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trials

Don’t Be Surprised, Part 2

by TerryLema

While we are living in this world most of us have experienced what Jesus warned us about: “In the world you will have tribulation [trials].” [John 16:33 NKJV]

Jesus wanted us to understand that it is not about “if” we are going to have trials or tribulations, it is “when” we are going to have them. It’s a given; trials do come.

Yesterday we saw that James gave us a blueprint for handling our trials when they come. He said we are to “Count it all joy when you fall into various trials.” [James 1:2]

There are two parts of that blueprint that are crucial. The first is the command to Count.  Count means to evaluate. It’s a financial term. We are to determine if the trial goes in the asset or the liability column.

The second crucial part is the timing of that accounting.  Do we wait to the end to see if God really does work all things to our good?  Or do we do it at the beginning?

James says we count our trials as all joy “when [we] fall into” them.  We aren’t to wait until we can look back and see how the trials benefited our walk with the LORD, but we are to put the joy at the beginning of the trial.

Our outlook, or attitude, will play heavily into the outcome. We are far more likely to mature in our Christian walk if we go into a trial with joy, expecting to draw closer to the LORD in it, than if we murmur and complain through the experience.  Not saying it’s easy. Just saying it’s necessary.

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Don’t Be Surprised!

by TerryLema

Everybody has them. Nobody likes them, I’m sure. They pop up at the most inconvenient of times. They are trials.  Some are small, others are overwhelming, and they come to us from different sources.

Some trials come from the fact that we are fallen. We make mistakes, we are foolish, irresponsible, or we allow sin in our lives. When those trials come, repentance must happen before anything else.

Some trials come because we are human. Our bodies age, we acquire a disease or illness, we are involved in an accident, or we lose our jobs or find ourselves economically unable to keep up.

Some trials come because we are Christians. Peter reminded his readers, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.  But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ.”   [I Peter 4:12-13]

So, if we are going to have trials anyway, why not use them to our advantage? Why not use them to grow closer to the LORD? James says our outlook can determine the outcome. His blueprint is to “Count it all joy when you fall into various trials.” [James 1:2]

 I seldom put “joy” and “trials” in the same sentence. James, however, wants us to count our trials as “all joy.”

There are two words in James’ blueprint that are crucial. We will look at those two words tomorrow.

(Part 2 Tomorrow)

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I Want to Fix It!

by TerryLema

1 Peter 1:6-7:  You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to struggle in various trials so that the genuineness of your faith—more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. [HCSB]

Right now, I know many people who are enduring “various trials.”  Part of my heart wants to simply fix everything. I want to make everything right.  I think all of us think that way when we see people struggling through difficulties.

But fixing everything is not always the best.  Peter reminds us that trials come so that our faith may be proved genuine.  They come so that we might grow, might mature, and bring praise, glory, and honor to our Lord.

When parents “fix everything” for their children, the children never mature. They become adults unable to cope with life.  It is like giving candy to a child every night for dinner instead of the protein, vegetables, and fruits they need to grow up physically healthy.

Still, my heart wants to fix things for people in “various trials.”  And part of me wonders if that is not the desire of God’s heart also, except that He has the wisdom and knowledge to do otherwise.  He understands the greater good that comes when we come through trials stronger and victorious.

I know from looking at my own life, the trials that I experienced increased and matured my faith.  I became a better person, a better child of God because of them.  Still, I remember how miserable I was in the midst of them.  So I pray for those in the midst of them now.

Father God, be with Your children who are enduring trials right now.  Strengthen them for the battle. I pray they come through these trials more devoted to You, stronger in their faith, determined to bring glory and honor and praise to Your Son.  Amen.

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Consider it …

by TerryLema

“Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials.” [James 1:2 HCSB]

I must admit James and I have a different view of experiencing “various trials.” My first impression when a trial hits is to think, “Oh, no, not another one!”  I seldom immediately respond with “Oh joy! Another trial!”

But James does not say our initial response to a trial has to be excitement or enthusiasm. He says we are to “consider” or “count” our trials a great joy. (And notice he does not define the type of trials but leaves it open for all kinds.)

Our English words, consider or count, may not give justice to this Greek word. Consider in English means to ponder, contemplate, or think about.  The Greek word, however, comes from a root which means “to lead” or “to command.”

