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Standing Firm on What Scripture Actually Teaches: Biblical Truth for Today · Fostering Faith

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  Welcome back to Fostering Faith. I'm gonna be
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  your host Tracie and we are in episode 3 of April
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  and we hope that you guys are having a great
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  week and the series or the topic today is gonna
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  be standing firm when life gets hard and as we
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  are recording this podcast as I am actually sitting
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  in a hospital parking lot because my dad had
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  fallen asleep he has recently fallen and broken
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  his hip and so we are encouraged by the goodness
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  of God and standing firm when a man of God falls
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  and breaks his head and we are just sitting here
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  and just in all of the goodness that he's 85
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  years old and he has had multiple health conditions
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  but he has stand he has stood firm when life
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  gets hard if you have ever met my father he is
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  So just Full of Jesus and just the love of the
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  Lord and is in Scripture and he suffers from
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  chronic pain He can barely walk on a good day
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  He shuffles his feet because he's in so much
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  pain and it really has been Just through so much
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  in his life almost died several times just comes
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  up with the super abnormal Things one in a million
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  people get blood dyscrasias a cold intolerant
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  auto anemia Does he's had a lot going on in his
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  life and if anything he has taught me to stand
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  firm when life gets hard and We were talking
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  about it as we I was listening to a podcast one
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  day because I was just trying to Run and just
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  clear my head and I just left the hospital and
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  just had a few hours just to get things done
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  at home to come back to the hospital and we were
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  I had listened to a sermon about the thorn in
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  Paul's side and The sermon had talked about how
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  the thorn was not talking about like a roast
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  or it was talking about like a nail and That's
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  what my dad literally just had put it in his
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  head and the sermon went on to go to teach an
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  acronym of thorn and It was like you have to
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  be teachable. You have to be humble. You have
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  to be obedient You have to be like resilient
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  and just just keep coming after my repetition
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  and it was I forgot what the N stood for. Noble,
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  maybe? I don't know. But I was talking about
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  Job, and I was like, you know what, Dad? I said,
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  you're like a lifetime of Job. He doesn't have
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  a crazy wife, but he has had friends that potentially
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  have left him. As you get older, your friends
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  pass away, and people leave you. And he's just
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  stayed so faithful. And so potentially dedicating
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  this episode to my dad. As I record this and
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  so standing firm where life gets hard. There
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  are seasons in life when everything feels harder
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  than it should. It feels heavier. The days feel
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  longer. The stress feels sharper. The image feels
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  louder and whenever you become spiritual battle
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  and emotional pressure and everyday. Responsibilities
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  you start feeling like you're standing in a storm
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  with no umbrella and there's and here's the truth.
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  Followers of Jesus don't remove the bad season.
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  It gives you strength in them and so standing
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  firm is not passive. It's not empathetic. It's
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  not weak. It's not folding your arms and hoping
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  things magically get better. Standing firm is
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  spiritual warfare under pressure. Standing firm
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  is faith when the ground is shaking. Standing
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  firm is choosing stability when your emotions
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  scream instability. Standing firm is refusing
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  to let the storm to find you. Standing firm is
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  rooting yourself in Christ when everything shifts.
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  In this episode is. for believers who's not been,
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  who's been tired, discouraged, overwhelmed, or
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  seriously stretched because God doesn't just
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  want you to survive hard seasons. He wants you
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  to stand firm. And it's funny about standing
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  firm because as he is recovering from this hip
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  surgery and he can only have 25 % on the leg
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  that was affected. And it's about how he has
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  to stand firm on his right leg. And he's so crooked
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  to begin with. And so when you have to stand
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  firm, dad, you have to stand up strong on that.
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  Like I can't, he would say, I can't. And I said,
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  I can't is gonna get you in a nursing home, but
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  the only options that you have are I will and
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  I can. And so I wrote it like really big on this
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  piece of paper and I was like, so what is our
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  choices? And he would begrudgingly say, I can
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  and I will. And I said, exactly, I can and I
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  will. And we're not doing it on our strength,
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  we're doing on his strength. And so whenever
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  we stand up, we say thank you. Whenever we have
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  a pain, we say thank you. Because he's given
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  this opportunity to just be and draw closer to
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  him. And I said, so stand firm, stand tall. And
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  I'm like, you have your shoes on, you have your
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  cleats on, because this is going to be a war.
