Stand

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. – Ephesians 6:13

Are you facing pressures that are seeking to push you back?  Are you tempted to give up on the assignment the Lord has given you?

It is not uncommon for Biblical Entrepreneurs to face pressures that tempt them to want to give up or to question whether they should continue their business or the project they have undertaken.  Success is never achieved without external resistance.  Do not assume that just because your cause is righteous, everything and everyone will cooperate with you; actually, sometimes the more righteous your cause, the greater the external pressures.

How then should you respond when those external pressures continue to beat on you like a bad tornado?  Just stand.  Yes, just continue to resist them by remaining firm in your posture and focused on your direction.  To stand means to rise to an upright position on your feet or as specified {thefreedictionary.com}.  The assumption here is that you are being attacked and pressured – not just because of what you are doing – but because of the righteous stands you are taking.  Of course if you face pressure and do not have a righteous position, you will not be able to withstand the pressures because you do not have the strength of Christ on your side.

How do you stand in the midst of the pressures of business and ministry?

1.     Rejoice in the Lord because the joy of the Lord is your strength.

2.     Put on the whole armor of God – what is the armor?

a.     Truth

b.     Righteousness

c.     Peace

d.     Faith

e.     Salvation

f.      The Word of God

g.     Prayer in the spirit

3.     Know that you are in spiritual warfare

4.     Boldly preach the Gospel

There will come a time of complete victory when you no longer feel the resistance – not because it does not exist – but because you have been so perfected by past pressures and your spiritual maturity is so great that you begin to view trials the way Apostle Paul viewed them.

Here is what Paul said about his trials:

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” Romans 8:18.

^“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.

“Therefore I take pleasure in my infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecution, in distresses, for Christ’s sake for when I am weak then I am strong”  2 Corinthians 12:10.

May the Lord Jesus Christ grant you the desires of your heart, not just to stand, but to overcome so that you may be able to share His goodness in your circle of influence in the marketplace.