James, the brother of the Lord, shared something real deep in James 1:2-3. He simply told people to "count it all joy" when faced with various trials. His words make me think of the many things that bring me joy (parenthood, marriage, CHristian service, . . .), but trials? Temptations? Tests? That doesn't seem to spark much joy in me, James. There's got to be more to it than that.
James does share that we should take on this perspective because "the testing of your faith produces patience." When you get taken through it for the sake of the Lord, your patience is actually being built up. After all the hell you catch for being a person of faith, there is some development that occurs in the aftermath. Out of all that mess that you just got dragged through in the name of Jesus, some new strength has been added to your spiritual arsenal. You gain patience.
You may wonder about patience. You may even question why patience. I would simply add this small bit of commentary from the sidelines; because you are going to need more and more patience the longer you stay in the faith. As we go further, we will be tested even more. We will face bigger giants than Goliath. We will face bigger challenges than those found in the wilderness. Yes, we will need patience to make our faith enduring to the end. We just have to hold on through the testing and simply count it all joy.
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"Prayer is humbling work." -E.M. Bounds
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Check out Saved2Serve on http://urbanministry.org/blogs/saved2serve/2009/09/01/let-god-use-you/ !! Leave a reply.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
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