's current doctor!
Two miracles. Two problems completely resolved in a matter of hours, without me even needing to raise a finger of effort. I was flying high!
Only to crash a couple hours later. I received a phone call telling me that my dreams of moving my husband and myself to a different province in order to live near one of our sons was a pipedream and would never be realized.
I fell. Again.
Yes, I definitely need some instruction on how to stand firm, because the slightst little thing that comes along sends me scrawling!
The thing is, God does not—ever—ask us to do the impossible. He will always make a way for success. Doesn't the Bible say, "... He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it." (1 Cor. 10:13 NASB)?
You may have already noticed God's timing in all of this. In His wisdom and His love, He knew the information from that last phone call would make me stumble. So He sent me some "safety nets"! He brought about the miraculous resolution of both of my former problems ... on the self-same day that He knew I would receive the other bit of bad news. It was like He was saying, "My dear child, remember how just this morning I resolved those other two impossible situations from last week? Well, if I can do those things, I can certainly take care of this little hick-up!"
No, God doesn't leave us on our own to flounder and fail. He always makes a way. Our job is—to take it! God is constantly doing things for us. Jesus even declared this: “But Jesus replied, 'My Father is always working, and so am I.'” (John 5:17 NLT). The problem is, we often don't notice what He is doing. Or we may recognize the resolution to our problems, but we fail to meditate on the significance of God's answers to our prayers. Sometimes I fear we even take His solutions for granted! And when we do, it appears for all practical purposes that He is asking us to take a stand in faith when we have nothing to stand upon!
When, however, we recognize His miracles and meditate upon them, suddenly that stand in faith that God is asking us to take isn't so hard! We can stand upon how He has provided in the past!
The secret, then, to standing firm, is to watch and see where God is at work, to recognize His miracles and blessings in our lives, and to make the decision to believe that the God who has resolved our previous problems is also capable of resolving our present ones. When the Bible tells us to be "vigilant", it means we are to watch diligently where God is at work and put our faith in what He has already done for us!
How about it? Would you like to join me in watching for where God is at work with vigilance? This is the sure way to stand firm in our faith!
In His love,
Lyn
Lynona Gordon Chaffart
Author, Moderator, Acting Director, Answers2Prayer Ministries
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