“If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.” (Isaiah 7:9, ESV)
Do not worries and fears plague us today? Many of us walk through this life with much fear and trepidation. There is an antidote for this. It is faith. Faith is at the core of firmness or confidence in the midst of those things, which brings fear and trepidation.
Here, Isaiah is to meet with Ahaz, king of Judah and give him this message. The situation seemed desperate as the Northern Kingdom, Israel, and Syria had joined forces and now threatened to seize the Southern Kingdom, Judah. Imagine the fear that ran through Ahaz as he surveyed his defenses against the pending attack. Isaiah brings a message from the Lord. The message is this, do not fear but have faith, the Lord God will deal with His enemies.
The message of this verse is quite interesting. The Hebrew text uses the word firm, aman, in two different forms in the verse. The first use it has the sense of an action, which in this case would mean, to stand firm, to trust, to be certain, to believe in. The second use has the sense of a reflexive action or a response that is natural, meaning that one will stand firm, will trust, and will be certain. Here we see in this verse that those who stand firm in the faith will conquer the fears that surround them. Faith moves a person from fear and trepidation to courageous confidence.
In our daily lives, we have things all around us that cause fear. We fret about finance, worrying about unanticipated expenses, a possible layoff, and a myriad of other potential hazards. We fret about our health and the health of others. We worry about succeeding in our vocations. The antidote for these and other fears is faith. The Lord reinforced this thought teaching us not to worry about tomorrow. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Do not be anxious about anything.” Why could they say these things? They could say these things because of the fact that the Heavenly Father is always in control. It is a matter of faith or trusting in this very fact.
This is an important lesson, not just for us, but also for others. In particular, it is important that our children learn these things. It is interesting that the Lord told Isaiah to take his son, She/ar-Ja/shub, whose name meant, “a remnant shall return,” when he went to give this message to Ahaz (v3). Why did the Lord ask Isaiah to take his son? Among other reasons, I believe that the Lord wanted Isaiah’s son to learn this truth and to see the fulfillment of the Lord’s promise to protect the Southern Kingdom from this threat.
We have a responsibility to impart these truths to others because they need the strength and courage that it takes to negotiate the perils of this life. They will learn this in several ways. However, they will mainly learn it by seeing us living it out. Then they hopefully will do what they learned from us when the time comes.
Believers, your faith walk will grant you confidence and strength to engage life without fear and trepidation. Moreover, others around you will see your faith walk and learn from it also.
Renewing the Heart 