Faces Like Flint

There is saying that is not used that much anymore, but perhaps it should be.  “Keep your chin up!”  I don’t know if it’s old fashioned or if it just seems impossible in the face of life’s challenges, and so we just don’t say it anymore.  I like it better than “hang in there” because that sounds kind of desperate- like your barely hanging on and hoping that somehow you don’t let go and end up at the bottom of a canyon somewhere.

There’s also a statement that the prophet Isaiah made thousands of years ago that resembles this encouraging word that we rarely use today.  After realizing that the Lord’s call is upon him, not only to follow God but to be used as a source of encouragement to the people, he reflects on how to sustain himself.  He says,

Because the Sovereign LORD helps me,
I will not be disgraced.
Therefore have I set my face like flint,
and I know I will not be put to shame.

I have set my face like flint. That’s even less likely of a saying to be used today than “keep your chin up,” but it basically means the same thing.  Isaiah was saying that he wouldn’t be moved or discouraged or become weary with the way things were going, the way people may have treated him, or even with his calling.  Do I set my face like flint?  Am I able to have the kind of resolve that is hopeful even when things seem kind of hopeless.

This really speaks to those of us that are not only trying to keep our own chins up but are trying to encourage others to do the same.   It’s the very context of Isaiah’s words that have profound meaning.  You see, he’s been commissioned by God to speak words to “sustain the weary.”  It can truly become wearisome if the ones we are trying to bring hope to just don’t want it.  And yet, we can’t stop.  We have to set our faces like flint and be an encourager no matter what.

I feel compelled to do that for anyone who is reading this.  Stay strong!  Don’t give up! Keep your chin up! Look right into the storm and set your face like flint! It won’t be long until you see the answer to your prayer come to pass and it can be as soon as this moment when you sense the hope of God even during the waiting.

-peter