Having Done All to Stand—Stand!

Terrance Shivers Ministries | Trumpet Call Broadcast

“Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore...”— Ephesians 6:13–14

There comes a point in every believer’s walk of faith when the question becomes: What do I do when I have done everything I know to do?

You have prayed. You have believed. You have obeyed God. You have gone where He told you to go and done what He told you to do. Yet when you look around, the circumstances still do not appear to have changed.

Things may even look worse.

What do you do now?

God’s answer is simple:

Stand.

Ephesians 6:13 tells us, “Having done all, to stand.” Then the very next verse begins, “Stand therefore.”

In other words, when you have done everything God has instructed you to do, you do not abandon your position. You do not surrender your faith. You do not allow circumstances to convince you that God’s Word has failed.

You keep standing.

That is where breakthroughs happen.

When the Word of God Changes Your Reality

A breakthrough takes place when what God has spoken begins to alter the reality you can see.

Until that manifestation comes, however, you must stand.

One of the enemy’s greatest weapons during this period is reasoning that contradicts the Word of God.

Sometimes people imagine the devil’s voice as something obviously sinister. But many times the temptation to quit sounds much more reasonable:

“You have been believing this for years.”

“You have already done everything you know to do.”

“Look at your circumstances.”

“Maybe it’s over.”

“Maybe nothing is going to change.”

Whenever human reasoning rises against what God has spoken, the believer has a decision to make: Will I believe what I see, or will I continue standing on what God said?

What If It Really Looks Dead?

When the enemy tells me that something is dead, finished, or beyond recovery, I remember Jesus Christ.

Jesus was really dead.

His death was not symbolic. It was not merely an appearance of defeat. He died on the cross.

So if you are telling me that something in my life is completely dead, my response is:

Are we sure it is dead?

Because if it is, that may be exactly where God needs it to be.

The resurrection teaches us something powerful about faith: death itself cannot cancel something God has ordained.

Jesus had to die before there could be a resurrection.

Sometimes we become frightened when circumstances reach the point where there appears to be no natural way forward. But that is exactly where the power of God can demonstrate that your outcome was never dependent upon natural circumstances in the first place.

If God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, then the appearance of death does not automatically mean the end of God’s promise.

The End of the Road Is Not the End of God

It may look like you have reached the end of the road.

Stand.

It may look like your resources are gone.

Stand.

People may walk away.

Stand.

Everything you trusted naturally may disappear.

Stand.

Because when every natural alternative has been exhausted, you may be standing at the very place where God’s supernatural power will be revealed.

Jesus stood again—even after death.

The grave could not hold Him. Death could not cancel God’s plan. Satan could not prevent the fulfillment of what God had spoken.

That same resurrection reality should affect the way believers respond when circumstances appear impossible.

Having done all to stand, stand therefore.

A Christianity That Costs Something

This message of standing becomes especially important when we look at the condition of Christianity in our generation.

We live in a culture where it is increasingly easy to treat the Gospel as something secondary.

Winning souls can become a side activity.

Prayer and intercession can become optional.

Obedience to God can be pushed behind entertainment, comfort, personal ambitions, careers, possessions, and the pursuit of what society calls “living the dream.”

But that is not the picture of discipleship Jesus gave us.

The men and women God has used powerfully throughout Scripture were people who reached a place where obedience to God mattered more than protecting their own comfort.

There is an enormous difference between saying:

“I will obey God as long as it does not inconvenience me,”

and saying:

“I will obey God even if it costs me everything.”

That is the kind of faith Christianity was built upon.

The Danger of a Self-Centered Gospel

One of the great dangers facing the modern Church is a version of Christianity centered primarily around the individual.

What can God do for my life?

How can God fulfill my dreams?

How can Christianity make me more successful?

How can faith improve my circumstances?

Certainly, God cares about us. Jesus Himself taught that our heavenly Father knows the things we need.

But there is a tremendous difference between trusting God to meet our needs and making ourselves the center of the Gospel.

