And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

~ 1 Peter 5:10 ~

I’ve found lately how hard it is to be steadfast.  Or perhaps, to keep going at something when it gets hard.  Perseverance to the very end without giving up hope.  It’s hard! Especially with all of the bad things happening in the world and just in life.

Lately in school I’ve noticed that I don’t really want to keep at it and try my best.  I do just enough to get by, but then I look back and see how I’m slipping.  The same is in other things as well.  The sad thing is, I’ve noticed how I haven’t been standing fast in my walk with God.   It’s like climbing a mountain.  You start out well when the slope is easy.  Things are going good, no real stumbling blocks. But as you get farther up, you notice the climate has changed, the slope has increased, and you’re tiring from how far you’ve walked.   Even a short time can be tiring for someone new.  It’s a short burst of steam that must be constantly rekindled.

That mountain of faith is a challenging one.  It’s not all fame and glory.  Don’t’ get me wrong, it has the joy and respite all throughout.  But as anyone knows (especially those who have been on it much longer than I have) it’s a walk filled with cuts and bruises, mockery and rejection, tears and even blood.    If we’re not careful, we catch our foot on the slippery slope Satan has placed for us.  He’s waiting for us to become tired, so we only see the great mountain ahead of us, instead of looking at how far we’ve come.

But thankfully, this is where our real faith comes in.  And this is when we must remember this promise,

“When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your love, O LORD, supported me.”

~ Psalm 94:18 ~

“They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support.”

~ Psalm 18:18 ~

We’re not in this alone! God is always there to help and guide us.  He didn’t make us for this battle and climb alone, but He wanted us to look to Him for support.  The only way we can make it to the top of this mountain, this daily climb, is to take hold of Him and ask Him for support.  He must constantly rekindle our flame.

“Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” ~ Psalm 25:5 ~

I guess this brings me back to where I started.  Staying steadfast.  The only way to stay steadfast is to stand with Christ.  Ask Him to constantly fill you with the grace and courage to stand and do His will day after day.  Sadly, I and many others don’t ask for His help.  It may not be that we think that we don’t need His help; we just forget to ask and then wonder why we are slipping.  Yet if we ask, we know He will give us what we need to accomplish His will. To standfast for Him.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that He will make it easier for us.  Christ will just give us the grace to face our trials each day.  It’s like, after we have done everything in our power, we are to Stand on Him alone.  His power will hold us through if we have faith.

After all, great is our reward in heaven.  No matter what the trial, we standfast to our faith.  Not because we are doing it for mans applause, but because we are doing it for Christ!

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.

It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

~ Colossians 3:23-24 ~

I pray that this may be an encouragement to you all.

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

~ Psalm 51:10 ~

~Rose