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- An Unstaggering
Faith
Bryant Evans
Just east of Atlanta, there stands a great monument
to the power and majesty of God's creation. Stone Mountain rises
825 feet above the surrounding Georgia hills. Its barren 25 million
square foot face of solid granite provides few places for plant
life. Instead, an unyielding mass of rock meets the elements of
nature with little or no evidence of wear. That grand mountain
looks today almost exactly like it did millennia past. Stone Mountain
battered by wind, rain, snow, ice, lightening, fire and even man,
remains untouched, unmoved by all assaults.
Today's Christian needs a faith that stands against
the world like Stone Mountain stands against the elements. Our
faith is under assault. Working through the triple threats of
chaos, crisis and culture, Satan is pummeling Christians to the
point of surrender. Our Lord desires far more than mere survival.
Jesus wants his followers to have life "more abundantly"
(John 10:10). If we would find the abundant life, if we would
be the kind of disciples Jesus would have us to be, we must have
a faith with at least three key characteristics.
We Need An Unstaggering Faith That Cannot Be Penetrated
By Satan's Darts. Paul warns in Ephesians 6:11 to put on the
armor of God so that we may stand against the "wiles of the
devil." In 2 Corinthians 2:11 he affirms, "we are not
ignorant of his devices." These "wiles" and these
"devices" are the darts, which seek to penetrate our
faith. In concluding his discussion of the armor of God in Ephesians
6, Paul says: "above all, taking the shield of faith with
which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked
one" (Ephesians 6:16). The shield of faith is that tool with
which we stop the darts! All of Satan's devices and schemes can
be stopped cold by our faith. Remember the promise of 1 Corinthians
10:13: "...God...will not allow you to be tempted beyond
what you are able..." Such is the consolation of the faithful
child of God. An unstaggering faith rejects and destroys temptation.
We Need An Unstaggering Faith That Stands Firm
In The Face Of Life's Storms. Trial and tribulation are constant
companions of frail, mortal, man (Job 14:1; 2 Timothy 3:12; 1
Corinthians 15:19). It seems we daily face one crisis, after another.
Struggles with our children, our spouses, our families seem to
occur more and more often. Challenges from mounting debt and decreasing
health are never far away. Yet it is in these hours that we find
our greatest strength (2 Corinthians 12:9).
In 2 Corinthians 1, Paul rehearses the struggles
he faced on his Asian travels. He notes that the situation was
so bad that they had given up on life (2 Corinthians 1:8). But
instead of surrender, Paul and his companions cast their trust
upon God and were delivered (2 Corinthians 1:9, 10). When the
storms of life rolled down upon Paul, he turned to God.
As before, God offers another promise to those
who obey: "And we know that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose." There is no promise here of stress-free
days and blissful nights. Only a promise that in the end, life's
storms will end and the reward will be great. We need an unstaggering
faith that faces life's storms without a flinch.
We Need An Unstaggering Faith That Is Not Subject
To The Whim And Fancy Of Culture. No better example of resisting
cultural pressure can be found than Daniel. This young Hebrew,
captured and taken into captivity in Babylon, was destined to
serve in the palace of the king. With that goal in mind, the king's
servants began to groom him and his friends by remaking them into
a model of Babylonian youth. Daniel and his friends resisted.
The fearful servant knew that he would suffer punishment if he
failed in his efforts to reform the young Hebrews. Yet Daniel
convinced him to allow the youth to continue their Hebrew traditions
and then make comparisons between them and the others. At the
end of the time allotted, Daniel's group was far superior to all
the others. God had blessed him (Daniel 1:8-21).
How easy it would have been for Daniel to reason
that he was far from home, surrounded by astounding wealth and
pressured immensely to violate his upbringing. But instead, this
godly young man resisted culture and the convenience of the moment
to do the right thing.
Today, Christians are assaulted by culture, the
media and by their peers. We are pressured to put everything ahead
of our devotion to God. The clothes we wear, the hours we work
and the games we play may well suggest our loyalty is to the present
culture rather than to the eternal kingdom.
Paul warns us to change the world, rather than
be changed by it. In Romans 12:2 he says "...be not conformed
to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind..."
If a Christian would have an unstaggering faith, he first changes
himself to fit the pattern of Christ and then changes others to
be like Christ as well.
Let us not be moved by the chaos of Satan's darts,
the crises of life's storms nor the cultural whims and fancies
that mark our day. Let us determine to stand like Stone Mountain
as we await his promised return.
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- Bryant Evans
- Eastern Shore Church of Christ
- PO Box 921
- Daphne, AL 26526
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