The Godly Kings of JudahSample

Relentless Faith

My maternal grandmother had relentless faith. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about her. She lived through incredible hardship when she was a young girl in Ukraine until she came to America as a married woman with her family in 1950. As a teenager, her faith carried her through marauding soldiers terrorizing her village, and she lived through starvation and the horrors of WWII. She gave birth in a refugee camp in Germany then crossed the Atlantic Ocean to America. She and my grandfather’s stories were threaded with the faithfulness and the miracles of a sovereign God. When I feel like giving up, their godly legacy encourages me to push through and lean in tighter.

Fortifying our faith is an essential element to developing relentless faith.

After becoming king, Uzziah assessed his enemies and created a plan of attack. Just as Uzziah sought to “wage war” against them, we ought to be wise, know who our enemy is, and be aware of his schemes.

We can’t just stumble into the battle. We prepare and launch a strategy to defeat our enemy, the devil, both inside and out. Relentless faith is built on having a battle plan.

Here is the good news: God doesn’t send us out on the battlefield alone, and He does not leave us to fight alone. He gives us precise instructions to be alert and prepared to withstand the flaming arrows Satan will throw at us. Just as Uzziah prepared his troops, we are to put on the whole armor of God the apostle Paul describes in the book of Ephesians. A soldier going out to battle would never fight with just part of his armor. He needs every piece to defend and protect himself from the onslaught of the enemy. In the same way, if we are to have relentless faith, we will be warriors who apply the armor day in and day out, so we can stand firm, as Scripture suggests.

Reflection: Review the armor in Ephesians 6:10-17. Which piece(s) have you neglected to put on lately? Ask God to help you remember to fight for your faith daily.