Day 3027 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

Isaiah 26:3 NIV

Failing to fulfill the requirements will undoubtedly lead to failing to find the rewards.

Have we grown so accustomed to this gross sense of entitlement flourishing all around us in this cesspool of a civilization that we ourselves have become convinced that the hopeful promises provided by our faith are objects to be expected as opposed to ideals worth seeking? Do we feel as if His peace and hope and mercy and rest and strength are all merely deserved by us simply because we call ourselves by a name that carries His own? Have we forgotten that faith is a door that requires our moving to press through it?

Sadly, as much as most of society so obviously has, we run the risk of falling into that sickening assumption that we can simply expect His promises and all the rewards held within without anything being asked of, requested of or required of us in return.

And yet, somehow much of humanity seems entirely content with ignoring or denying that unavoidable nature of basically all manner of life, faith, hope, happiness and all other good and great things we claim to seek for ourselves deserving a response given in gratitude that makes our efforts not obligatory but given with much enthusiasm. Yeah, we all want to be happy in life. We want contentment. We want peace, one might say perfect peace. But perfect peace is, as taught here, only found in minds who are steadfastly in-tune with their Maker.

But we live amongst a generation not inclined to seek first His kingdom, nor to live in submission to His will, nor to surrender self to the service of speaking only of His sacrifice. We find ourselves in a world bent entirely out of plumb, and as it grows more warped and wicked, this degenerate generation, peace seems entirely easy to remain elusive. And many a mind may be thinking that peace has become impossible as it’s so rarely found and hardly held in the hearts breaking a little more every day.

Might it be that our faith has failed or forgotten to become steadfast?

What is steadfast, besides being one of my personal favorite words? Beyond having this regal air that rolls off the tongue carrying an undeniable sense of power and authority, to be steadfast is to be firmly fixed in place. Immovable. That which is steadfast is not subject to change, not interested in being changed, not willing to be changed. Steadfast speaks of the firmness of a particular belief or a determined adherence to a concept or constitution.

To be steadfast requires one to be both resolutely anchored to an idea but also fiercely loyal to said idea.

Thus, we find rather quickly, the common cause of the widespread unrest and corresponding despondency displayed in much of society as we see it. We've stumbled upon the stumbling block that keeps so many tripping over themselves, unable to figure out why their faith isn't what they thought it could be, should be, would be. It's not that faith cannot be stronger, but simply that we must forge a stronger resolve in our faith for that faith to be stronger.

The lack of steadfastness is, without question, one of the most glaring reasons that faith doesn't grow and so often finds itself victimized on the wrong side of the many failures we fail to find the reasons for making so continually along this journey that, by all accounts, ought to be far more straightforward than the wide and wandering path we've seemed to find ourselves tripping along in search of something so simple as The Way, The Truth, The Life.

My contention in today's post is that it's not that Christ is hard to find as He's not hiding. No, the issue is that so often He only seems hard to find, hard to serve, hard to hold because our hearts, our souls, our minds allow for far too many other considerations, and behind all those contrasting contemplations, we find that faith is forced to reside alongside too many other things to remain the lone priority it simply must be in order to find Him.

This is something that's been weighing heavily on my heart for nigh on a week, if not even longer. It's this realization that I've not wanted to realize as I know that the realizing of it will require a confession of my failure to keep my faith where I know it needs to be. But, I've felt this sense of relief over the last couple of days sharing things that I've not really felt the inclination to share before. And so, at this point, why not point out more of my faults and failures in the hope that someone else can learn from the lessons I've learned the hard way?

Peace has seemed at a great and growing distance in my life of late. It's become an almost daily struggle to find a reason to remain upbeat and positive. And mostly, much to my present dismay, I have agreed to chalk it up as a sad symptom of the downfall falling all around. I've blamed it on the stories and misplaced glories I see society serving. I've done all I could to find another to blame for the mistake I've not wanted to accept that I could make.

But in the end, reality can only be outrun for so long, and so, so long to the seeking an out for my mistakes of my own cause.

I realize now that the lack of peace and hope and rest and assurance to be found in my life in recent days is the direct and obvious result found in that too many other things have been allowed to cast shadows upon my faith as I allowed said faith to slip down the ladder. It's not that faith isn't the most important thing in my life. I seek ways to make it more important every moment. It's merely that I've found myself letting too many things slip in and distract me. And with each distraction, the steadfastness demanded by faith has faltered.

I've allowed myself to be moved, to be angered, to become aggravated by a world that only wants faith to fail. And in that continual consternation, I've let the world climb in importance as I feel more the need to fight back and contend for this faith I know to be of eternal importance. Sadly, I've allowed myself to be swayed into thinking that things in this world are of such importance that they need a slice of my time.

