The title could be a government soundbite …… but these are the words of Yahweh, God of the Jews, to the people of Judah at a time when war threatened to devastate them.

Isaiah hears Yahweh encourage his threatened people to stand firm in their faith, which has helped them weather many storms:

“‘When the house of David heard that Aram had allied itself with Ephraim [and planned to attack], the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.

Then the Lord said … “Take heed, be quiet, do not fear and do not let your heart be faint

… It shall not stand, and it shall not come to pass…If you do not stand firm in faith,you shall not stand at all.” ‘”

— The Prophet Isaiah, Chapter 7

If you would like to read the complete passage from Isaiah, it is here.

Reflection

We read that, when the king and his people heard of the threat, their hearts ‘were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind’.

Windblown tree at Bodrifty Iron Age Settlement, cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Bob Jones - geograph.org.uk/p/2230275 — **Windblown tree at Bodrifty Iron Age Settlement,** cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Bob Jones - geograph.org.uk/p/2230275

Is that how you, or someone you know, feels? Shaken? By the winds of pandemic, financial loss, uncertainty?

Being shaken is not a sign of weakness but a natural response to threat, as a tree’s response to wind is natural. Researchers tell us wind plays a major role in the life of a tree: without it, it is weaker and unlikely to survive. Wind exerts pressure, makes a tree bend - and ultimately makes it stronger as it matures, preventing it falling under its own weight when it reaches adulthood. This is a metaphor for psychological research into Post Traumatic Growth, recently outlined by Pat Hunt, Bishop’s Advisor for Pastoral Care in Sheffield Diocese.

A tree bends in the wind. As the wind abates it does not spring back to its original shape, but it is permanently changed. Lashed by the winds the tree has altered. New leaves and branches sprout from the trunk where old growths were severed. Scars and gnarls give the tree a unique character for the rest of its life span. It has a new beauty, new strength and new fresh green vigorous growth triggered by the trauma. This is a metaphor for Post Traumatic Growth - growth following adversity. The development of the capacity for resilience, for strength, for renewed life arising out of a crisis or trauma that has been survived. The very act of surviving can bring new sources of resilience, new life and new hope. What doesn’t kill us often makes us stronger. What is really important in life, the things that really matter, have become clearer to us during this time as they have been etched out with clarity during the crisis.

Is this what is intended, when we are encouraged to ‘stand firm’ in the faith that has empowered us so far? To recognise the ways in which we are stronger? To ask how our faith contributed to that? This faith, in Christian scripture, is often described as being inspired by wind, breath or Spirit (for example, in John’s Gospel Chapter 3, verse 8 or the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 2 and verses 1-5.)

Spend some time in the quiet, asking yourself:

What new sources of strength can you discern within you?
What new insights have come to you?
What inspiration do you have to identify things that can be left behind?
What new, rich growth can come into the space created by shedding those?

If you wish, go outside. Become aware of whatever breeze there might be, as it touches you and all of nature in its passing. Stay here for as long as you wish.