Priscilla Shirer - Stand Firm in Your Decision to Follow Christ
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Summary
The preacher uses the striking example of a single house that survived Hurricane Ike in 2008 while 199 others were destroyed, to illustrate the importance of building our lives on a solid foundation that can withstand life’s storms. He urges believers to remain faithful to Christ, not to abandon their calling, marriage, or ministry despite difficulties, emphasizing that true value lies in steadfast faithfulness rather than fame or success. Through the story of zebras and their stripes, he stresses the need to deeply know God through Scripture in the early stages of faith, so we won’t be deceived and our house will stand firm when trials come.
Hurricane Ike and the One House That Stood
It was September of 2008 when a hurricane named Ike swept through. Those of you who were around in 2008 might remember Hurricane Ike. It caused extensive damage, particularly in Texas. Winds of 110 mph ripped through one town in particular that was most impacted. It was called Gilchrist, a little beachside town in Texas. It’s a community that boasted about 200 homes, just a small neighborhood mostly populated by retired couples who had moved there to this little shoreline community to enjoy a bit of peace and rest in that season of their lives.
Just when they were looking for some peace, the storm came. The aftermath of Ike was devastating; in fact, people who visited the site afterward said it was nearly completely unrecognizable. Twenty-four hours after the storm, the once-populated neighborhood, with brightly colored homes, detailed landscaping, and green lawns with friendly sidewalks, no longer resembled a neighborhood at all. It looked more like a swamp; it was almost completely desolate, just a muddied patch of ground.
There was almost nothing left except fragments of what once was, but the only thing that gave a slight nod to history, the only landmark that provided evidence that a community had existed the day before, was that of the 200 houses that had been there; only one remained. One hundred ninety-nine had been wiped out by the storm, but there was one that was still standing.
What Made This House Stand?
I think we have a couple of images so you can see the remarkable sight of this one house remaining standing after the storm. I wish I had time, because if I had time tonight, I would just ask the question: what is it about this house that kept it standing when the storm wiped everything else out? The truth is, if I had time, I would tell you about the owners who had weathered previous storms, so they made the wise proactive decision to retrofit their house in preparation for future storms.
Oh, we could spend some time there if we had the time, but rather, I would like for you to consider that shocking image you just saw and think about how it not only displays a look at a geographical landscape but, honestly, sadly, if you think about it, it looks a whole lot like the landscape of some of our lives.
The Landscape of Our Lives
The truth is, there are a lot of people who started out on the journey with us, but now, in these years we’re currently in, we look around us and realize that not everyone is building houses that are still standing. The truth is, when we started out and made a commitment—maybe to follow Christ, or made a commitment to see our marriage through to the end, or that endeavor that the Lord had entrusted to us, or that ministry He asked us to start—everyone had so much fervor at the beginning of the building project.
But then the storm came, and now we look around us and realize that not everyone is building houses that are built to last, lives that will go the distance.
Where Are the Saints Who Will Remain?
Where are the saints who will remain? Where are the ones who have decided that come hell or high water, they will serve the Lord? The political landscape may change, all those around us may change, our financial situation may change, but no matter what happens around us, we’ve decided we will follow Jesus. Where are the saints who will remain?
Why is it that it’s becoming harder and harder to find people who are plain old flat-out faithful, who have decided to follow Jesus, who have determined there’s no turning back? People are drifting away. Have you noticed?
There are spouses who are leaving, there are parents who are giving up, there are dreamers who are throwing in the towel on the dreams God put in their hearts. There are ministers who are quitting what they said was a calling. How do you quit a calling? Many people are abandoning their faith; they’re deconstructing their faith to the point where what they have left doesn’t even look like faith anymore.
Where are the people who will remain, who will stay, who will plant their feet firmly and choose faithfulness?
The Value of Faithful Steadfastness
Can I tell you, the older I get, the less impressed I am with the famous, and the more I am impressed with people who are just plain old flat-out faithful. They may not be famous, but they’ve remained; they may not be rich, but they’ve remained; they may not be applauded, but they’ve remained.
They may not have best-selling books or millions of followers on Instagram, but they aren’t concerned about that. They’re trying to be steadfast, unmovable, and always abounding in the work of the Lord. We need some people who are just faithful—not comparing themselves to someone else’s house, not wondering whether their house looks good compared to other people’s houses around them.
No, this is the house the Lord has entrusted to me, and I’m going to ensure this foundation is firm, and I’m going to make sure that the scaffold of this house is solid, so I have a house that is still standing.
An Encouragement to Stay Faithful
So I came to encourage you to stay, to remain, to be faithful. What is it that God has called you to do? Only you know the assignment He has entrusted to you, the ministry that you know He has called you to start, which you feel ill-equipped for.
You may feel like you’re not gifted enough, not talented enough, which has led you to delay doing what God has asked you to do, and you might have thought about throwing in the towel because you tried it for a little while but it doesn’t seem like it’s flourishing or growing.
So you’re about to throw in the towel? I came to tell you to stay. The entrepreneurial spirit that God has birthed in your heart, the marriage, the relationship that He has entrusted to you, the parents of the teenagers—Lord have mercy, the Lord has entrusted us to raise parents. I came to tell you don’t throw in the towel now, sis. Stay.
A Word to the Weary
Maybe it’s just one or two of you in the room or on the other side of the screen tonight who honestly just said to the Lord this week that if He doesn’t show up and do something specific to encourage you—let you know He will never leave you nor forsake you—you feel so isolated, alone, abandoned, and confused.
If He doesn’t do something, God, you’re getting ready to throw in the towel. Well, the Lord sent me all the way from Dallas, Texas to tell you to stay, remain, be faithful. Not in that situation that may be unhealthy, and with wise counsel, you may need freedom from there, but a lot of times we’re just abandoning stuff because we’re tired.
