Stand or Else

Isaiah 7:9
9The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah's son.
If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.

The prophet Isaiah had stern words to Ahaz king of Judah. The words were actually an encouragement though stern. It was a moment of God's tough love through the prophet. Ahaz was concerned because the country Aram had aligned itself with Ephraim (Israel). Ahaz had lost a battle to Aram in the past so Ahaz was afraid. But the alliance was one forged in human strength. What Ahaz or Judah had was divine strength. And it was the same divine strength that David fought with against Goliath. One can have an army of ten thousand and still can not stand against God and win. Isaiah had to remind Ahaz that it would be his faith that would get him through what looked to be impossible. If Ahaz wasn't willing to stand on faith, he would not stand period.God was even willing to give Ahaz a sign as confirmation that he would be victorious. And that it what we must take from this. There will be times when things look impossible, but it should never be about the way things look. Looks can be deceiving. And the enemy loves to use FEAR (false evidence appearing real) as the tactic to take us down. The fear takes hold when doubt creeps in. Doubt that we are worthy, capable, etc. Doubt is the seed and the fear is the tree that grows from it. Once the tree of fear is in place, one needs a saw, tornado or hurricane of events to knock it down. The seed has to be crushed before it can ever burst forth with roots for the mind. The crusher of negative seeds is faith that God will do the impossible if He's told you it will be done. He is even generous enough to show us signs as He was willing to do for Ahaz. Though Ahaz realized he didn't need to put the Lord to the test. He knew just as it is now, that God is not a man who lies. When He says it's yours, then trust, it's yours. We must wait patiently for the instructions on how to move just as the Lord gave to Ahaz. So stand firm in faith. If you're not willing, then you better just lay down right now.