Stand Strong

by Kristin
from Virtuous Daughters, August 2013~Volume 13, Number 5

Sometimes standing alone can be, well...lonely. I guess that’s obvious, but it’s also good to know and consider. There are different types of standing alone. There is the kind that we all expect; the difference between us believers and the rest of the world. And then there is the other kind of standing alone, the kind that can easily leave us very discouraged and disillusioned. I’m talking about when folks you’ve been close to take other paths, or when folks you trusted ended up proving untrustworthy. Maybe you’ve shared glorious fellowship with them, and you felt such a close bond with them. It was like a little piece of heaven. You held discussions on your common convictions, and they encouraged you in what you both mutually believed.

   Then things changed one day. You realized that you were no longer walking the same path. You were standing alone.

   This has happened to me, and it was painful. It can also be scary. If this can happen to those folks, it can happen to me. I know I have the potential to let people down, too. It is a good time to cry out to the Lord to preserve me and help me to be faithful, no matter what. It tends to make me rethink those convictions as well, and wonder if I should hold on to them. I am more of a follower than a leader, so standing alone is not easy for me. But God didn’t promise that it would be easy. He did promise to be with us, though.

Standing alone can be a good place to think and consider. Do I believe what I believe or live the way I live, just because my friends do? What do I really believe? Why am I on this path? Is it really in my heart? And if I find that these convictions are real, that they are truly based on God’s Word and His will for me, are they worth holding on to, even if no one else joins me?
  
We like fellowship. (You know, two fellows in a ship, right?) It just makes things so much easier to have someone else join us in what we are called to do, especially if those things are hard, or the path is one that is less traveled. We don’t want to be looked down on, or sneered at for being different, but it does make things easier if someone shares the experience with us. However, I think we tend to look up to and admire a person who has the guts to be righteous and stand on principle, even to the point of doing it alone, if necessary. The level of their commitment is that great. I think of William Wallace. If only more men would have joined him in his quest for Scotland’s freedom, and stayed faithful to it! But we remember his name, even though he ended up dying for the cause, because nothing could make him give in. The name of William Wilberforce rings in our ears with unforgettable resonance because he was a man who stood for his cause, the abolition of the slave trade in Great Britain, against all odds, and conquered! His story is amazing and thrilling. He was a man who stood very nearly alone, and he swam against the current. And then there are the countless martyrs who stood for the Name and pure worship of Jesus Christ. If they can stand alone, so can we, with God’s grace! John Knox said, “One man with God is always in the majority.”
  
Sometimes we can feel very alone, but we, like Elijah, forget that God has others who are also faithful (1 Kings 19:14-18). Perhaps we can’t see them at the moment, but they are there. And there is also a great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us (Hebrews 11-12:1)! It encourages me to know that you girls are all out there, endeavoring to live a holy life. Don’t give up! Even if you feel alone at times, know that your stand for truth and your obedience to the Lord is not in vain. Live for God’s glory. Your faithfulness is a great encouragement and witness to those around you. They are watching.
  
Not to forget, either, the most important thing—Jesus is ALWAYS with us! He is a Friend Who is trustworthy and true, and will NEVER let us down! When I get discouraged about those around me, my mom reminds me that people will fail, but Jesus never will.
  
I wonder if Timothy felt a little discouraged sometimes, because Paul seems to be giving him an extra boost in 2 Timothy 1. He encourages Timothy against fear and towards standing strong. “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began...nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know Whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day. Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 1:7–13, emphasis mine).
  
​Let us endeavor to walk humbly, knowing our own potential for sin and failure, and look to Jesus as we journey, the Author and Finisher of our faith. He will never leave us, and truly, we never stand alone.