Isaiah 7:9b “‘If you do not stand firm in your faith,
you will not stand at all.'”

As I recall, this particular turn of phrase struck me the first time I read through the Bible in the NIV translation, well over 30 years ago. The one thing that reading it in the Japanese adds is that “you” here is plural; this isn’t addressed just to King Ahaz. This being a direct quote from God, it certainly bears careful consideration. God allows all sorts of things in our lives to test and grow our faith, but in every case we have to exercise the faith we already have in order to get through the experience successfully. Sometimes we fail to do that, and the results can be pretty grim. However, the failure is never on God’s part, but on ours. God is too good a Father to allow us to stagnate, so He keeps allowing things in our lives to prompt us to grow, but our response to those things certainly affects our rate of growth. The easy way out, every time, is to choose to trust Him, learning all He wants to teach us from the experience as quickly as possible, but often we are stubborn and don’t want to learn, much like a little child throwing a temper tantrum. God is very patient and He doesn’t give up easily, but we tend to put ourselves through lots of unnecessary grief by our refusal to trust and obey.

This is topical and timely for me at the moment, with my wife off of the heart medication she has been taking for 20 years, preparing for tests on her heart today. As the cumulative effects of the medication have worn off, she’s had incidents for the past couple of days. That’s not fun either for her or for me! However, she made it through the day yesterday, playing piano for the worship service and being hostess/mother to all who came. We are being taught to trust and obey one small step further than we have gone before. This is a reminder of the truth that I speak to others frequently, that none of us has a guarantee of tomorrow, so knowing God today is essential. Cathy and I both know God, better than many, I think, so this is further opportunity to grow in faithful obedience.

Father, You know all the scenarios that have played out in my mind, and You alone know whether any of them are even similar to what is actually going to happen. Thank You for this lesson in choosing to trust, even though it has its uncomfortable moments. I do ask for wisdom and skill on the part of those conducting the tests today, for full accuracy of results, and I ask for wisdom and discernment on the part of the doctor in interpreting those results. Thank You that You are Adonai Rophe, the Lord our Healer, and that Your grace is indeed all we need. (2 Corinthians 12:9) May our faith be a testimony to all who are observing us in this time, drawing them to You, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!