Corona Devo 41
What would bring you "pure joy"?
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. ~James 1:2-8
Whoa! God nailed it! (Of course He did.) He seems to have coined the phrases of our Corona lives right now within these verses in the Book of James.
The "trials/testing/perseverance" parts sound like a narration of our last weeks in this Corona day-after-day-after-day season of our lives.
But His "take" on how we should react and respond to our trials is radical, isn't it? But Jesus was (is!) a radical.
It's an interesting and relevant phrase that James uses: "face trials of many kinds". We certainly are living that right now, aren't we? Not the previous life "trials" that we might have listed out 2 months ago, but the trials that we have experienced over the last month and a half are unlike any that we've known in our lives thus far. And there are definitely "many kinds".
- A decadent dessert?
- Getting to sleep in?
- A certain amount of money?
- No health risks
- No Corona!
God is so different from me. His idea of the joy we should find comes from a COMPLETELY different angle than I would ever consider. But when He speaks--there is always a deeper truth in His words than in my shallow worldly wants.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. ~James 1:2-8
Whoa! God nailed it! (Of course He did.) He seems to have coined the phrases of our Corona lives right now within these verses in the Book of James.
The "trials/testing/perseverance" parts sound like a narration of our last weeks in this Corona day-after-day-after-day season of our lives.
But His "take" on how we should react and respond to our trials is radical, isn't it? But Jesus was (is!) a radical.
It's an interesting and relevant phrase that James uses: "face trials of many kinds". We certainly are living that right now, aren't we? Not the previous life "trials" that we might have listed out 2 months ago, but the trials that we have experienced over the last month and a half are unlike any that we've known in our lives thus far. And there are definitely "many kinds".
- Trials of money--many of us are laid off, have no income coming in, or if our business if still functioning, it has slowed to almost a halt with the scared economy. Money is a trial.
- Trials of separation: from our family, friends, social institutions (school, church, work).
- Trials of worry and fear: of getting sick, of dying, or our loved ones getting sick and dying. Daily worries of how we will persevere and maintain sanity during the Corona quarantine amidst all the worry. Worry and fear of money, provision, end times, conspiracies. You-name-it: our minds are running away with the worry of it...
- Trials of time: How long will this last? How long can I last? Will this day ever end? Will the morning ever come?
- Trials of what-if's: what will the "new normal" be? What will our lives look like after this Corona season? Will there ever be a "normal" again?
Yes, it's a given that we, as a country and a world are facing "trials of many kinds" right now. But it is so interesting to read and study God's take on it. That we might actually enjoy it (Consider it pure joy ~James 1:2). That we might see that God is doing something through our hardship:
because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ~James 1:3-4
Ooooo, Yes, I know this, Lord, (that the testing of your faith develops perseverance), but do I have to live it?
So, You (God) are saying that through these Corona "trials of many kinds" our faith is being tested so that we might "develop perseverance"?
The Oxford dictionary defines perseverance as "persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success".
I'd say that is pretty much our lives right now, wouldn't you? Each day (if I am honest), I am having "difficulty or delay in achieving success".
Congratulations to us!: We are IN THE MIDDLE of developing perseverance.
And guess what? God knows what we are thinking and our excuses: "How do I DO that?" Or "I don't know HOW to do that...".
God helps us. He tells us to ask Him. He will show us His way. The Bible is our written guide.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. ~James 1:5
But God also knows our (sinful) human-nature. That we tend to have good intentions of leaning in to God, but that we also fall back into our own (self-focused) ways. We want to stay comfortable. We don't want to risk anything.
We want to have "faith" but the "news" tells us differently. The "world" believes differently. And we get tossed, like a wave in the sea because we do not stand firm with God.
6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ~James 1:6
It is hard to trust God in the storm of trials, and the waves of uncertainty and fear. But I would argue that it is harder still to stay afloat when you are not walking with the Lord and trusting in Him. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. ~James 1:8
Can you relate to feeling this way? "Double-minded"--thinking of things from all sides and all worries and all fears and anxieties?
"Unstable". Any of us feeling unstable in the past days and weeks? These are not words that God uses in association with Himself and in following Him. These are words He uses to describe us when we are straying from Him. Let's come back to shore--to the stability of the Lord, even while we are facing "trials of many kinds".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. ~James 1:2-8
It's God's word! It's heavy! It's on-pointe!
We can't change the trials--but we can change how we consider them.
Let's "consider it pure joy"!
Blessings,
sarah
https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com/
I'd say that is pretty much our lives right now, wouldn't you? Each day (if I am honest), I am having "difficulty or delay in achieving success".
Congratulations to us!: We are IN THE MIDDLE of developing perseverance.
- I can see it day to day in our kids as they interpret, engage, attempt, and achieve a completely new way of learning -online. Students are persevering.
- I can see it in our businesses--as we restructure, pivot, get creative on how we can serve our customers and make a living in this new moment of time. We are persevering.
- I see it in our churches--the streaming of services has touched our family and is making worship and messages intimate and applicable. The remote services are exploding in online attendance and God is bringing hope and love to people that never went to church before, but are now--in a new way, while we are in the middle of trials. Churches are persevering.
Why the work of all of it though? What's the point of it in our lives?
4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ~James 1:4
God is working on us. He has always been doing so, since we were born, but I think we is doing a world-wide work in our spirits and souls right now during this Corona period. He is growing us up--in Him.
I am sick of being an immature Christian. How many of us have been at the same place spiritually--for years?
Just as we raise our children up to become independent and contributing members of society--our Heavenly Father wants to raise up us (His children) to be spiritually mature and complete, not lacking anything. It's time to grow up (in Christ). That will look different for each of us, but it's time.
And guess what? God knows what we are thinking and our excuses: "How do I DO that?" Or "I don't know HOW to do that...".
God helps us. He tells us to ask Him. He will show us His way. The Bible is our written guide.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. ~James 1:5
But God also knows our (sinful) human-nature. That we tend to have good intentions of leaning in to God, but that we also fall back into our own (self-focused) ways. We want to stay comfortable. We don't want to risk anything.
We want to have "faith" but the "news" tells us differently. The "world" believes differently. And we get tossed, like a wave in the sea because we do not stand firm with God.
6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ~James 1:6
It is hard to trust God in the storm of trials, and the waves of uncertainty and fear. But I would argue that it is harder still to stay afloat when you are not walking with the Lord and trusting in Him. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. ~James 1:8
Can you relate to feeling this way? "Double-minded"--thinking of things from all sides and all worries and all fears and anxieties?
"Unstable". Any of us feeling unstable in the past days and weeks? These are not words that God uses in association with Himself and in following Him. These are words He uses to describe us when we are straying from Him. Let's come back to shore--to the stability of the Lord, even while we are facing "trials of many kinds".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. ~James 1:2-8
It's God's word! It's heavy! It's on-pointe!
We can't change the trials--but we can change how we consider them.
Let's "consider it pure joy"!
Blessings,
sarah
https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com/
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