So you are going along in your walk with God. Everything seems fine. You have a little trial here, a small trouble there, but nothing your faith can’t handle. Then one day, you are blindsided by something terrible. The walls of stability come crashing down and everything around you is testing the true steadfastness of your faith. What you thought was good and right has turned sour and bitter in your mouth and you don’t even know how. What happens when the very foundation of our existence is cracked and appears beyond repair? I can think of three reactions people should have to difficult events in their lives — Sit, Stand, Walk — and to whom they respond makes all the difference.

Our response to situations in our life is the very test of faith that, when passed, cultivates endurance in our spirits. (James 1:2-3) That’s why we need to accept trials and troubles with joy. We need to kinda puff up our chest and say, “I have Jesus Christ on my side, throw your worst at me, world.” Knowing that with the help of the Holy Spirit, we will come out on the other side more refined and better equipped to be a light in a dark and dying world. That’s the context I wish to mention these three responses.

If we take a look at the very first Psalm (Psalm 1:1-3), we find that right away, God tells us through the psalmist how to be blessed. “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers…” [NASB]. We are called in this passage NOT to respond in these ways to wickedness, sin and unbelief. I have to ask myself what these responses mean. What would it mean to walk in the counsel of the wicked? The Amplified Bible lays out a more descriptive picture.

WALK – following advice, plans and purposes
STAND – submissive
SIT – to relax and rest

I think we need to reflect on our own lives and examine times when we may have responded in one or more of these ways to anything but God and His word.

I really love verse two because we are told what we ARE supposed to do. ”Instead you thrill to God‘s Word, you chew on Scripture day and night” [MSG]. I think that it is so refreshing to know that we simply need to Walk or follow the advice of God’s word. We get to Stand or submit to His truth. We are told to Sit or relax and rest on His foundation. Its pretty clear. There’s no need to rely on the gossip and emotion. You don’t have to look to the news or media for information to hold onto. You don’t need to withdraw or run away. You just need to meditate on the scriptures. When you respond in this way and practice it on a daily basis, this is what happens:

“He is like a tree
[firmly] planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers” [Psalm 1:3 ESV].

Turn to the truth of God’s word and the help of the Holy Spirit. Sit, stand and walk according to God’s ways and you will be able to stand firm, bear fruit and cultivate endurance even in the midst of things gone wrong.

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