Support versus Stability, do you have both?
2 Chronicles 27:6
Jotham grew powerful because he walked steadfastly before the LORD his God.
Support is defines as: supporting structure that holds up or provides a foundation, subscribe: adopt as a belief
Stability is defined as: the quality or attribute of being firm and steadfast, constancy: the quality of being enduring and free from change or variation
It has been a beautiful spring here in Virginia this year. The weather has been warmer than usual, which has allowed for many spring projects. This past winter Virginia was hit with three huge snow storms that left anywhere from 9-18” each time. That usually doesn’t happen, so considering the long cold winter I had an usually high desire to get out this spring and do some projects.
My list of projects included, building a chicken coop, chicken pen, garden, garden fencing to keep the deer out, add an extension to our screened in porch, take down some trees in the front yard, set up the kids pool and build a deck for the pool.
It is amazing how God meets us right where we are at, even in the midst of home improvement projects. As I was building the deck for the kid’s pool, I had to make the front of the deck, closest to the pool a semi-circle to wrap around the shape of the pool. In doing so, there was not a good way to stabilize the deck from rocking left to right when you were standing on it. It was sturdy enough not to collapse; however, it did sway when an adult was present.
Below is the actual deck and pool I did for the kids.
My solution was to go under the deck, dig another hole and cement in a 4×4 post that would be the anchor to which I could bolt a 2×6 board that would cause the deck to stop swaying from left to right. This solution made the entire deck rock solid and now it does not move even if I jump on it and try to get it to move.
God used this simple home improvement project to teach me something about myself and my spiritual walk with Him. As I thought about my deck, the Holy Spirit revealed to me, that there is a difference between support and stability. You see the 4×4 post I had originally constructed provided support for the deck, however the 4×4 and 2×6 I added later provided the stability I needed.
In my spiritual life, I have a similar problem. My salvation and core belief in God is my support and my foundation for what I believe. However, I am lacking in my stability and holding steadfast to who God is and who God says I am on a day to day basis. I have the foundational support, but not the stability in my day to day walk with God. I let daily circumstances and situations control how I react to God that day. I let life’s day to day interactions dictate my attitude and approach or lack of approach to God. That is wrong. I should be stable enough in my relationship with Him to hold firm with stability not matter what happens during my day. How many times have you ever decided to not have your quiet time with God, not pray, not show compassion, not respond correctly to a situation all because your daily circumstances dictated your feelings and actions versus having a God honoring response? It seems to happen to me quite often.
So the question is, how do I put a 4×4 post and 2×6 in my spiritual life, just as I did on my deck to create stability? Prayer. As written in a devotional by Kelly McFadden, nowhere do you see in Jesus’ life or His teachings that we are to run headfirst into life or anything without first praying, thinking through, and preparing for what lies ahead. In Ephesians, Paul even takes his readers through the armor of God and likens this preparation as to a battleground. No warrior would enter battle without his armor on, and so no Christian should go through this life without preparing his or her mind for action. When we are not prepared and remain ignorant, it becomes too easy to get hurt and conform to ways of old.
1 Peter 5:9-11 (New International Version)
Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 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. To him be the power forever and ever. Amen.
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