Sisters 2020: Rise Up and Stand Firm

Rise Up and Stand Firm in Every Storm

Scripture References

Primary text

• 1 Peter 5:12

Other references

• James 1
• 1 Corinthians 15:19
• 1 John 5

Overview

Amy shares how a sudden COVID scare with her husband plunged her into fear but also drove her to 1 Peter’s call to “rise up and stand firm.” Drawing from Peter’s letter to suffering believers, she urges sisters to make a deliberate choice to rejoice, to see purpose in every trial, and to keep an eternal perspective. The heart of the message: your tested faith—gifted by God—is what overcomes the world.

Main Points

Rejoice on Purpose

• Rejoicing is a verb, not a feeling: we decide to give God praise regardless of emotion or circumstance.
• Peter begins with worship (1 Peter 1:3-6) even while acknowledging “grief in all kinds of trials.”
• Journaling through quarantine, Amy wrote declarations such as, “I don’t know what tomorrow looks like, but I know You hold tomorrow.”

• Quote:

  “We have to inform the pain of our feelings about what our faith knows is true.”

Trials Are Never Wasted

• Peter: trials prove the genuineness of faith, “of greater worth than gold.”
• James 1 calls believers to “consider it pure joy” because testing produces perseverance.
• God refines like fire purifies metal, maturing and completing us.

• Story: During the two-week quarantine Amy felt lonely, feared public backlash, and wrestled with self-pity. Daily gratitude and prayer revealed deeper empathy for shut-ins, the grieving, and the chronically ill.

Keep an Eternal Perspective

• Peter points 16 times in his letter to the future unveiling of Christ; life now is a vapor, eternity lasts forever.
• Amy recounts Job: after catastrophic loss he fell in worship, saying, “Naked I came… the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.” Job proves humanity can love God when there is “utterly no earthly reason.”
• Paul’s lens: “to live is Christ, to die is gain” and if hope is only for this life “we are to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:19).

The Point Is Your Faith

• God is after a persevering, purified faith; faith itself is the victory that overcomes the world (1 John 5).
• Realization during quarantine: storms will continue throughout life, but a steel-backbone faith matters most.
• Tested faith becomes: persevering, maturing, overcoming, purified, love-giving, God-glorifying, strengthened.

Rise Up and Stand Firm

• Peter’s closing charge: “This is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it” (1 Peter 5:12).
• Amy invites the women to choose—right now—to rise, stand, rejoice, resist the evil one, and let their light shine.
• Declaration:

  “I was made for this… In Christ, I am made to overcome.”

Key Truths

• Rejoicing is a choice grounded in what God has already done, not in present emotions.
• Every trial carries divine purpose: the refinement and proving of genuine faith.
• A steady gaze on eternity reframes present pain and sustains worship.
• Faith—gifted by God—overcomes the world and is more precious than any earthly security.
• Tested faith brings praise, glory, and honor to Jesus when He is revealed.

Response

• Choose to verbalize gratitude each day, especially when feelings lag behind.
• Rehearse truths that anchor faith whenever anxiety or “what-ifs” flood the mind.
• View current hardships as part of God’s refining process instead of pointless setbacks.
• Cultivate an eternal outlook: regularly meditate on the hope of Christ’s return.
• Stand firm by aligning actions, words, and attitudes with the faith God has given.

Closing

Amy’s final appeal is clear: storms will come and go, but the believer’s calling is constant—to rise up and stand firm in faith. Lifting hands across the room and online, women committed themselves to a rejoicing, steadfast, eternity-shaped walk with Jesus.

“We will rise up and we will stand firm.”

Prayer

Amy thanked God for His goodness, asked Him to strengthen every raised-hand with His Spirit, and petitioned Him to mature their faith through testing. She then invited those without Christ to surrender, leading them to receive Jesus as Savior and find living hope in Him.