Anyone? Raise your hand if you like to face those situation where your heart really starts pumping, your hands shake from all that excess adrenaline, and your voice quivers with the emotion that's building in your chest...
Oh, wait! That sounds exactly like me...seriously, this is how I feel when I find myself barreling down a collision course of conflict.
But I can tell by the lack of hands raised that none of you like to be confronted, or even be the one doing the confronting. There's the whole weighing the options, the pros and cons that will come with your actions...or inactions, for that matter. When it comes to being confronted with standing for truth, however, that's a whole different ball game.
It's never easy to stand for the truth. As a teenager I was confronted with this fact at a slumber party, when one of the girls had the bright idea to prank call a boy she liked...after midnight...while the parents of the girl hosting the party were sleeping on the other side of the house. I knew it was wrong, and I didn't want to be a part of it.
For the next few minutes I hid out in the bathroom weighing those pros or cons...things like What will they think of me? and How will these girls I go to school/church/youth group treat me if I do...well, anything?
But then I thought what my parents would do to me when they found out...and they would find out. No matter what punishment scenario you come up with, they would have done Every. Single. One of Them.
Leaving that bathroom to ask to use the telephone was one of the hardest things I'd ever had to do. Let's face it, calling my Mom to come pick me up at 12:30 in the morning while a group of girls listened in, was really taking a stand against the "wrongness" of the entire situation.
As tough as it was to stand then, this past weekend proved to be just as difficult. Maybe it's the fact I had to watch My Dear Hubby weigh the options of how to respond when a woman stood up to give the devotional at one of the weekly basketball games where he coaches and our son plays. Or when the blaring, beating music he had listened to BEFORE coming to the Savior was being used to fill the air during the warm up and part of the game at what was suppose to be a "Christian" sporting event. The goal of the whole program is to bring young people to Christ through sports, but you cannot come to Christ by disregarding truth.
As he made the decision to walk across the gym floor, and politely excuse his assistant coaches and team from the "devotion", verses like Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong from I Corinthians 16:13 came to mind. Oh to have men who are valiant for the truth. (Jer. 9:3)
It took courage for my husband to do all of this in front of a gym full of people, many who were our own church family.
He later confessed he just couldn't idly stand by as clear Biblical truth was violated. Funny that this incident should follow a few days after he preached a message about having a burden for truth. And of course, being the practical, supportive wife I am, I pointed out that the Lord was having us practice living what he preached.
No one may like confrontation or having to deal with the fallout of standing for truth. And no one likes the ridicule that comes as a result. That's why the Apostle Paul, guided by the Holy Spirit, penned these words in Ephesians 6:13: Wherefore, take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Simply Standing for Truth,
Well said! I’ve noticed that many times after I give a devotion (to women only, of course! 😉) or write a blogpost I find myself having to put those same things into practice in my daily life. It’s not easy!
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