Stand Firm

I'm home sick from work today.  I don't think I've taken a sick day (aside from doctors' appointments) all year and I don't really know what to do with myself.  When I'm sick, all I want to do is make myself more comfortable.  I wallow in self-pity and curl up in my huge bed.  The last thing I'm thinking about is my relationship with the Lord, aside from a few mumbled prayers that He would make me feel better.

After a bit of wallowing this morning, I dragged myself awake and read 1 Corinthians 15.  Verse 58 reads,

"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm.  Let nothing move you.  Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

That's a wake-up call if I've ever heard one!  Whether we're physically sick, swamped at work, complacent with life, or utterly discontent with the life we're living, we are called to stand firm.  We might be tempted to be "fair weather followers," willing to follow  the Lord when everything's right, but we are called to let nothing move us.  The Lord has placed me where I am today, sick as I may feel, for a reason, and His promise to me in Jeremiah 29:11 is this:

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

If the Lord has plans to give me hope and a future, whom shall I fear?  I am comforted by the words of Deuteronomy 31:8:

"The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."  

Our Father has already gone through this on our behalf.  Instead of turning our hearts from Him, we turn towards Him and His outstretched arms.  He knows where we are and what we're going through.  He has been here and is here.  

"This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."

-Psalm 118:24