Be Steadfast Where You Are

 

"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." 

1 Corinthians 15:58 (KJV)

 

Sometimes in life we might find ourselves in a season that is frustrating or challenging. It doesn't seem that it is serving the goals we had in mind. We start to want to move on. It's too tiring, it's too much, we're bored.  It may be a job, a relationship, a small task, any small or large commitment, or anything that is set before us in our life at the current time. We are searching for something more, something different. We think to ourselves, "this can't be it!" 

What if that circumstance is right where God has placed us? God requires us to be steadfast in the place He has put us until He tells us to move on. If we have followed the will of God to end up where we are at in the current moment, then how can we tell God He is wrong? Perhaps God has us where we are so that we grow. Maybe our discontent with where we are at is purposefully so that He can mold, shape, and grow us. If we move on before God's appointed time, His work may not be completed in us. When we are not steadfast, and move on before we are supposed to, we stop our own growth in God and we hastily cut short God's work.

 God tells us in Phillipians 1:6: " ...being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

God has begun a good work in us and He wants to finish it! He will lead us through whatever circumstances to finish His work in us. He tells us in the above scripture to "be confident of this." He is reassuring us. We are to not lose our confidence in our circumstances. We are to not lose our confidence in our momentary unhappiness. And we are not to lose our confidence in being steadfast.

 The word steadfast means firmly fixed in place, not subject to change, firm in belief, determination or adherence. The Hebrew word for steadfast is "chessed" (steadfast kindness, love, reliability) and it means to reveal God's unfolding will.  In your steadfastness where you are, God is revealing His unfolding will for you. When we are steadfast, we are revealing a correct attitude towards God. We are showing our love and loyalty towards Him, just as He shows His love and loyalty to us.

God also tells us that He will "carry it on to completion...". So should we not stay where we are until God has completed His appointed work through us? There can be a lot in our own lack of wisdom we are not seeing. Our own blindness from the walls we cannot see through. We have to trust God as our long term "eyes." He sees the long term goal for us and others. We could be placed where we are because we are the only light shining for God there. God could be working in us to refine us, grow us in wisdom and grow us in our Godly responses to others that are difficult to deal with. He is growing us more like Him, and less like the world. He wants us to be steadfast, so that we reflect Him to others in difficulty. If we are placed in a difficult, trying circumstance (particularly in dealing with difficult people) and we act "just like the others" then we are not allowing God to grow us in our steadfastness and we are not allowing God to shine through us. Perhaps you are the one He has chosen to show Him to others where you are.

We don't have to fear that God is trying to keep us miserable! He tells us that He has good plans for us. "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11 

So in our trials, difficulties, the very thing that we want to move on from the most, let us trust God. For His plans are to prosper us and give us a future! Let us not cut that work short. Let us finish each and every last step of that work God has us doing to completion. Being steadfast. Showing His love. Until we are finished with His work. Until He calls us to move on. Then we leave confidently, knowing we finished what God set forth for us to do. The difficult circumstance God seems to have placed us in will lead to us learning more of God's character and growing in our walk with God.  Revealing more of Him to us and to others around us. We won't learn this if we do not learn to be steadfast. Then His work is finished and He promises that "ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."

Nothing is ever wasted when done in steadfastness to the Lord. The quiet things, the things we think are unseen, God's eyes see. And He requires that we are steadfast. God is steadfast for us. He has always been. Christ was steadfast for humankind when He went to the cross. He didn't cut His appointed work short. He carried it to completion. And look what we were given? Eternal life, a Savior. That is where being steadfast leads. To our growth in Christ and our eternal life. It leads to peace, and to the good plans God promises for us.


Prayer: Lord, though I cannot see the purpose of sticking where I am now, give me strength to finish this to completion. Give me steadfastness in my faith. Show me when it is time to move on from where I am, and when you are showing me the new plans you have for me. Help me to leave no step unfinished and calm my haste and discontent. Help me to trust your plans for me. Amen.


Learning to be steadfast is essential to growth in our walk with God. Below are some verses related to being steadfast.


"Jotham grew powerful because he walked steadfastly before the Lord his God." 1 Corinthians 15:58

"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." Psalm 51:10

"My heart, O God, is steadfast, I will sing and make music." Psalm 57:7

"They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord." Psalm 112:7

"You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you." Isaiah 26:3

"And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast." 1 Peter 5:10

May God's peace and wisdom be with you as you build your own wall of God's truth.