5 Ways to Prepare for Uncertainty
/*I’ve been thinking a lot about how we, as believers, are to think and respond to the upheaval, uncertainty, and change happening around us and to us. Believers long to give God glory in every and any circumstance, but sometimes we’re unsure how to do that. I shared this material with the ladies at our church, but thought it might be helpful here as well. I know I continue to be strengthened by the truths contained in this passage that helps us prepare our hearts for whatever God brings our way.
In Isaiah 7:1-2 we learn that the kings of Aram and Israel joined together to wage war against Jerusalem. When Ahaz, the King of Judah, heard that their armies were camped nearby, the text says the king’s “heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake with the wind.” Even great men can be shaken from their composure and grow fearful when they hear unsettling news.
In another passage, we read about some interesting instructions God has for His people. In Isaiah 8:11-13 the Lord tells Isaiah not to react like the people who do not fear the Lord, who instead look at the fearful things unfolding around them and say, “It is a conspiracy!” God cautions Isaiah not to fall into that same pattern of unbelief, fear, and blame shifting. God told him, “In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy, you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it. ‘It is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, and He shall be your dread.’” We see the same responses today, don’t we? Rather than finding refuge in the Lord, people cast about looking for a reason for the uncertain and fearful events unfolding before them. Yet even if the conspiracies prove true, we are not to find comfort in that reality. God counsels us to turn to Him when we are afraid.
Jesus prepares His followers for the trouble and destruction that will eventually unfold in the end-times. He tells them in Luke 21:7-9: “See to it that you are not misled; for many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not go after them. When you hear of wars and disturbances, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end does not follow immediately.” Jesus tells His followers not to be alarmed when life gets crazy with rumors, conspiracy theories, and the dismantling of society. He reminds us that all these things must take place before the end comes.
Paul too joins in preparing his friends for fearful and unprecedented times in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2. He teaches the believers at Thessalonica the truth about the Lord’s return in glory, so if they were to hear differently, they would “not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.” Later Paul encourages this same group of friends to “stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught (2 Thessalonians 2:15).”
In each of the passages above, people were bombarded with distressing news and were fearful about the life-changing and life-altering events that were unfolding all around them. Sound familiar? We too need to be reminded of what is true, so we can, like the Thessalonians, stand firm in the midst of rumors, disturbances, threats, and increasing unrest and violence.
When you are learning a new skill, like specific fingering for a new song on the piano or fine-tuning your backhand in tennis, you must repeatedly practice the new movements so that “muscle memory” is gained. Eventually, if you are faithful in your training, you won’t even have to think about what you are doing because your muscles will quickly slip into their practiced groove. This physical muscle memory training can be applied in our walk with the Lord too, so that we gain spiritual “muscle memory” that helps us apply the Word of God to our hearts when life is taxing, stressful, and unsettling.
One passage that provides essential training for our hearts and minds is 1 Corinthians 16:13-14. The soul-strengthening truths it contains, prepare us for any contingency that may unfold in the midst of the upheaval and distresses going on around us. Our text is basically a string of commands that provide 5 ways for us to prepare for uncertainty and difficulties, so we’ll respond in a God-glorifying way.
The first command in 1 Corinthians 16:13 tells us, Be on the alert. This is a present, active command telling us to always and continually be on the alert. The word alert means to carefully watch, be on guard, take notice, keep an eye out so that calamity doesn’t suddenly overtake us. That watchfulness we’re to employ “always and continually” also means that we’re not going to be careless, indifferent, complacent, or easily deceived.
Yet what should we be alert about?
We are to be alert to the Lord’s soon return. Matthew 24:42 tells us, “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.”
We are to be alert to an earthly focus. Jesus, when He was teaching about the end times and telling His disciples that the kingdom was near, said in Luke 21:34-36, “Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
We are to be on the alert to false teachers. Paul warned the Ephesian elders to be on the alert for those who would infiltrate the church and try to lead many astray with their faulty doctrine in Acts 20:31. He reminded them to be on the alert for these interlopers in the same way he had during the three years he had lived and ministered among them.
We are to be on the alert in prayer. Paul writes to the Ephesians in 6:18, “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.” He also says in Colossians 4:2, “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.”
We are to be alert to our spiritual condition. In 1 Thessalonians 5:6 Paul warns believers about the dangers of spiritual sloth and indifference. He urges us “not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.”
