Remaining Steadfast Amid Severe Winds of Change

Granite quarry in Vermont.

Of late I’ve been thinking about a word we don’t often use these days, but one that history has consistently held in high regard. It’s a proud, noble and virtuous term. The word is steadfast.

Despite the apparently lack of appreciation for this word in contemporary culture, it’s used repeatedly in the Bible. One verse I learned early in my Christian life is Isaiah 26:3, “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You.” The New International Version says it a bit differently, but equally effective: “You [the Lord] will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You.”

We see the word again in Psalm 112, which declares, “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in His commandments…. He does not fear bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord” (Psalm 112:1,7).

 

What is this word, “steadfast”? One definition of it is, “resolutely or dutifully firm.” The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as “a steady and unwavering course in love, allegiance, or conviction…firmly fixed in place, not subject to change.” For me, the word also evokes the term “stand firm.” Put together, these definitions and synonyms call to mind someone who isn’t easily moved in the beliefs or standards they follow.

 

Why is this important? Because the foundational principles, virtues and values upon which our society was built and established are under assault, being attacked by gale force winds of change, compromise and watered-down convictions.

 

Whenever we read about great exploits, whether it’s being the first to climb a mountain like Mount Everest, engaging in combat, developing a championship sports team, or founding a great nation like the United States, we can’t avoid encountering men and women who remained steadfast, unbending, filled with rock-solid resolve in the pursuit of their goals.

 

I’ve been reading The Founders’ Bible, an edition of the Scriptures that also includes hundreds of articles, brief commentaries, and notes about how our Founding Fathers clung to their convictions and beliefs in the face of formidable, almost impossible odds. They were, in a word, steadfast.

 

In our walk of faith, we’d be wise to keep that word foremost in our minds. With everything that we see and hear transpiring all around us, it’s clear that like it or not, we’re involved in an intense spiritual war. Perhaps more than ever before, we must remain steadfast to avoid succumbing to the ongoing assault.

 

We read about this in 1 Corinthians 15:58, where the apostle Paul exhorted Christ followers in ancient Corinth, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” The NIV translates the word as “stand firm.”

 

The Corinthians could have used any variety of excuses for wandering from the faith, from everyday challenges they faced to the emergence of false teachers seeking to lure them away from the bedrock truths of the Gospel that they had learned and were living by.

 

King David, who experienced more than his share of opposition and adversity, wrote about the importance of standing firm. In Psalm 57:7 he wrote, “My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast…. I will praise You, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of You among the peoples.”

 

Even if we’re not of the spiritual stature of an apostle Paul or King David, the importance of a steadfast, uncompromising approach to life and faith is vital. Like a competitor in a marathon, we must remain fixed on our goal, the imperative of finishing our life’s race well – and serving God well as we do so.

 

The peer pressure is there. Prevailing messages in our culture beckon us to veer off course, “losing our first love” as the church in Ephesus was described (Revelation 2:4). Another ancient church cited in the next chapter, the body of believers in Laodicea, was said to be “lukewarm – neither cold nor hot.” Because of this, God said, “I am about to spit you out of My mouth” (Revelation 3:16).

 

The one who is not steadfast, who chooses instead to straddle the fence or is susceptible to losing heart, is like what we find pictured in James 1:6, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave in the sea driven and tossed by the wind.”

For many of us, Sunday mornings are times when it’s fairly easy to stand firm. We hear wonderful praise songs and hymns, a strong, biblically based message, and enjoy the company of like-minded believers. That’s good. But what happens when it’s Monday morning and the alarm of reality goes off, we go to the office and the phone rings, or we enter the classroom where contradictory views and values are espoused. Can we stand firm, remain steadfast even then?