It’s when I’m tired, hungry, wet or cold, have a sore throat, get insulted, get rejected, my plans get thwarted or a myriad of other things, that wavering in my love and commitment starts to feel like the best way forward. The temptation to waver always comes with the promise of relief, albeit temporary relief.
Recently I found myself in a very difficult situation. I was in Taiwan serving with a ministry for a weekend event. The event was an outdoor gospel crusade along the harbor. The wind off the water coupled with the rain was more than I had bargained for. My feet were numb with the cold and wet from the rain. Oh, for waterproof insulated boots—why hadn’t I brought some? Oh, for warm water in my water bottle instead of cold. Oh, for the leader of this event to call an audible and tell us that due to the weather the event was cancelled and we could all come in and warm up and dry out. I was hoping for an out from the assignment I had said yes to do.
Ever been there? Playing through your mind what relief from your current circumstances would look like? You picture yourself sipping steamy hot anything, warming your hands on the mug as the chill retreats. Or being surrounded by kind people who are sympathetic with your weakness and singing your praises?
As Christians, do we know what we’ve signed up for? I believe we have signed up to be loved by Jesus’ strong love. I believe His strong love empowers us by grace to not quit when the going gets tough. I believe we have signed up to love Him back in a reciprocal strong way. This includes loving Him with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength and loving others in this strong way. This type of assignment, this caliber of love, requires our total and daily buy-in at every level of our lives if we are to have success.
I’m so grateful to God we get to do this together! I simply can’t stand doing it alone; I need you. I’m recalling this recent cold, windy and rainy night in Taiwan where my flesh was screaming, “Get me out of here!” I watched our team leader, Kyle, position himself at the back of our crowd, and as he faced the rain and wind, he stood on a small hill alone. After an hour or so, I went over to see what he was doing and he said, “I’m praying and doing spiritual warfare over our people and our event.”
He pointed to a woman he had gone to witness to who was standing 200 feet away. He explained she didn’t want prayer and boldly told him, “I’m from the Buddhist temple.” Then this woman held her ground for three hours in the rain and cold, standing under her umbrella while she cursed our Christian group and our outreach. He said, “As long as she is there, I will not move from this spot!”
That’s unwavering! His words put boldness in my heart, and I stopped caving in to thoughts of a warm bath and hot soup. A couple of us joined him in this spiritual battle, the battle of Buddha vs. Jesus. At the three-hour mark, she retreated back to the temple, and I thanked Jesus for Kyle’s courageous stance and example of what it looks like to be unwavering.
I choose to surround myself with people just like Kyle; men and women who stand their ground in the storms of life and refuse to back down while being cursed for following Jesus. People like this have my back when my knees begin to buckle. I want to have theirs in their hour of need.
Together, we lay hold of this empowering grace of God to love and stand, to encourage, support and unify with one another. It’s this together kind of stance, this unified body of Christ that will demonstrate unwavering love, devotion and service in the midst of the difficulty that yet lies ahead.
We can have unwavering trust and confidence in the truth of the gospel and the message of the cross because Jesus never wavered in love, obedience or His mission. He never wavered, not even once! Lord Jesus, help us to be full of faith and unwavering love and commitment just like You.
Lord Jesus, help us to be unwavering just like You are!
Jesus is the only one we can rely on to keep us from wavering when the onslaught of life hits us. Come to Kansas City and join thousands of women at the Unwavering 2018 conference as we worship the God who keeps us steady in the storm. {eoa}
In 2001, Diane Bickle founded and remains the CEO of a real estate company. At IHOPKC, she serves in the healing rooms and in evangelistic outreaches, oversees aspects of the pastoral care department, and regularly leads prayer meetings. She also speaks at conferences around the nation. Diane has been married to Mike for 40 years and says, “Through the years, our love, friendship and partnership have grown, as well as our deep respect for one another. We have fun together.” They have two amazing adult sons, two beautiful daughter-in-law and five stunning grandchildren who have “stolen my heart.”
This article originally appeared at ihopkc.org.
Janet Perez Eckles 
Shawn Akers 
Abby Trivett