Face Like a Flint

Many people I know are currently going through very difficult seasons. Seasons of suffering as long as Paul’s imprisonment. Seasons that break people and rattle their very foundation of faith. In my own life, I am battling Satan’s ambition and his desire to kill, steal, and destroy - not only our future, but our bloodline. 

He preys on weak Christians, watered-down faith, and a generation that speaks in sound bytes instead of biblical understanding. Misquote intended. Distraction fills our atmospheres, misdirection spews from the airways, counterfeit compasses guide our path. 

But what is the truth?

When we go through suffering, if we are not careful, we will quote Satan and not God. 

Isaiah 50:7 has much to say about how God responds in the middle of trouble.

The small details and nuances of his writing teach us to pay attention, be faithful, stand steadfast, and that being rescued is not a matter of if, but when. 

“For the Lord God will help me; therefore, I will not be disgraced; therefore, I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed” (NKJV)

Let’s examine this powerful statement:

• Isaiah does not say, “Maybe God will help me”. Isaiah states something about God’s character here, that He is faithful. He will rescue. There is no room here for doubt. There is only an understanding that rescue will come. 

  
  

• The word “help” here is Azar and means to surround, protect, aid, or “succor”. Succor, according to the 1828 English Dictionary, means literally to “run to, help or relieve someone in difficulty or distress, deliver from suffering". This statement is a personal promise that God WILL deliver you from suffering.

• "Therefore", the conjunction chosen here, implies cause and effect. It is used twice in one passage. Isaiah knows, matter-of-factly, that he will not be disgraced for having faith. His God is a God that delivers. His God is a God that will “succor,” and because of that...

• He has "set his face like a flint". Why use this phrase? In the context of the ancient Far East, flint was a very hard material used to make sharp tools and weapons because it did not chip easily or break. You could wear it thin, and it would still hold an edge. Flint is used in multiple places by Isaiah as a powerful metaphor for unwavering resolve in the face of hardship. (Bible Hub) Here, Isaiah is saying, "I know who my God is, and my face, my resolve, will show it."

• He repeats, “I KNOW I will not be ashamed." By repeating this statement as a personal statement, Isaiah is driving home the point that his faith is justified by a God with whom he has a personal relationship and one who WILL show up. Isaiah does not doubt that he WILL be saved.

This was an ordinary guy, called by God, who had been tasked with traveling across miles and delivering unwelcome messages across the East in the face of rebellion, persecution, rejection, and threats to his own life for years. Yet Isaiah’s language here does not falter. 

He knows who His God is. 

He knows what God says He will do. 

He knows that his faith is not in vain.

He knows that He WILL be rescued.

Are you going through a difficult season? Maybe that season has dragged on like Paul’s imprisonment or Isaiah’s journey. Maybe you have grown weary in your faith, and the enemy’s lies have started to sound like the truth. You are not alone. Most of those God called in scripture walked through seasons that would have broken many of today’s Christians, yet they had one thing that many of us don’t take advantage of. 

God’s word.

They knew the history, the legends, the tales of how God rescued the Israelites over and over again. They knew the character of God and how He showed up in miraculous ways. They saw signs too big to miss and miracles too great to forget. 

They knew their God was a God of His word.

The faithful weren’t stronger - they were just more rooted. 

Like trees planted by rivers of water. 

I encourage you to go back and read some of what Isaiah had to say.

Pay attention to the words he used and how he used them, how he spoke about His God. 

Are you speaking that way about your God today?

Journal your response tonight and see where you might be listening to the lies instead of the truth.

Praying for you, friend! As always, if you need help learning how to walk this out, living out scripture in daily life, developing your relationship with him, and getting free from the things that hold you back, I would love to help! Please reach out at muckandmire.org and schedule a consultation.

Blessings, Susanne