Jesus never preached a discipleship without sacrifice.

He preached a Gospel that demanded surrender.

He used radical language to communicate the seriousness of separating ourselves from anything that causes us to stumble. He called people to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him.

The Jesus revealed in Scripture did not tell people:

“Keep everything. Change nothing. Sacrifice nothing.”

He called people to follow Him completely.

We must return to the Jesus of the Bible.

“Another Jesus”

There is a version of Jesus being presented in modern culture that requires almost nothing.

This Jesus demands no surrender.

No sacrifice.

No separation from sin.

No laying down of personal desires.

No cross.

But Scripture warns about the possibility of receiving “another Jesus” rather than remaining faithful to the Christ revealed in the Gospel.

The biblical Jesus calls us to transformation.

He calls us to obedience.

He calls us to surrender.

And when following Him becomes difficult, He calls us to stand.

The Enemy’s Attack Against the Church

We are living in a time when confidence in pastors, ministry leadership, and the local church has been deeply damaged.

Certainly, failures among leaders should never be ignored or excused. But neither should those failures cause believers to abandon what God Himself established.

The New Testament repeatedly reveals the importance of the local church. The epistles were written within the context of churches, and Revelation opens with messages directed to seven churches.

The Church was never meant to become a punchline.

The offices of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher were given by Christ for the equipping of His people.

Yet Satan would love to convince believers that they do not need spiritual community, biblical leadership, accountability, or commitment to the Body of Christ.

The attack is deeper than personalities.

The enemy is after the Church.

A Flood of Revival Is Coming

Yet the enemy will not have the final word.

I believe God is going to interrupt this momentum with a flood of revival.

There is coming an awakening in which spiritual light will expose deception and people will suddenly recognize how deeply the thinking of this world has influenced them.

The fire of the Holy Ghost will burn again.

Light will shine.

People will awaken.

Believers will begin seeing spiritual reality more clearly.

We desperately need that awakening because even ministry itself can become distorted when it is treated primarily as a career opportunity, a platform, or a means of personal gain.

God can prosper His people. There is nothing wrong with success itself.

But success cannot become the reason we serve God.

Jesus taught us that our Father already knows what we need. Our priority must remain the Kingdom of God.

We need to recover the mentality Jesus originally established in His Church.

A Church That Can Endure

Jesus warned that some people receive the Word and endure “for a time.” But when persecution or pressure arises because of the Word, they become offended.

That remains one of the great tests of genuine faith:

Can you continue believing when believing becomes uncomfortable?

Can you continue obeying when obedience costs you something?

Can you continue standing when circumstances contradict what God said?

Can you continue following Jesus when the world offers an easier path?

The Church God is revealing is not merely a collection of buildings or religious organizations.

The true Church is composed of people who have been born from above.

Jesus called His people the light of the world and a city set on a hill.

Our identity originates from above.

Creation Is Waiting for the Sons of God

Romans 8 gives us an extraordinary picture of the significance of the people of God.

Creation itself is waiting for “the manifestation of the sons of God.”

Think about that.

Creation is waiting for the people of God to be revealed for who they truly are.

The spiritual conflict occurring in this world is much larger than politics, entertainment, media, culture, economics, or social trends. Behind the visible systems of this world is a spiritual battle involving the purposes of God and the people through whom He intends to accomplish those purposes.

Satan understands something the world often does not understand:

He knows who the Church is.

His objective is to construct systems, ideas, temptations, pressures, and cultural environments designed to silence, distract, weaken, or neutralize the people of God.

Why?

Because Satan could not stop Jesus.

He could not prevent the cross.

He could not keep Jesus in the grave.

And when Jesus rose from the dead, the life of Christ began multiplying through people who would be born of the Spirit, born from above, and filled with God.

The enemy could not stop the resurrection.

Now he is confronted with a Body of believers carrying the life of the resurrected Christ.

And that is why, in this hour, the command of Scripture remains absolutely essential:

Having done all to stand—stand.