We are to be alert because our enemy lurks. Peter writes to encourage the believers in their trials in 1 Peter 5:8-9 by remind them, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.”
That’s quite a list of things we need to be alert to. But when times are uncertain, we need to be watchful over our hearts, preparing and being prepared for whatever may come. Alert believers aren’t caught off guard and so aren’t shaken even in distress, trials, and suffering.
The times are uncertain. Change is coming, in fact, change is here, so don’t be in a sleepy stupor or you will be caught off guard and be shaken in your faith.
The second command in 1 Corinthians 16:13 tells us where and in what way to be prepared. We are to stand firm in the faith. This is another present active command telling us to always and continually be persisting and persevering in standing firm. Joshua 3:17 provides us with a picture of what this might look like for us spiritually. Joshua and the nation of Israel have just crossed the Jordan river to enter the long-awaited promised land. The text says, “And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.” In another passage, an angel tells Daniel that he had been battling spiritual forces on his way to give aid to Daniel (which provides us with a tantalizing peek behind the curtain into the spiritual realm that goes on around us). In Daniel 10:21 the angel says, “Yet there is no one who stands firmly with me against these forces except Michael your prince.
Both passages give us a picture of persevering in less than stellar situations. In each case, there was a need for someone to stay put, to stand firm. Our text in 1 Corinthians 16:13 also gives us a vital piece of information when it tells us to stand firm in the faith, which means not to waver in uncertainty or doubt in the faith we adhere to, nor are we to be unbelieving as we live by faith ourselves. To stand firm in the faith isn’t a static thing though. We’re not to be some old dead posts cemented in the ground. We are to be trees that continue to grow even stronger and deeper into the soil of our faith. The picture of a growing, steadfast, immovable tree should be in our heads when we think about spiritually standing firm.
Yet, how?
Colossians 1:23 helps explain by telling us we need to “continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard.” We have to be rooted in the right soil and then stay there. Titus 1:13 also tells us we need to be sound in the faith, which means healthy, whole, growing, mature, and free from error. If we want to have a healthy, growing, and immoveable faith, then we must feed upon the Word of God by reading, studying, and meditating upon it.
The times are uncertain. Change is coming. Change is here. Be on the alert and stand firm in the faith.
The third command in 1 Corinthians 16:13 tells us, act like men! I love this command. This word is a hapaxlegomena, a word that only appears once in the New Testament. The tense of this command is different than the first two. It is what is called a present middle imperative. When you have a middle verb, the subject participates in the action. In an active verb you do all the action, in a passive verb something is done to you. In this instance, in the middle verb tense, you participate in what God is doing in your life. It works like this: God saves, God gives gifts, God gives the Bible, God gives the Holy Spirit, and here God provides all the resources you need for you as a woman of God to act like a man.
Wait! What?!!!
Acting like a man in a biblical sense is having the courage, the conviction, the strength of character, to do the right thing, even in the face of great temptation and resistance, even in the face of fear, even if you are the only one doing it.
Keep in mind our text is addressed to the whole church at Corinth who need to have manly strength of character—that means men, women, children, young, old, strong or weak—all are to act like men. Everyone is to act with courage, to be brave in the midst of uncertainty, distress, and even persecution.
Amy Carmichael said, “True valour lies, not in what the world calls success, but in the dogged going on when everything in the man says stop.” Courage perseveres. Courage stands firm. Courage finds its strength in the Lord. We learn from this command that we need to have courage, loveys. But the text tells us that God will help us to do so.
John Calvin was thin, frail, and sickly, yet was mightily used for the Lord. He was manly in his physical weakness! George Whitfield was weak, pudgy, sickly, and had one eye that looked in a different direction. Yet he was manly! Whitfield had courage. He was beat up, stoned, and pelted with rotten tomatoes and eggs. One time people even threw dead, maggot-infested cats at him! He was rejected by the established church, but kept on preaching. Why? Because he was manly! He had courage to keep doing what God called him to do, even in the face of opposition, difficulty, and trial. The “by faith” people of Hebrews 11 acted like men and displayed courage in the face of persecution and trial. Women and children throughout history have acted like men and displayed courage in suffering and affliction.
