Isaiah 7:9 — And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.

The Bible lays great stress on the importance of unwavering belief in God, and the reliability of His promises. There are other translations of the second sentence. Maybe the ESV has it best — “If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.” However the sentence is translated, the intention is clear; Although Ahaz knew he would not be alive by the time it happened, he should know that things would come to pass in the way God said they would — Israel would be shattered 65 years later and that in his day Syria and Israel would not overpower Judah. If he did not believe those predictions he too would fall.
We find firmness of belief stressed in the New Testament too:
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering: for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. (James 1:5-8)
Here is a wonderful promise! God will unconditionally grant wisdom to anyone who asks for it in faith. But the request must be made in faith. It can be a mistake to assign human emotions and motivations to God but it is possible, I think, to see that He might be offended at the man who does not ask in belief. To not trust God to deliver on His promises is, after all, to make Him out a liar!
Firmness in faith has been on my mind quite a bit recently. I think it’s because, like all of you, I know that Christianity is increasingly under attack. Of course this in no surprise, and nothing new. Jesus said that we should rejoice when we are persecuted, and Peter even wrote that we are called to suffering: “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: (1 Peter 2:21)
There are many who feel that declining morals, the collapse of the family and the driving of Christianity out of public life are clear indicators of the end times. Maybe it is so — or maybe these are God’s discipline of a church that has become unnecessarily lax. However that may be, now is surely time to stand firm … Or as Paul was inspired to say: “Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (Ephesians 6:13). Be firm in faith!