These days are filled with uncertainty for all of us. Our concerns range from as serious as will my family and I survive this virus to how long am I going to have to live without cheese and yogurt? Here at Tenwek we remain with no positive Covid-19 cases that we know of as I write this. We praise the Lord for that! Yet we know it may only be a matter of time. We are not on total lockdown now, but are not permitted to gather in groups larger than 10, and also not allowed to travel to the larger cities in Kenya. The hospital staff are constantly preparing and praying.
Last week was Holy Week. A week to ponder again what Jesus went through, what He stood for, and what He did for us on the cross. In my thinking and praying and reading recently, I have been urged again to a word that has come up for me a lot this year: steadfast.
Steadfast means to be firmly fixed or established, constant, resolute or steady; immovable. Christ was steadfast in His journey to save us, and He remains steadfast as He sits at the right hand of God, always interceding for us. God’s love is steadfast. He can never love us any more or any less than He does right now. No matter what.
In Colossians 1 it says that Christ “holds all things together.” It also says that He has reconciled us, when we trust in Him as our Savior, and He presents us completely blameless and above reproach (as in, sinless) to the Father if we remain steadfast and stable in the faith, holding fast to the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That word “if” is tricky. I don’t think God is saying we have to work to keep our salvation, not at all. He has completely finished all the work there is to be done. But I think God is showing us that steadfastness is important. We can only be steadfast and remain steadfast as we exercise our faith and hold fast to Truth. Though I often feel weary and worn out in this life, I can be made to be steadfast as I cling to Christ.
In this time of uncertainty, what are we clinging to? What are we hoping in? I feel forced to ask myself this daily. Is it safety? Or science? Or masks? Or social distance? Or the promise of a day without quarantine when we can do and go and be as we want to again?
I desperately want to remain steadfast. To be immovable in my hope in Christ, not in anything else. I want for Him to be enough, because He is. He is completely sufficient to carry me through. Steadfast.
He made peace by the blood of His cross. That peace can never be taken away or destroyed. Let us live to give Him glory no matter what tomorrow holds.