There will be times where you simply know you can and must stand in faith. When they occur, stand. The whole world may come down around your ears. You stand in Christ.
~ Thoughts inspired by Chaplain Jim Freed, The Colony of Mercy
But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
~ 2 Thessalonians 2:13-16
There are beloved, a number of themes in His Word. The manifold wisdom of G_d pours forth from the pages as they share His unfailing Love and Goodness and Righteousness. If one reads as though it is Him speaking (and it is) then one begins to see very little enigma in the text, and a gorgeous eternal focus on the very Person of the words. And while some themes seem – on the surface – to be in opposition to each other, the answers become readily apparent when the text is perceived in the spirit, rather than the flesh.
Let’s dive in.
Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel. You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with you.
~ 2 Chronicles 20:16-17
See it?
To fight or not to fight seems to be the question. However, the questions that come up in our minds are really actually the problem. For they focus on two things that will not (read not ever) fix the problem before us. First, our focus on the problem is often the problem. And secondly, our focus on how to solve the problem often makes a problem exceedingly worse. Said simply, focusing on the problem – and our own strength to solve it – misses the issue entirely.
Because life is really not about us.
And this axiom grinds up against our own senses early and often. We are so used to processing things through the grid of self, that it seems nonsensical to see things any other way. But as hard as it grinds, the truth that we are no longer the center of our own lives is more solid than any law of physics. For it is now in Him we live, and Him in us. However, once we get a solid understanding of this truth, Scripture quickly begins to make sense.
Life is all about Him.
We are to stand in Him.
We are to hold fast to Him.
We are to count on Him to work victory for us, in us, and through us.
So, once we see His Word in the Light in which it is intended to be viewed, we can read the passage on battle and standing for the truth with much clearer understanding..
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
~Ephesians 6:13
We are standing firm within the full-armour system designed and built and sustained by G_d Himself. There is no sense here that we could ever stand against the forces of darkness in our own strength.
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
~ Galatians 5:1
Our freedom is not the false-freedom to keep making our own choices and way in life. No, the freedom is the freedom bought by Jesus to give us distance from this old way of life. We are but to continue to stand in the place to which Jesus has delivered us.
Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.
~1 Corinthians 16:13-14
Our acting like men here is not some brutish masculinity, or lashing out against others who are wrong or sinful. No, now within the context of the faith we have in the Author and Finisher of the same, we stand and make decisions a now truly-human person would make from a solid foundation of Love.
Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate. He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.
~ Daniel 11:31-32
Can we see it? Our world is crashing around us. As we let go of any sense of the absolutes of truth or morality, the net effect is abomination and desolation. And in our trying to reach out to the world with the message of the gospel, many are being seduced away from the only position where they will have any chance of being effective.
So it seems, we are doing two things wrong. Firstly, we are continually focusing on the problems and failures of the sinful world around us. And secondly, we are trying – in our own strength – to get people to behave a certain way, or say things the way we would like them said.
Now, surely it is goofy for us to ignore an avalanche when it is headed our direction. However, just noting that a landslide is headed towards us and screaming how much we do not like it, will do nothing to stop us from being washed away. What to do?
Stand in Christ.
Look to Him as the Solution.
Proclaim His great Love.
Even so, every fibre of our flesh screams that the above approach will not work. We have to fight! We have to write our congressman! We have to boycott! We have to do something! And even though the flesh screams for action, our spirit knows otherwise. For focusing energy on temporal issues is only a waste of energy.
However, what if we simply trusted Him enough to actually do it the way He says we should? What if we simply stood in Him? What if we only moved forward from a platform of Love? What if we believed He actually has a better vantage point on the battlefield, and can make the moves which will assure victory? What if we actually came to the place where we actually began to believe that Love does indeed cover a multitude of sins?
What if?
This fool of a writer has disengaged from following the fleeting tales of rock stars and social trends and other tempests in teapots (or in duck dynasties). And in abandoning the application of any energy to fighting problems; and in embracing the idea that Love and prayer really does change things, is actually beginning to see some change that G_d is effecting in him and through him in the situations in which he lives.
Don’t just listen to a single fool though, listen to the legions of fools who have allowed Love to work in them and through them over the centuries. Just take a moment to ponder the people G_d has used to change the world for the better. The Kingdom is real. And Love does win. A life lived obsessing on the Solution, rather than the problems, really does work. And as little as we want to admit it, we know it.
Beloved, what if we began to live in surrender to this truth? The insanity of us doing it the wrong way for decades in both the East and in the West should give us pause. Might we at least have the decency to be intrigued?
Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.
~ Isaiah 46:8-11
