Standing my ground

Though times it seems like I'm coming undone
This walk can often feel lonely
No matter what until this race is won
I will stand my ground where hope can be found 
~ Lyrics from Lauren Daigle's song, 'O Lord'. 

There has been a battle for hope here this month. What does it mean for you to stand your ground where hope can be found? For me it has meant clinging to God's Word as TRUTH.  I once read these 5 points of what it means to believe God:

God is who He says He is. 
God can do what He says He can do. 
I am who He says I am. 
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 
I believe God. *

Numbering them off on my fingers, this month more than most, I have had to put these to work.
Although Satan's mind games are (literally) the oldest tricks in the book, he still uses them because they work. It takes discernment and an exercise of the will towards faith to combat them. Because often what we see, hear or feel is not the truth. I have found myself caught up in floods of thoughts that are not my own, but in fact from the pit. It has pushed me back to the Word, to stand my ground on the Truth, so I don't drown in the false accusations, condemnation and discouragement that come as insidious little thoughts but snowball in minutes. My answers have come from Isaiah 49:
 He said to me, ‘You are my servant,    Israel, in whom I will display my splendour.’

But I said, ‘I have laboured in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing at all.Yet what is due to me is in the Lord’s hand, and my reward is with my God.’ (Isa 49:3,4)


Being the month of the Thai New Year (Water festival), it was a month of more sacred rituals and ceremonies than the rest of the year. From all outward appearances, this is enemy territory. He seems to have a tight grip on the hearts and minds of Thai people. Yet we trust the Word of God because that is the TRUTH: 

This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

‘See, I will beckon to the nations, I will lift up my banner to the peoples; they will bring your sons in their arms
    and carry your daughters on their hips...

Then you will know that I am the Lord;
    those who hope in me will not be disappointed.’

 Can plunder be taken from warriors,
    or captives be rescued from the fierce?

But this is what the Lord says:

‘Yes, captives will be taken from warriors,
    and plunder retrieved from the fierce;
I will contend with those who contend with you,
    and your children I will save.

(Isa 49:22-25)

This is His people, He is sovereign, He is building His kingdom here and the gates of hell will not stand against it. Holding on to this, believing it despite everything, means standing my ground where hope can be found.

What has 'standing your ground' meant for you? Leave a comment to share the encouragement! 

* From Believing God, by Beth Moore