Smooth Stones Take Time: Seven Ways to Stay Steadfast

Sermon outline

God is shaping you through His dealings like a rough rock made smooth, so stay steadfast on course and let nothing move you.

1. The dealings of God make you smooth, and it takes time

   After the joy of first meeting the Lord, life throws curveballs and people who loved you pull away. Alongside God's goodness, mercy and grace are His dealings: the pressure, fire and crises that make you smooth, as they did Paul. You cannot run from God's call; He chose you, He knew you before you were born, and each believer is a word from God that together makes up the book.

   Illustration: In his first six months in the police, before training college, he worked at the court and kept asking an older officer about to retire question after question, until the man told him, "Sing, listen... it takes time." He also admits he tried many times to run from God's call, like Moses making excuses.

   “The dealings of God is what makes us smooth.”

   • 1 Samuel 17:40
   • 1 Timothy 1:15
   • Jeremiah 1:5
   • Psalm 139:13
   • Genesis 37:3
   • Exodus 4:10-16
   • John 15:16
   • Genesis 15:5
   • Philippians 1:6

2. Be steadfast: firmly fixed and immovable

   Paul urges believers to stand firm and let nothing move them, because their labour in the Lord is not in vain. Steadfast means firmly fixed, immovable, loyal and secure. Don't worry about the person next to you or at work; you are committed to the Lord.

   Illustration: Steadfast was a naval word: ships without refrigeration carried just enough food and water for the voyage, so going off course by two or three days meant certain death.

   • 1 Corinthians 15:58
   • Romans 8:38-39
   • Philippians 4:1-3

3. 1. Develop steadfastness by not lusting after the things of this world

   The things of the world attract young people and cause believers to stumble, but you know your course, so keep straight. Lust for riches chokes the Word and leaves you dissatisfied and discontented.

   Illustration: A light-hearted joke about two men running from a lion: one prayed for the lion to become a Christian, and looked back to see it praying, "Lord, bless the food I'm about to eat."

   “Things don't make you happy. God's presence makes you happy.”

   • Ecclesiastes 1:9
   • Mark 4:19

4. 2. Develop steadfastness by not being overconfident

   Don't be overconfident in your own ability; you can't learn it all in one day. Some things you will only understand as you grow older and wiser, and that wisdom is what you pass on to the next generations.

   Illustration: He returns to the old court officer who told him, "Sing, it takes time"; he says it was many years before he understood it.

   “Don't be overconfident in your own ability.”

   • 1 Corinthians 10:12

5. 3. Develop steadfastness by not being hard and stubborn

   The more you fight God, His presence and His Word, the harder the process of breaking becomes, and God will still deal with you. Relent quickly and say, "Yes, Lord," even when you don't understand.

   Illustration: He has heard that stubborn donkeys are broken in with a heavy stick until they fall to their knees and can carry loads.

   “Don't be stubborn because the process of breaking will be harder.”

6. 4. Develop steadfastness by not loving the world

   Life is simply a hyphen between the date of your birth and the date of your death. Don't put people down or judge them prematurely, because it is God who lifts people up and brings them down. Just be kind.

   Illustration: John F. Kennedy's tombstone reads 1917, a hyphen, and 1963.

   “Life is really a hyphen between two dates.”

   • 2 Timothy 4:10

7. 5. Develop steadfastness by having a proper fear of judgment

   Like two sides of a coin, God is full of mercy, yet there is also His judgment, and we cannot focus only on mercy. You may not understand every man or woman of God, but do not speak ill of God's servants.

   Illustration: Leaving a restaurant with Pastor Zubeda, he was introduced to a well-known comedian, a Christian, who made a derogatory remark about pastors. He held his peace, but two weeks later heard that the man had died suddenly, and he took it as a sobering lesson.

   “After all, we don't hire them. God hires them.”

8. 6. Develop steadfastness by not looking back into the world

   Lot's wife was told not to look back, and when she did she became a pillar of salt. Keep your focus straight ahead and stay steadfast on your course.

   Illustration: God did not give us eyes in the back of our heads.

   “Isn't it amazing God didn't give us eyes at the back of our head?”

   • Genesis 19:26

9. 7. Develop steadfastness by allowing yourself to be corrected

   A wise person loves correction. Listen to those wiser than you, and young people should not get angry when parents and grandparents correct them, because God placed them in our lives to help us overcome. Your season will change, and no one can take away what God has put inside you.

   “When you are corrected, don't get angry.”

   • Proverbs 9:8