“For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed” (Isaiah 50:7).
I recently heard the word unflinching, used to describe the kind of support that I had provided for someone. Although I didn’t quite know the meaning of the word, the phrase that came to mind was Isaiah’s reference regarding ‘fixing his face like a flint.’ I believe in chapter 50 Isaiah spoke about waking daily to hear the word of God in order to speak a word to the weary (Isaiah 50:4).
Most prophets in bible days were not very popular people, because their message was often one of repentance and judgement. Yet Isaiah was convinced that he was not afraid of shame or persecution, but he would continue to stand firm in his conviction. This is because Isaiah knew that God was with him to protect and defend him.
I looked up the word unflinching and it means, ‘not showing fear or hesitation in the face of danger or difficulty.’ I imagine that this word may have come, from having one‘s face set hard like a flint or a stone. A flint is a hard rock which has been used for centuries to make weapons. I suppose this stone is powerful and hard, so Isaiah’s reference was to having a determined perseverance in the face of difficulty and danger.
We need unflinching determination to do the will of God, to accomplish our life’s mission and purpose and to not be deterred by opposition or trials. We have to have our faces fixed like a flint, because we know that God is with us so we will not be ashamed. We have confidence in what God says in spite of what our circumstances look like. We speak light into the darkness and command things that be not as though they were (Romans 4:7).
A.P.-Y.
Devotional Inspirations 