We’re just abandoning stuff because it’s gotten difficult—and it has. The storm has opened, the clouds have opened up over our lives, the rain has fallen, hail has fallen, and the winds are blowing hard against us. We’re about to throw in the towel, but the Spirit of the Living God lives inside of you and inside of me to give us the resolve that we do not have in our own strength and in our own power, so that we can remain. I came to tell you to stay, be faithful.
The Assignment God Has Given You
What is the assignment the Lord has entrusted to you? Jerry and I had the opportunity to take our boys some years ago to South Africa. We knew we would go a year in advance, and at the time, we were homeschooling the kids because they just traveled with us everywhere, so I knew a year in advance we would get the opportunity to go.
We did everything we could to make it happen; we were saving money to make it happen. I planned their schooling around the fact that we would be there, so six weeks leading up to it, we were reading everything about South Africa—looking at the geography of South Africa, reading about Nelson Mandela and the apartheid movement—because my whole goal was when we got there, we would go try to see some of these things that we’ve only seen online or read little articles about.
Making the Most of the Trip
I think they thought they were going there on vacation; I was like, «Uh-huh, y’all got the wrong Mama for that. We’re halfway across the world; we’re going to see this whole situation.» Every morning, I had a plan: we’re going to go see Table Mountain today, or we’re going to take the little ferry across to Robben Island so you can see where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned.
I wanted to milk it, and they were kind of like, «Oh Mom, can we stay in bed today?» Absolutely not! You’re going to get up, you’re going to come here, and see what we’re going to see today, and you’re going to enjoy it, and one day you’re going to rise up and call me blessed, is what you’re going to do!
Have you ever done that, where you make your kids do something and you’re like, «You’re going to be happy about it»? One day, we had to wake up at the crack of dawn to get to a safari that started after we had to drive two hours outside of Cape Town for a little half-day safari.
The Safari Experience
We woke up really early, we did the drive, and I’m so glad we did; it was a great experience. We got in this open Jeep with a very bubbly, skilled, learned guide who stood at the front facing us the entire time, pointing out animals most of which we had only seen online. It was really cool to see some of them in person.
I remember when he came to a herd of zebras; I thought to myself, I hope he doesn’t stop very long to talk about the zebras; we’ve seen zebras before in the states. We don’t need a class on the zebra. But in the end, I was really glad that he paused for a moment because he said something I can’t forget.
The Lesson from the Zebras
He pointed out the zebra and said, «You see the little baby foal there with the herd? Do you know this is the first time I’ve seen that baby in about three weeks? The reason is that the stripes on every single zebra are as unique to each one as fingerprints on human beings. You can’t tell by the naked eye, but the configuration right smack dab in the middle of every forehead is unique to each zebra.
When a baby is first born, the mom will take the baby away from the herd by itself, with just the mother for the first two or three weeks, so the baby gets to know the configuration of stripes that belongs to its mother. After a few weeks, she’ll bring the baby back to the herd; now that the baby has spent so much time getting to know who its mother is, it is not confused by all the other stripes it will now be around.
It can’t be duped; it knows the configuration that belongs to its parent because it took time to get to know the one who gave birth to it.»
Knowing Your Father in the Early Stages
The reason why, when you’re in a fledgling stage, you need to come away and get to know who your daddy is is because there’s a whole bunch of other stripes out here. If you don’t know that by His stripes you are healed, then you and I live in a culture that is going to try to play us for the fool.
They are going to try to introduce to us a new modernized version of Jesus that doesn’t match up with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You’re going to need to know who your daddy is; you’ll need to know exactly who He is in the Old Testament and the New Testament.
We have a generation of Christians today that I must tell you are growing up too fast—they’re skipping this stage right here. They’re on their social media teaching Bible studies and they don’t even know who their daddy is yet.
Get to Know the God of the Bible
They haven’t even taken time to just get to know the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; to see what it was like when God picked Abram out of Ur and changed his name to Abraham, altering his destiny. You need to know who the angel of the Lord was when he met a tired, timid Gideon underneath an oak tree while he was beating out wheat in a wine press and called him to greatness and victory with a less-than-impressive army.
You need to know who he was in the Book of Ruth when he silently orchestrated her circumstances so that her story became a legacy for the record books. You need to know who God was when He miraculously freed two million Hebrew refugees and brought them through the wilderness and into the land flowing with milk and honey.
You need to see God provide water from a rock and cornflakes from heaven and quail for His people to eat. You need to know what it was like when their shoes did not wear out on their feet because God provided for them and took care of them.
Build on a Firm Foundation
You need to know who your God was so that you can be confident in who He is. I implore you, sisters, don’t skip this stage right here! This is the part that will ensure your house can stay standing because the foundation is firm, so that when the culture tries to introduce to you a new advanced version of Jesus, you can look back at them and say, «Uh-uh, that’s not who He is, ” because I know who He was!
When they say He is silent against injustice, or that He has a new modified, lower standard for holiness, you can say, „That’s not who He is, ” because I know who He was. Get to know who your Savior is.
Take the time to steep yourself in the Scriptures so that you have a firm foundation for this house. You might know what it’s like when you take your child to a pediatrician; you know our tendency when they’re little and not walking yet is to bounce them on our legs, kind of happily, in our laps, bouncing them up and down.
I’ve heard a pediatrician say before that it can be very dangerous to put too much weight on their legs too soon because their bones are still soft and malleable. If there is too much weight on them too soon, it could cause just the slightest distortion in their spine that you can’t detect or see when they’re young.