Be steadfast

I Peter 5:6-11

6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. 8 Discipline yourselves; keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. 10 And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

This passage was written to Christians in the ancient world who were well aware they could be arrested and imprisoned, or worse because they were followers of Jesus. The path to security was to rest in God – vs. 6 – humble yourselves under God’s mighty hand; vs. 7 – give your anxiety to God, This leads in vs. 9 to the call to be steadfast (faithful) in their faith. Their faithfulness, steadfastness was rooted in their resting in God.

Sometimes being faithful is not about advancing, sometimes being faithful is not about new ventures, sometimes being faithful is about standing firm where we are and holding on. As vs. 10 makes clear the faithfulness of the readers will find a response of blessing from God who will restore and strengthen. The readers of this passage, including us, do not need to do the restoring and strengthening – instead we are simply to remain steadfast in the faith and know that God will see us through.

In many ways the church in North America is at this moment. We are told again and again that we should be growing, that by our efforts we should be drawing new people into the church. Maybe the call is to stand firm, to be steadfast and faithful to Jesus, and God will do the party of drawing people to Jesus. If we remain steadfast and faithful, God will do the part to “restore, support, strengthen and establish”.

And so we are back to the start of the passage – resting in God: humbling ourselves before God, trusting God with our fears and anxieties. Having faith in Jesus, trusting him, makes it possible to be faithful to Jesus, standing firm, being steadfast.

PRAYER:

O Lord, help us to trust your Son Jesus Christ, and to trust you, and to trust that you will send us the Holy Spriit – to trust so that we might be faithful. To trust so that we can stand firm. In Jesus’ name. Amen.