“If we don’t stand for something, we will fall for anything.” Then it is a good thing we know how to stand, right? Mostly, in my life, I have taken standing for granted. But there was that one day.
We had gone fishing in an airboat at a fishing lodge on the coast. You know what I mean by airboat, right? Think of a huge fan and an old General Motors 455 engine. Airboats are loud and powerful enough to carry the passengers over sandbars and shallow areas in the gulf. As our pilot turned the boat away from me, he floored it in a final deafening roar. Rocks and sand blew toward me. There was a wall behind me. As I turned away from the dust toward the wall, my back acted like a sail. I flew over the wall hitting my leg. It was memorable, but not in a good way.
Ahaz faced two fierce foes who had planned to annihilate him. They had already chosen the son of Tabeel to be the next king of Judah. As they breathed threats, God’s prophet Isaiah spoke words of comfort from the Sovereign Lord. God said, “It will not take place . . .” Why not? These men were not as ferocious and formidable as they pretended to be. Both of them would come to ruin in their time. We never find out who Tabeel’s son is. He never gets to reign in Judah, at all.
God’s final appeal challenged Ahaz to believe: “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.” We stand and walk by faith. Our trust in God enables us to endure the onslaught of challenges we face. Like Ahaz, faith alone provides the only firm footing for us to stand. If we do not stand in faith, we will not stand at all. Take it from me, falling can be very painful. Let’s stand for God so that we never fall for anything else!
