Stand

Having done all, to stand. Stand therefore. Ephesians 6:13-14

Last week, we talked about what a person should do when it "appears" like a situation is not improving.  We posed the question what do we do when we have given a situation every ounce of our blood, sweat, and tears?  We said that it is at this point that we need to stand.  Ephesians 6:13-14 says, "Having done all, to stand.  Stand therefore."  The word "stand" in the Greek is the word "histemi" which means among many other things to "abide" and "lay" according to the Strong's Concordance.  It implies a position of rest.  Pastor Joseph Prince points out in his book Spiritual Warfare that in Ephesians 6, the word "wrestle" is used only once whereas the word "stand" is used four times!  He goes on to say, "This means that in spiritual warfare, we are to stand or rest in the victory of Christ."  Sometimes the reason a situation may not be improving is because we have given it every ounce of our blood, sweat, and tears!  Often when we work hard, God does not work so we are to rest in Christ!  The hardest thing most people will ever do is to rest.  At times, we do not want to rest because the flesh likes to take credit in terms of improving a situation.  At other times, we believe that if we don't take action, then God will not either.  God will always move on behalf of His sons and daughters though and Christ finished the work on the cross (John 19:30)!  Feel free to read the article living in the rest of God by Malcolm Smith on the website http://www.krowtracts.com/articles/rest.html and rest on today!