How to Maintain a Steadfast Heart

Those of you who have been following my journey know that I moved from ship to shore in late February (read about it here if you missed the story). I hadn’t even finished unpacking our belongings when the first of several trucks loaded with fencing materials pulled into the parking lot behind our townhouse unit. Within hours, pallets of cement mix and tons of vinyl fence posts and panels filled that space. 

I welcomed the sight. Our townhouse is more than fifty years old, and the fence showed its age. Rickety and worn, the wooden posts no longer stood erect. They leaned precariously and were pulling down the adjoining panels between them. 

Workmen soon demolished the section behind our unit. They removed the rotted panels and posts, dug the existing post holes deeper, and then poured concrete into them. Next, they inserted new posts and attached the new panels. Presto!

The new fence looks lovely and, barring a tornado or some such natural disaster, ought to last longer than me. Seeing this transformation in the physical realm brings to mind a spiritual lesson vital for all of us to learn.

A spiritual lesson about a steadfast heart

Last weekend, I spoke at the Campbell River Baptist Church’s women’s conference. One of the sessions included teaching from Psalm 57. Theologians believe that David wrote this psalm while in a cave, hiding from King Saul who sought to kill him.

Imagine David’s plight: He’s far from home and family for an unknown time. King Saul—his father-in-law—is hunting him. David knows that God has appointed him to be Saul’s successor, but he sees no sign of that appointment coming to pass anytime soon.

Humanly speaking, David has every reason to feel scared and discouraged. He has done nothing wrong. In fact, he has done everything right. He has trusted and obeyed God, but now it seems as though God has abandoned him.

If David had let his emotions rule, he might have become angry with God. He might have taken out his frustration on the men who were in that cave with him. He might have rallied whatever support he could muster and attacked Saul to remove the threat.

But David did none of these things. Instead, he poured out his heart to God and then declared, “My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast!” (Psalm 57:7) That word steadfast is easy to blow over, but we miss the importance of what it means and how it applies to us when we rush past it. So let’s pause for a moment and ponder on it, okay?

What does it mean to maintain a steadfast heart?

Let’s return to the visual of my old fence. Time and weather had rotted its posts. As a result, those posts no longer stood strong and straight. They keeled sideways, unable to support the panels of fencing between them. If I had given one of those posts or panels a hefty shove, they would have toppled.

The new posts are much different. They are not just pounded into the soil; they are placed in cement. They have a firm foundation, and they will remain steadfast for a long, long time.

In the original language, that word steadfast means “erect, firm, firmly established.” When David says his heart is steadfast, he means that his thoughts, emotions, and decision-making capabilities—everything about who he is—is firmly established. No matter what his circumstances look like or the pressure they put on him, he will stand firm. He will not emotionally, mentally, or spiritually lean or topple.

When David says his heart is steadfast, he means that his thoughts, emotions, and decision-making capabilities—everything about who he is—is firmly established. No matter what his circumstances look like or the pressure they put on him, he will stand firm. He will not emotionally, mentally, or spiritually lean or topple.

Grace Fox

Having a steadfast heart means we stand erect when the winds of life blow hard. We don’t let emotions rule. We don’t let hardship knock us down. We stand strong because we’re firmly established in God’s truth. David did it, and we can do it too.

How can we maintain a heart like David’s?

The workmen who replaced our strata’s fencing labored hard and long for a week. They showed up before 8 AM, and some stayed on site until 7 PM. I watched them pull those old posts out by hand and carry them, one at a time, on their shoulders to the truck that would carry them away. Back and forth, back and forth all day for days.

Just as there was no shortcut to replacing the old fence posts, so there is no shortcut to developing and maintaining a steadfast heart. Sorry about that! I wish I could say otherwise, but it’s true—developing a steadfast heart takes time and intentionality. Here are a few actions we can take:

• Read the Word regularly, not just when we need a nugget of encouragement on a particularly hard day. We read not from a feeling of obligation because “that’s what good Christians do” but because it’s God’s love letter to His kids. Through His written words to us, we learn how to truly live and flourish according to His design.
• Converse with the Lord every day, inviting Him into the mundane of our lives. We not only talk to Him, but we learn to listen as well. 
• Practice a lifestyle of giving thanks even when we don’t feel it. “Give thanks in all things” means all, not just the easy, nice stuff of life.
• Seek the company of other believers. God didn’t create us to thrive in isolation. We need one another just as a human body needs every part to function at its best.
• Align our thoughts with God’s thoughts. Remember that the suffering we experience now will not last forever. Heaven awaits, and it brings eternal joy.
• Obey God’s directives even when they call for personal sacrifice. We don’t obey with gritted teeth and rolled eyes but with an attitude of joyful surrender knowing He is wise and good all the time, and He has our best interest in mind.

These actions are akin to pouring cement into post holes. My new fence posts are going to stand firm for a very long time, and, metaphorically speaking, we will stand firm, too, when we do these things.

Tuck this verse in your heart

As He did with David, God allows us to encounter difficult circumstances too. We might face a health crisis. A financial setback. A difficult marriage or family relationship. We might face a significant life transition or suffocating loss.

Whatever our circumstances, we can remain steadfast in their wake when we live from the truth that God is with us. No matter what our emotions say, He will never abandon us.

Let’s prep ourselves for cave experiences. Here’s a good verse to post on your fridge or, better yet, hide in your heart:

“I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.” (Psalm 16:8 ESV)

Keep your focus on Jesus, my sweet friend. He’s with you. And because He is there, circumstances can’t topple you. Stand firm. Stand erect. Stand steadfast.