November 20

It is imperative that a vehicle of conveyance be worthy of its task. Having once been aboard an airplane as it flew through the severe turbulence of a typhoon to reach the calm above the storm, and having seen some of the bolts in the overhead compartment jarred loose as doors opened and discharged their contents, I could not help but be praying that the mechanical parts of the plane were more secure.

We need to be able to trust the integrity of what, of whom we trust ourselves to. Whether it’s a life partner or a physician or a tax consultant, we want to know we’ve placed ourselves in trustworthy hands. We account competence and steadfastness to be among the most desirable of traits in a professional.

God desires those things from us as well. He wants us to know Him, to know His Word, so we will fully understand Who and what we are committing ourselves to when we place our lives at His feet, and He wants us to be steadfast in our determination to remain strong in faith, even when the winds of adversity assail.

This quality, steadfastness, has been uppermost in God’s expectation of His people from the earliest scriptural references. In Genesis 15:6 we are told, “Abram believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness.” To believe Him, one must know Him and trust Him. Then it’s easy to be steadfast!