And I know this kind of thing happens to all of us, which I why I share this with you today. We are surrounded by a tumultuous culture that has chosen to exist in the most infuriating of ways. On the daily, we're faced with a new attack on our foundation, a new encroachment into our beliefs, a new tragedy caused by the lack of the empathy and compassion we're called to have. And as we see the wrong side win days and hearts and moments, our minds can quickly become distracted, even to the point of contemplating defeat.

My point in this that I hope you've found is that we are the ones who must control our focuses in this life. And that is becoming a much harder task to uptake as the societies around us continue to find new ways to mock, to hate, to judge, to label, to harm, to refuse. But we must remember always what it is that is on the line. We're not called to win every worldly battle to which we're invited. And we'll definitely be invited to many of them.

We're called to point people to Jesus as His is the only Name by which salvation is possible. And it is that salvation that every single person in this place needs more desperately than most want to admit. We cannot allow our minds to waver from that priority, because doing so could cost us the chance at hearing Him say, "Well done." And I don't know about you, but those two words are all I live for anymore, as everything else carries only a waning importance that fades every time I see sin win.

That should be our mindset in this path. Not to change the world as that is both outside our control and high above our authority, but to tell people about the King who changes eternity in such a drastic way that death lies defeated. And seeing sin swell in such saddening ways ought to impel us to both seek an even more solidified grasp upon our own faith, but to contend for this faith so that others too can be saved from the torrent sweeping down upon humanity via the many souls still enslaved to sin.

What I've allowed myself to forget is that peace is still possible, yes, even amidst the great implosion of a society turning upon itself. Peace is possible, in fact, perfect peace is promised even in a war such as this we find ourselves witnessing unfold all around, and likely even feeling within. But it is only found in minds that are steadfastly fixed on Christ and hearts that refuse to be moved from their trust in Him.

He will get us through these darkening days to the peace and rest He promised are waiting on the other side of this grave. He's already sealed that gift, and we mustn't allow ourselves to forget that by allowing other things to convince us that He's not already won every war that's not yet even started. There will be brighter days when even peace itself is impossible to lose. But in this place, at this time, we must resolve to remain steadfast in our faith.

To be immoveable. To be firmly fixed upon the foundation of our faith. To weld our hearts to the cross and live only to speak of the saving grace of the One who chose to hang in our place. He has overcome all we've yet to see or feel. And so it's time that we stop letting all we see and feel remain of such gravity that they're able to tilt our hearts out of alignment. We have to fix our eyes on Christ and stop looking anywhere else.

Because, if you've not yet noticed, looking anywhere else will only offer us cause for a kind of concern so deeply disheartening that we may very well find our faith unable to stand its ground. Not because our faith cannot withstand any and all attempted assault, but because if our minds waver, if our hearts wander, if our trust falters, we will fail, and our faith will fall with us.

And that is something so incredibly sad and entirely unnecessary, because all along, He's just asked us to focus on Him rather than the storms raging around us.

Friends, to be steadfast isn't an archaic sounding ideal saved for those of such deep devotion that they stand in the pulpit on Sunday's. To be steadfast is a way of trusting so deeply that nothing is able to move us, and that is something all of us are both capable of and asked of in this path. But, as with pretty much all of this, it comes down to a personal choice.

But as I close for today, I'll leave you with a lesson God's been teaching me for a few years now:

If you can find the courage to change your mind, you will find the way to change your life. Think better, live better. Trust deeper, believe deeper. Worship in the rain, rejoice in the storm. We don't need an easy life to make faith easier to find. We need a faith that's been refined in the fire so that it withstands the heat that's coming as we venture closer to our exit off this sinking ship.

So may we not ask for an easier path as a means of lessening the requirements beheld and deserved by our faith. May we ask Him instead for the path that makes our faith stronger with an armored heart beating inside that refuses to be moved from this Rock upon which we stand. You'll find those two requests are indeed vastly different, but in that difference is found all the ingredients that combine into what we've yet to know of a steadfast faith that will not be moved.

If this is truly the place we’ve chosen to make our stand, this Rock of the Most High, then may we stand this ground fully unwilling to be moved from it no matter what comes against us. Because the storms will only grow more destructive as sin convinces humanity further into inhumanity. But that doesn’t mean that peace will become an impossibility. It is merely an encouragement to make use of this time to ready for the coming days.

His perfect peace will be there, even when peace is all but gone from the world we’re in. But that perfect peace will be there only if we meet it with a steadfast faith that trusts Him to be faithful to all He’s done, all He’s said, all He’s promised. He will be, but we’ve got to believe it. This won’t work any other way.

#LeaveNoSoulUntold