Psalm 112:7-8 says, “He [the righteous] will not fear evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is upheld, he will not fear.” Ladies, have courage in the face of all the evil tidings you hear and see. Put your trust in the Lord and not in man or laws or reports or experts. When the Lord is your trust, then your heart is upheld; you will not fear; you will act like a man!
The times are uncertain. Change is coming. Change is here. Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. Act like men!
The fourth command from 1 Corinthians 16:13 instructs us to be strong! This command is closely related to acting like men. This word means to be made strong, to be strengthened, to gain power to resist the temptations of the world, the flesh, and Satan. Yet, it is a different verb tense still. It is not an active tense where you are called upon to continually do something. It is not a middle tense where you participate in the action. The command to “be strong” is a present passive imperative, which means you receive the action, it happens to you! Be strong might more literally be translated, be strengthened by the Holy Spirit.
I so love this shift in verb tense. God is not telling us to be strong in ourselves. We are to receive the strength which He gives us. If we try to proceed in our own strength, we will fail. We will never be able to apply the 5 commands of these verses without the Lord’s strength. Yet, when we lean on the Lord, trusting in Him to strengthen us, then we can live these commands out faithfully.
We can learn more about what it means to be strengthened by the Lord from Ephesians 3:16, where Paul prays for believers to be strengthened by the Spirit in the inner man. Then in Colossians 1:11, Paul prays for believers to be strengthened with all power according to the Lord’s glorious might. In Philippians 4:13, when he speaks about being content in all circumstances, he says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Another example of the Lord’s strengthening work in our lives can be found in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 when Paul explains that his weaknesses, trials, and difficulties put God’s strengthening work on display in a mighty way. He tells us, “And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
We are living in a 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 time. Yet, by the strength which God supplies, we can be strong, though we feel weak and beset by our own weaknesses and sins. Even when we are insulted, distressed, persecuted, and find ourselves in difficulties, we can live upon the Lord’s strength, being made strong through the power of Christ dwelling in us.
Times are uncertain. Change is coming. Change is here. Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. Act like men, ladies! And be strengthened by the strength which God supplies. You cannot obey the other commands if you are not first finding your strength from the Lord Himself.
And finally, the fifth command from our text tells us, “Let all that you do be done in love.” This command, like the command to “act like men,” is in the middle voice, which means you participate in the action.
We can learn what it looks like to join in the action of love from 1 John 4:19, which teaches us, “We love, because He first loved us.” Because God is love and He loved us, He desires that we love too. The beauty of that truth is that when we come to know Jesus Christ as our Savior, God gives us the ability to love that wasn’t available to us before, because His Spirit now abides in us. What we learn from our text in 1 Corinthians 16:14 is that God helps us to love with His love while living in a hateful and full of hate world.
Without this command here in 1 Corinthians 16:14, we might be tempted to be strident in our alertness, to pridefully stand firm, to aggressively act like men, to boast in our strength, yet this fifth command sweeps all those fleshly responses away, instead bathing each command with a gentle, patient, and selfless love.
In Ephesians 4:1-3 Paul helps us see how to live out this last command to do all things in love. He tells us, “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” The people to whom the author of Hebrews was writing were in the midst of great difficulty and persecution. It’s significant to note that as the author gives his final instructions to these dear brethren, he tells them, “Let love of the brethren continue (Hebrews 13:1).”
Ladies, the times are uncertain. Change is coming. Change is here. We are to be alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strengthened by the Lord’s strength, and do it all and more in the love which God supplies.
There’s an old hymn that is a rousing call to arms for men, yet, its words are for us too.
Rise up O men of God
Have done with lesser things
Give heart and soul and mind and strength
To serve the King of Kings
Rise up O men of God
His Kingdom tarries long
Bring in the day of brotherhood
And end the night of wrong
Rise up O men of God
The Church for you doth wait
Send forth to serve the needs of men
In Christ our strength is great
Lift high the Cross of Christ
Tread where His feet have trod
As brothers of the Son of Man
Rise up O men of God
Rise up O Saints of God;
Rise Up O Gals of God!
Have done with lesser things
Give heart and soul and mind and strength
To serve the King of Kings
Oh, dear Saints of God! Have done with lesser things like fear, worldliness, or bitterness! Give your heart and soul and mind and strength to be alert, stand firm in the faith, have courage, live upon the Lord’s strength, and do all things in love, so you may serve the King of kings!