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  And so we have our shoes of peace and we are
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  standing firm. And when life gets heavy, you're
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  not feeling. One of the biggest lies the enemy
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  whispers is you shouldn't feel this way. You're
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  not strong enough. Real Christians won't struggle
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  like this. You must be doing something wrong.
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  But scripture never promises an easy life. It
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  promises a sustained life. And so David had caves
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  and enemies. Elijah had fear and burnout. Job
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  had loss and grief. Paul had shipwrecks and prison
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  and suffering. And Jesus had his enemy. before
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  the resurrection. Hard seasons are not evidence
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  of weak faith. Hard seasons are where faith grows.
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  And Jesus never said, avoid the storms. He said,
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  build your house on the rock so you can stand
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  through the storm. And we were actually going
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  through that in class with the kids right now.
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  You have two paths. You have two foundations.
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  You have the narrow road. You have a wide road.
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  You have this foundation and you have the other
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  foundation. And so standing firm doesn't mean
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  the storm disappears. It means a storm doesn't
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  take you out. Why hard seasons hit so hard? Because
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  that spiritually exposes you, your identity,
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  your trust, your emotional resilience, your spiritual
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  habits, your areas of fear, your expectations,
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  your endurance, and your dependence on God. Pressure
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  reveals what comfort conceals. And sometimes
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  God allows pressure not to break you, but to
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  build you. Storms don't shake things that aren't
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  meant to fall. Storms reveal what's not anchored
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  yet. And even hard seasons carry one invitation.
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  Let me be. your stability. Standing firm, what
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  scripture actually teaches, the Bible teaches
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  more about standing firm than almost any other
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  spiritual's posture. And here's a big one. Stand
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  firm in your faith. Stand firm in your faith
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  and be courageous and be strong in 1 Corinthians
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  16 13. That means don't negotiate your belief
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  because you're of your pressure. Don't shrink
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  back because God feels quiet. Don't let feelings
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  redefine truth. Feeling faith is not a feeling.
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  It's a decision. And standing firm in freedom.
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  Stand firm and then do not let yourselves be
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  burdened again in Galatians 5 .1. Sometimes the
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  battle is not new. It's old bondage trying to
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  return. Standing firm means you don't go backwards.
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  You don't return to what God freed you from.
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  You don't go back to Israel. You don't go back
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  to Egypt. You know, not the Israel thing. That's
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  funny. Don't accept old chains as an identity.
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  Three. Stand firm in grace. Through whom we have
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  gained access and faith, we stand in grace in
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  Romans 5 2. Grace is your footing when you feel
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  unworthy. Standing firm means that you don't
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  accept condemnation. You don't drown in guilt.
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  You don't believe shame's lies. You don't try
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  to earn what God already gave. Grace is not a
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  crutch. It's a solid ground. 4. Stand firm in
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  the truth. Stand firm with the belt of truth
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  buckled around your waist. Ephesians 6 14. Truth
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  stabilizes your mind when the lies try to shake
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  you. Standing firm means that you choose truth
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  over emotion. You choose scripture over faith.
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  You choose God's word over the enemy's whisper.
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  Truth is anchored in scripture. Truth is your
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  anchor. And that goes back to my tattoo. If you
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  guys have heard this, I really do want a little
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  tiny boat with an anchor to it. And then how
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  does your enemy attack you in hard seasons? The
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  enemy rarely attacks your circumstance first.
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  He attacks your stability. And you'll see this
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  in three different ways. One, distraction. Everything
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  feels urgent except God. Two, discouragement.
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  You feel defeated before you even begin. Three,
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  doubt. You question what God said, what God he
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  promised, and what he is doing. If the enemy
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  can't destroy you, he will try to destabilize
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  you. But scripture says, do not be shaken. Do
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  not be moved. Stand fast. Be steadfast. Hold
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  your ground. Why? Because the battle is won when
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  the believer refuses to bow to pressure. And
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  what standing firm looks like in real life. This
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  part matters because standing firm is not one
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  big heroic movement. It's small faithful decisions
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  over and over. And this is what it looks like
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  showing up to church whenever you're tired. Opening
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  your Bible whatever your emotions say later.
