WITHSTAND \u2014 that word hits home for me. After 40 years in Oklahoma winds and now navigating the Texas gusts, I\u2019ve learned this: wind doesn\u2019t play nice. It pushes, pulls, and pressures — but it also reminds us we were built to stand strong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those winds have a mind of their own. They can rattle windows, rearrange hairstyles, and blow a lawn chair from Austin to Waco in under an hour. No wonder the Bible uses wind as a metaphor so often \u2014 it\u2019s relentless, unpredictable, and hard to ignore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ephesians 4:14 warns us about those winds that blow through our minds and spirits: \u201cWe won\u2019t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching\u2026\u201d In other words: Don\u2019t let every breeze knock you flat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Life comes with winds \u2014 testing winds, trouble winds, temptation winds, opinion winds, and even those \u201cWhere-did-THAT-come-from?\u201d winds. But God doesn\u2019t leave us flapping in the breeze. Ephesians 6:13 reminds us to \u201cTake up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to WITHSTAND — and stand firm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To withstand means to remain undamaged by a destructive force.
Oh, how we need that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the best ways to stay undamaged? Stay connected. God never intended for us to face hurricane-force days alone. From the very beginning He said, \u201cIt isn\u2019t good for man to be alone.\u201d (Genesis 2:18)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We need people who steady us.
Pray for us.
Hold us up when our knees wobble.
Tell us the truth when lies sound convincing.
And remind us who we are when the storm tries to tell us otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s what the church is. Not a building \u2014 a family. A place where our gifts strengthen each other. A place where we\u2019re built up, prayed for, corrected in love, and reminded of the God who never shifts, never changes, never gets outdated like last decade\u2019s computer manual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because here\u2019s the good news — truth does not move. Isaiah 40:8 declares, \u201cThe grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Culture shifts. Opinions wobble. Trends change hourly. But God\u2019s Word? It stands like a mountain while everything else blows sideways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when the winds pick up — and they will — anchor yourself. Stay in the Word. Stay with God\u2019s people. Stay steady. Stay connected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stand firm. Lift your chin. Square those shoulders.
You were built \u2014 by God Himself \u2014 to WITHSTAND.
#withstand #godswordistruth #StandFirm<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WITHSTAND \u2014 that word hits home for me. After 40 years in Oklahoma winds and now navigating the Texas gusts, I\u2019ve learned this: wind doesn\u2019t play nice. It pushes, pulls, and pressures — but it also reminds us we were built to stand strong. Those winds have a mind of their own. They can rattle…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23258,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[650,1210,1769,1083,32855,267,1084,570,1161,21953,40,132,2935,3380,3975,12947,32856,32857,610,12776,3763],"class_list":["post-23257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-austin","tag-blog","tag-christian","tag-church","tag-ephesians-414","tag-faith","tag-family","tag-gifts","tag-gods-word","tag-gusts","tag-inspiration","tag-love","tag-pressure","tag-remain","tag-stand-firm","tag-stand-strong","tag-steady-us","tag-strengthn","tag-truth","tag-winds","tag-withstand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23257"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23262,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23257\/revisions\/23262"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}