Listen:
Isaiah 26:1-4
In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
We have a strong city;
God makes salvation
its walls and ramparts.
Open the gates
that the righteous nation may enter,
the nation that keeps faith.
You will keep in perfect peace
those whose minds are steadfast,
because they trust in you.
Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.
Consider:
When you Google the definition of stability, you get this: “the property of a body that causes it, when disturbed from a condition of equilibrium or steady motion, to develop forces or moments that restore the original condition.” What? Constantly balancing all motions/all forces so that one single state of being can be maintained? That sounds impossible…and so I continued reading definitions.
Another simpler definition of stability is “the strength to stand or endure.”
We all find ourselves in places that are out of balance in life, perhaps from a diagnosis that was unexpected, a loss that shakes us to the core, or an expectation placed upon us that we cannot possibly achieve. On our own, with our own sensibilities and our own clouded lens of looking at the world, stability seems almost impossible most of the time, does it not? So our task is to broaden our view, and shore up our understanding of where our enduring strength and stability comes from.
In this Isaiah passage, we get a picture of a secure city—strong walls, firm foundations, gates open to those who have faith and trust in God’s unmovable nature. It’s a reminder that true stability doesn’t come from circumstances, resources, or our own strength. Stability is not the absence of storms, but the presence of a steady God in the midst of the storms. When our focal point is the foundation of a loving, unbreakable God, we hopefully find a sense of peace that circumstances cannot shake. Hope and trust in God doesn’t just clear our eyes; it stabilizes our steps in all the journeys of life.
Respond:
Take a moment to try to stand on one foot, or walk a thin line, or balance a book on your head…something that requires some stability in your body in order to accomplish. After trying it with no assistance, find something (or someone) to help steady your hand, your steps, your balance (maybe holding the book with two fingers on your head, balancing on one foot with a hand resting on a chair, etc.). This assistance doesn’t negate your ability to do the activity… it simply assists you in your journey. It allows you to feel more secure, more stable, more ready to succeed at the task. God is that sense of balance, that stability in the moments of life that throw us off completely. God is there, ready to offer a steady hand, a reassuring balance point for holding steady.
Pray:
Stay with us, God, in the grit and grind of life…stay close enough that your hope radiates into our very beings, that we may feel it, be warmed by it, and may build strength enough from it to warm others. Amen.