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  Praying even whatever you're not sure what to
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  say. Refusing to spiral whatever fear rises.
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  Worshipping when discouragement hits. Staying
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  planted in community instead of isolating. Protecting
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  your mind when anxiety presses. Speaking truth
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  over yourself when lies get loud. Choosing obedience
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  when it's inconvenient. Not quitting whenever
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  you feel worn out. Faith isn't loud. Consistency
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  is loud. Standing firm is not glamorous, but
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  is powerful. And consistency is what crushes
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  the enemy's strategy. And God promises strength
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  in the hard seasons. And one of the most repeated
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  promises in scripture is saying, I will strengthen
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  you. Not I might, or I hope you figure it out,
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  or good luck, or try harder. God says, I will
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  strengthen you. I will hold you up. I will carry
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  you, I will protect you, I will sustain you,
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  Isaiah 40, 10. And so as you're hearing this
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  in 2026, my message last year was from Isaiah
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  40, 31. And so standing firm does not come from
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  your strength, it comes from his strength. Your
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  strength runs out, his does not. Your emotions
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  fluctuate, his faithfulness does not. The energy
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  drain, your energy will drain, but his will not.
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  Your heart wavers. His character does not. You
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  are not standing firm alone. You're standing
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  in the firm supported by heaven. And the secret
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  to standing firm is that your root deeper, not
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  stronger. Your root deeper and not stronger.
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  And so when the storm comes, the trees with shallow
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  roots will fall. But the trees with deep roots
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  stand. Strength doesn't come from the size of
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  the tree. It comes from the depths of the root.
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  And standing firm means your root is deeper in
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  prayer, your root deeper in worship, your root
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  deeper in Scripture, your root deeper in community,
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  your root deeper in the presence of God. And
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  deep roots prevent spiritual collapse. God is
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  not asking you to be unshakable personality.
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  He's asking you to have unshakable connection.
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  Your stability is not based on your temperament.
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  It is based on your attachment to Christ. And
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  so in your workbook this week, as we encourage
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  you to go to Fostering Faith website, Fostering
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  Faith Media, and look out for the workbooks that
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  we have put together. And so in week three, the
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  workbook page is, where am I struggling to stand
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  firm right now? Is it your faith? Your thoughts?
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  Your peace? Relationships? Consistency? Focus?
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  Trust? Identity? Write it and be honest. And
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  God will strengthen what you surrender. And so
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  what is one practical step that you can take
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  this week to stand firm in the area that God
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  has highlighted? Setting a prayer alarm. Speaking
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  scripture over your storm. Replacing one thought
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  with the truth. Reaching out when someone is
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  isolating. Getting back into the word. Worshipping
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  in the morning. A social media fast. Declaring
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  truth out loud. Standing firm happens one obedient
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  step at a time. A marathon can be one. One step
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  at a time. One step at a time. One step at a
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  time. And so those little steps equal huge goals
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  and aspirations. And so not getting overwhelmed
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  by this, but just one step over time. And so
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  we hope this message encouraged you, as we ourselves
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  cannot talk about something that we are not going
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  through. And so hard times are gonna hit. People
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  are gonna fall. Things are gonna break. People
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  are gonna have surgeries. Things are gonna be
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  diagnosed. And we have got to be rooted in the
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  storm. He has got to be our anchor. And so, we
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  would love to pray for you this week. If this
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  message encouraged you, send it to a friend that's
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  going through a tough time. Print out these workbooks.
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  Leave us a message. Leave us a comment. Share
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  it with a friend. And we would love to pray for
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  you. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much
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  for these listeners. Thank you so much that we're
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  going to stand firm. Thank you that our arch
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  are anchored in your truth. Thank you for the
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  endurance. Thank you for the silence that we
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  hear because we hear you in our ear. Thank you
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  for all that you do for us. In Jesus' name, I
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  pray. Amen.