Joy is to take the lead into and through every trial. Think of it as the general leading an army into battle. There are many soldiers, and much equipment available for the fight, just as we have much at our disposal in Christ Jesus to win every battle we face. But at the head of every army is a general, one who leads, strategizes, and commands.

In our battles, that general is the Joy! that is resident in the Holy Spirit of God.  We face our battles with the knowledge that God will do something good in us through them. We will become stronger, more experienced, victorious, and able when we emerge from the trial. Knowing all that, Joy! leads us through the experience.

Looking back on my life, I see that I have always grown more in times of difficulties than in times of ease. Had I always allowed Joy! to lead I might have grown even more!

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No Vaccine Against Persecution

by TerryLema

The second church Jesus spoke of in the opening chapters of the book of Revelation is the church of Smyrna, identified as the persecuted church. While Americans may think we are being persecuted because the churches have been closed down, I would say differently. We have not yet experienced persecution. We may be seeing the beginning of opposition to the church in our nation, but we are far from being persecuted.

That is not the case if we look beyond our borders. The list of nations where actual persecution and martyrdom is found is long and it is getting longer. Persecution of believers is quite common in many places, people ripped from their homes and martyred, pastors beaten and imprisoned, churches driven underground. We cannot even begin to compare our situation to theirs.

Jesus, however, gave a warning to the church of Smyrna, “Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death.” [Rev 2:10 NKJV]

While we have not seen persecution in our nation except in extremely rare instances, that does not mean we are immune. There is no vaccine against future persecution. It could come – it probably will come.

What must we do to be prepared?  We can do all the human things, vote, be active in our local communities, etc., but that will not help much when thrown into prison or tested with tribulation. To be faithful until death requires one thing … that we have a true vision of and relationship with our Almighty God. Once again, we go back to Christ Jesus in Revelation 1:12-18.

He is the Living One. He holds the keys to death and Hades. He is Almighty God, First and Last. His eyes are blazing fire. He has a double-edged sword in His mouth. When He dwells in us by the power of His Holy Spirit, we will not fear anything man can do to us!

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Let Us Ask in Faith

by TerryLema

One last lesson this week from James 1:2-8. We already seen that we are to count it all joy when you fall into various trials and that if we lack wisdom and ask God, He will give wisdom to us liberally and without reproaching us for the wisdom we might have wasted in the past.

James goes on and adds one last thought and that is the caveat. “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” [NKJV]

Amid the joy in trials and the asking for wisdom there must be a covering of faith. The writer of Hebrews said it this way, “without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” [Heb 11:6 NIV]

While we are in this body on this earth, our relationship with our Father will be conducted through faith. We can’t hop a plane and fly to where He’s located and take a taxi from the airport to His office to visit with Him for an hour or so – as much as we’d like to on occasion. We must come to Him by faith, which is often difficult when we are assaulted by doubt or fear.

Yet each time we come to Him, each time we present our request for wisdom and receive it liberally, each time we sense His presence with us in the trials of life makes our faith stronger and stronger and our doubts and fears subside.

Father, we need your wisdom as the times grow more and more difficult. Be with us, we pray. Amen & Amen.

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Various Trials

by TerryLema

One of my favorite passages of Scripture is found in the opening verses of James’ letter. It’s a long passage, but it has much to say to us. If you have the time, read it a couple of times.

James 1:2-8: My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. [NKJV]

Did you get hung up on those opening words … count it all joy when you fall into various trials. It’s okay if you did, most of us do. Putting “joy” and “trials” in the same sentence seems totally opposite of what occurs normally in this life. “Trials” seem much more at home with words like “fear,” “sorrow,” “confusion,” than it does with “joy.”

But when you understand that as Christians, we are not to respond to things the way we did before we were saved, you understand that God has a purpose, and a promise, to facing trials with joy. James tells us that counting it all joy tests the depths of our faith – that’s the purpose. And the promise is that we will develop a patience that perfects us, making us complete so that we lack nothing.

One reminder though … don’t confuse count it all joy when you fall into various trials with thinking a trial is joyful. Trials are difficult, strenuous and sometimes downright ugly. They often leave scars and wounds that we carry for the rest of our lives. If we can learn to see beyond the actual trial, however, to what can be produced when we face it with the “joy (strength) of the LORD,” it is then that the trial becomes of great value to us. Otherwise, it’s just a trial and all that often produces is scars, wounds, and a load of bitterness.

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