Don't be shaken

Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone, and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow labourer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith, that no one should be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. For, in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know. For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor might be in vain. – 1 Thessalonians 3.1-5

Afflictions can surely be faith shakers. Our present affliction is no exception. The Covid virus and the resulting actions are a continuing hardship. Separation from family, churches closed, job losses, in addition to the obvious deaths due to illness are going to change live forever.

That points out to me just how easy it is to be shaken from what we believe. A lot of folks can be shaken to the core and begin to doubt things they have always known. James calls this being ‘double minded.’ Double-mindedness causes instability and that causes us to tossed about by everything that comes our way.

We can’t let things like this silly virus shake our faith. This is a big deal, but our lives are full of are things that catch us off guard. Sudden illness, deaths of loved one, job losses, natural disasters – all of this can cause us to be temporally knocked down. It is vital though that we don’t get knocked out when this happens. What matters is what we do. Do we stay shaken or do we choose to rely on Christ as our stability and solid foundation – and stand fast?

Don’t be shaken by the storms that assail us. We’ve all seen them. We are seeing them now. We will see them in the future.

What is our stronger, our faith or the battles of the world.