Keeping Your Faith Flowing
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TDW Stack | NEWSLETTER | March 21
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Being Stagnant in Spirit
Through a study of Zephaniah recently, I was struck by this comment from the Lord.
”It will come about at that time that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are stagnant in spirit, who say in their hearts ‘The Lord will not do good or evil!’” Zephaniah 1:12 NASB95
God says that those who are “stagnant in spirit” do not believe God will react to their doings in any way! God won’t care one way or the other about their deeds or attitudes toward their fellow man.
Considering that faith is defined by our coming to God believing that “He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him” (Heb. 11:6). These people who have become “stagnant in spirit” have lost the latter part of their faith. They acknowledge God, but they don’t acknowledge His authority and power over His creation!
Can you and I be in danger of becoming stagnant in this way?
What does it mean to be stagnant?
Strong’s defines the original word as meaning “to shrink, i.e. thicken (as unracked wine, curdled milk, clouded sky, frozen water): congeal, curdle, dark, settle.”
Consider how different translations worded the English for this idea -
For “men who are stagnant in spirit” in the NASB95,
KJV uses “men who are settled on their lees” (“lees” means “dregs or sediment, related to alcoholic beverages)
NKJV says “men who are settled in complacency”
NIV says “those who are complacent, who are like wine left on its dregs”
and the AMP uses “men who [like old wine] are stagnant in spirit”.
God understood people knew about the leavings of food or alcohol when left alone. Think about things not being tended. That’s what “wine left on its dregs” brings to mind for me. Something that hasn’t had the impurities removed or hasn’t been finished in its processing. It has just been left there.
We all know what happens to milk when you leave it sitting on the counter. We know what gravy does when left to cool. What keeps these things “good”? Stirring, warming - using them for their intended purpose.
Ponds that become stagnated do so because there is no, or very little, flow to the water. There is no movement. A river stays clean when it flows well. It becomes poisoned when it is blocked and junk is allowed to accumulate in one place. Our spirit - the part of us that responds to God - is no different!
Keep things moving!
Other imagery in scripture points to this concept of still vs moving. Growth implies movement. It is the opposite of stagnant.
Hebrews 5:11-12 reads, “Concerning him [Jesus] we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”
The Hebrews had become “dull of hearing” about Jesus because they were looking back to the Old Law for their salvation. Their growth had not only stopped, it was dying. They needed to be fed again with simple messages because they were not able to process the more complicated ones the writer of the book originally wanted to teach them.
In the admonition, there is hope though!
If we get stuck, we can begin again with the basics and work back up toward “solid food”.
This is where DILIGENCE comes in - because it is that effort to keep moving that inches us forward in our growth with the Lord.
The Hebrew writer points to it Hebrews 10:19-12:2 (I will let you go read it.) Endurance is what the Hebrew brethren needed and the writer points them to the “great cloud of witnesses” from the history of Israel to show how that endurance is found.
Do you want to build a tower of encouragement, a wall of protection to help avoid becoming stagnant?
Dive into those stories of people who struggled to endure but kept their eyes fixed on a better country.
Last week we talked about allowing the steady drum of Psalm 136 to drive trust in God and the promises He has kept into our hearts. Start there.
Read a Psalm.
Read about ONE of the people mentioned in Hebrews 11.
Read the whole story of ONE of the events Philip mentions in his sermon in Acts 7.
If you’re feeling sluggish in your faith, don’t look to yourself to pick yourself up out of it. LOOK TO THE LORD!
Where will you focus your eyes and your energy today?
Share your thoughts in the comments! Which example from the Bible helps you when you get stuck in living your faith diligently?
Enjoy!
Other things to check out from The Diligent Woman:
Season 5 of The Diligent Woman Podcast has begun!
Find Episode 502 here
If you prefer a video version, you can see it here
Enjoyed these thoughts Angi. Stagnant. Haven’t seen that before. Love your word studies and connections. Keep up the good work! I appreciate the work you do. May He bless you richly for your many good works.