I went to my first Worthy Movement event in February of this year. I was very sad to miss the first one last August, but excited to attend the Hollister one. The whole day I was feeling very “off” and I wasn’t completely sure what to expect. I was excited to see so many women there to meet with God and I was in awe of the stories that each woman shared.
It gave me so much confidence to confront my past during a breakout session and to know that I wasn’t alone after the panel of women shared their testimonies.
Still, I was waiting to see if God would reveal more of himself to me that day.
At the end of the event, each woman was given a small piece of paper in an envelope. The Worthy team mentioned that each of these pieces of papers had an I AM statement on the front and a verse on the back to encourage us.
When I walked up to get mine, I felt the stirring of the Holy Spirit inside me. I was so excited to open it, but I wanted to wait until I got home to open it by myself and see what it said.
A lot of people I know have said they pray for a “word” of the year. At the beginning of 2019, I had received a lot of encouraging words from my friends and I had been praying about what the Lord wanted to teach me this year, but nothing really stuck.
Until I opened the Worthy envelope.
Inside the envelope was a little paper. On the front it read “I am steadfast.” On the back it read, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Galatians 6:9
I started weeping instantly when I read the verse. I knew it was for me.
I felt validated because my heart was weary and God knew He wanted to revive me with His Word.
I knew that’s what God wanted to teach me this year. My first thought was, “Steadfast?! Really, God? You couldn’t have picked something more exciting?!”
If you know me, or know anything about my story, I have been the opposite of steadfast. I was born and raised a Christian, but I was always looking for a better alternative. I had a Tarshish season when I moved to Spain for nine months, stubbornly thinking it was exactly what I was supposed to do. I was always chasing after other loves, when my first love was waiting for me in Jesus.
Steadfast is a word that describes a “holding under resistance.”
It is originally a sailing term that meant to secure the sail in a storm in two places. What’s interesting about this word is that it is often used in the Bible to describe the Lord’s love for us--never changing, stubborn, and always holding us regardless of circumstances. One of my favorite examples of this term is in Lamentations 3:22-24 when it says, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in him.”
After the author of Lamentations spends three whole chapters talking about his sorrows and his terrible circumstances, he shows us that these are the truths he is clinging to.
I encourage you to read these verses again.
To choose to cling onto the one who’s clinging onto you in the midst of the storm and know that he's making you steadfast despite your circumstances.
He calls himself steadfast to us, and he always finishes what he starts, so I know he can complete this work. Even if it’s not the most glamorous work. Even if it’s not the easiest work. Because he is steadfast, he can create steadfastness in us through His Holy Spirit. All we have to do is continually surrender to his will and his plan. He is our portion. I choose to believe he can see us through. Will you join me?
~ Soquel Filice
