Steady Your Soul: Clinging to God in Change and Trialনমুনা

Firm Foundation

Read Isaiah 41:10

Stand Firm in Truth

Right, left, right, left, one foot in front of the other. Hand clutching my phone, ears tuned in to the Truth, I breathed in these lyrics: Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed, for I am thy God and will still give thee aid; I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand, upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand. The hymn “How Firm a Foundation” formed me each weekend as I circled the neighborhood, desperate for these steps to propel me into another week with three young children, responsibilities at work, and a husband who kissed me goodbye before traveling every week for his new job.

I was keenly aware of my husband’s absence. I noticed it when filling lunch boxes and preparing dinners. I noticed it after the evening’s activities when I realized I’d failed to eat dinner myself. I resented it when answering the continual cries of anxious children who couldn’t fall asleep. My commentary in every hard moment held some variation of this: And of course, my husband’s not here.

The Spirit began finishing my sentences: But I am. The words of Isaiah 41 would come rushing to mind: “Fear not, for I am with you….” I was afraid. I was dismayed that these circumstances forced me to die to myself over and over again. I was afraid I couldn’t do it alone, without help, and that my breakdown would leave my children to fend for themselves. I marched around the neighborhood, needing the words of “How Firm a Foundation,” because in the swirling of all this transition, fear paralyzed me. And when I became afraid, I clutched tightly to my idol of security—if my husband were here, then it wouldn’t be this hard, this exhausting, this exposing.

In Isaiah 41:10, God’s command to “Fear not” tethers to the Truth I found so comforting in my first days of motherhood: “For I am with you.” That new sense of aloneness gave way to the comforting Presence of my Father, always seeing, always near. So when the Spirit began pressing in this same Truth again in this season, I was tempted to shrug it off, quite sure that what I needed was not to be watched but to be helped.

Yet in the verses that precede Isaiah 41:10, God’s Presence doesn’t comfort but sends the nations trembling, scrambling, fearing for their very lives. They muster every bit of human strength to build up their defenses, band together to protect themselves, and secure their idols in place before the coming of the Lord (vv. 5–7). His Presence evokes fear among the nations, so much so that to Israel, His Covenant People, God repeats the command to fear not three times in five verses (vv. 10–14).

In this new season of my husband being less present and fear being more constant, it was not just the comfort of God’s Presence but the Power of it that drove out my fear. The same God who draws near to His people also causes the nations to tremble. The Judge of all the Earth fills the hearts of His children to overrule any contending masters. The Warrior who tramples kings underfoot upholds His servants with His Righteous Right Hand.

Flip through the pages of the Old Testament and see: When God shows up, the people fall on their faces. He speaks from a fiery bush (Ex. 3), His thunderous Presence surrounds Mount Sinai in flames (Ex. 20:18–21), His Glory descends on the tabernacle (Ex. 40:34–38), and all those near tremble. No one could come casually to God. Without a sacrifice to save them, God’s Holy Presence consumed sinners.

So God came to us in a form we could touch without dying—Jesus walked the Earth as fully God and fully man. The demons trembled before Him, and so did death. When Jesus died and entered the tomb, death gripped tight, but God raised Him up, His Incredible Power making even death melt like wax before Him.

The truth that God is with me did more than comfort me—it actually kindled a purifying fire. The awareness of God’s Presence highlighted my idolatrous fears that produced impatience and bitterness in me. By being forced to depend on God’s Divine Strength, I saw how my dependence on the human strength and nearness of my husband often led to record-keeping and arrogance. My awareness of God’s Presence produced a new kind of fear, one of reverence and awe, that weeded out sin and idolatry in my heart. Not only did His nearness give me hope, but it also made me holy.

As I circled the neighborhood week after week, I found my breath less shallow and my footing less shaky. In seasons past, I needed the comfort of being pulled in and held close, but in this season of change, God caused me to stand, upholding me by His Righteous and Powerful Hand.

Hold Fast to Hope

What fears are being exposed by your current circumstances?

How does knowing that God is with you affect those fears?

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