by Christina Hice
2019 was a challenging and change-filled year for our family. High school graduation for one, college graduation for another, second-guessing choices, new starts, old frustrations, job searches, health concerns, heart concerns.More often than not, when someone asked, “How are you?” my reply was, “Holding steady.”
I think of that and wonder if I should have been more positive. Maybe. But the truth is that our year was filled with unrelenting, unyielding, and unmoving situations, and only the passing of time affected them.
Did my reply of “holding steady” indicate a lack of faith in God’s faithful provision, care and unceasing love for us? Did it reflect a lack of appreciation for all the good and positive moments in the year? Were my words reflective of a negative heart attitude?
And yet, what really fit, when asked how I was doing, was that I was holding steady. It was (and still is) an honest reply. As I continue to think about this, and pray about it, I understand that there is an underlying strength that is in my reply. And it is not my strength.
My stress, worries and fears might have been in my mind, but my “holding steady” was (and is) a profession of faith and a verbal confession of steadfastness from my heart. But not in myself, not in my circumstances, and certainly not in my ability to affect a thing.
You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. (Isaiah 26:3)
He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. (Psalm 112:7)
My heart is steadfast, O God; I will sing and make music with all my soul. (Psalm 108:1)
I think it is okay to hold steady, if we are holding steady to the One who never changes, who loves us more than we will ever truly understand, and whose faithfulness is great… Immanuel, God with us.
Lord, help us to see not what our circumstances may be, but that You are with us through them. Please restore our hope when things seem hopeless and secret your joy in our hearts, that we may continue to step forward in faith, to attend to the tasks that you bring us each day. Amen.