02 JAN 2026
After Everything, the Call Remains: Stand Firm
Learning to Follow God at His Pace, Not the World’s
By Shikha, S.C.M.A. Communications Director
January arrives like a drumbeat. It's loud, relentless and urgent. People have their new plans written, new goals, new expectations for themselves… And beneath it all, pressure. Pressure to move faster. Pressure to prove progress. Pressure to start strong so we don’t fall behind before the year has even found its footing.
But the Kingdom of God does not begin the year in a hurry. In a world addicted to speed, scripture whispers something countercultural and brave,
“Be still, and know that I am God.”
You see, often stillness is looked at as a weakness. There’s no action, no form of “happening” in one’s life while they stick to the word still. But stillness is not weakness. Stillness is not laziness. Stillness is awareness. And awareness, true holy awareness, is often where obedience is born.
Standing firm does not mean doing nothing. It means refusing to move without conviction. It means holding your ground when everything around you insists that faster is better, louder is stronger, and busier is holier.
The early church understood this. They did not rush into a mission fueled by adrenaline. They waited. They prayed. They listened. They rooted themselves, they reached inward before they reached outward.
Jesus Himself modeled this sacred resistance to hurry. Before healing crowds. Before teaching multitudes. Before carrying public authority, he withdrew. He fasted. He listened.
He received affirmation from the Father.
Yet somewhere along the way, we began mistaking speed for faith. We confuse movement with obedience. We equate urgency with purpose. But Scripture does not say run until you collapse. It says, “After you have done everything… stand.”
Ephesians 6:13 (NIV)
“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”
Not sprint. Not scramble, but Stand. Standing takes strength. Strength requires trust. And trust grows when we allow God to lead instead of demanding instant answers.
To stand firm is to declare: I will not be pushed by pressure. I will not be pulled by comparison. I will not be driven by fear of falling behind. Being led, not rushed, changes how we measure progress. The question shifts.
Not: How fast am I moving?
But: Who am I becoming?
When God leads, there is clarity without chaos. When God leads, there is peace, even when the path is narrow. When God leads, the pace may feel slow, but the presence is never absent.
And so, as this year begins, S.C.M.A. invites you to resist the tyranny of hurry.
Anchor your faith deeply. Let your roots go down before your reach goes out. Stand firm where God has planted you. Because the strongest leaders are not the fastest movers. They are the most firmly rooted.
January is not a race to run. It is ground to stand on.