Trials now or later?
We will have them - but when and what will you embrace?
Scripture(s): James 4, Hebrews 12
I am continually talking to people at the moment and hearing stories where it seems everything is going wrong. Very wrong.
We ourselves seem to be just emerging (hopefully!) from such a time. If you are going through trials I want to encourage you - Embrace the One behind the Trials!
Hard times can come from a lot of different places - others, our own bad decisions* or where you may not expect...
There is a God, who calls Himself Father and Daddy, the Creator of all, who wants to refine us and grow us. He can even use the times that seem to have come about from our bad decisions. He has promised that we will have trials and that these trials are to test and purify our faith. I have been speaking with my family this week on this - that faith is not a chunk of gold or a ‘thing’ that helps us - it is integrated with who we are. It is actually a part of us.
Look at the below Bible verse - faith in our heart is the very thing that is required to save us from eternal punishment. Not religious works, not giveing or doing. Not even head knowledge faith in a religion - but a heart belief in what Jesus has done.
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your b heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be c saved. * For it is by believing in your heart that you are made d right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved
(Romans 10:9-10 NLTSB)
If the faith in our heart is so important and the faith in us is what God wants to refine - the refinement process will hurt. It has to be hard - this is not an outer garment being cleaned or scrubbed - it is actually us! It hurts. In our culture the ‘natural’ reaction is to move away, avoid, medicate - but God wants us to face it, embrace it - embrace Him!
You know sometimes it is easy to be happy and peaceful when things are going your way, you have the new car, people are being nice or doing what you want, your health is good, you don’t have to deal with certain people etc… But that isn’t the kind of peace God wants or is calling us to:
* Now may the k Lord of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation. The k Lord be with you all
(2 Thessalonians 3:16 NLTSB)
He says peace in every situation! Every situation. When your spouse is late, distant, annoying, wrong, when work pressure is on, you loose your job, your business suffers or faces closure, when you’re in pain, your health fails, you fail at x,y,z, when the pressures and commitments seem too much…that’s when He wants you to have peace!
A reminder here that peace ≠ avoidance or numbness. Peace is peace. It is a deep, secure, feeling, belief and hope that doesn’t have to be ‘summoned up’ or worked at. It is not repeating phrases or verses or remembering to do this or that. It is His peace that dwells within - not something we need to focus down on in meditation - but Him within.
* You will keep in perfect peace
all who trust in you,
all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
(Isaiah 26:3 NLTSB)
”I am leaving you with a gift— i peace of mind and heart. And the i peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid”
(John 14:27 NLTSB)
Perfect peace - peace of mind and heart! Perfect peace! You know it when you experience it.
Let me take a quick aside - if this peace is not evident to you in these times and trials I implore you to seek Godly counsel and ministry. These are the very things He is trying to uproot. We offer ministry for those who want to deal with these issues. We can’t offer any help but He can and regularly does. His truth brings peace - the reactions get less as we experience His truth and love.
May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God
(Ephesians 3:19 NLTSB)
Now how does He refine us and test this faith? Through trials! Yippee I hear you say!
These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honour on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world
(1 Peter 1:7 NLTSB)
It is so easy to read that verse and almost distance ourselves from the faith and the trial - but I don’t believe this is what God wants. The analogy of Gold is so deep and powerful - but it is meant for us - not a belonging, not an outer garment - but for us. These trials will be designed by God to actually bring to the surface the very fears, insecurities and whatever that lie hidden.
Again there is a tendency to avoid, pray against, blame, medicate (TV, movies, drugs, alcohol, addictions - the world) - but I encourage you embrace Him!
Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world
(James 4:8 NLTSB)
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honour
(James 4:10 NLTSB)
In James we have a variety of exhortations to humble ourselves before God, come close to God and others - to turn away from other things and turn to Him. Embrace Him!
Later in James we are told to wait patiently (4:7), look at the prophets and even Job for examples of waiting patiently.
Let’s think about that - we read ‘wait patiently’ and we think a nice lawn, hot cuppa and a book! The beach or a walk through the bush? No! He is showing us what waiting patiently looks like: the prophets and Job!
Which prophets? Jeremiah? imprisoned in a sewer as he preached righteousness? Surely that’s not what God is talking about? What about Elijah running and hiding as people tried to kill him - eating the leftovers from a scavenger? Couldn’t be - I want my best life now!
What about Job? His lively hood and family and health were completely trashed - but we are reminded of God’s character at the end. (James 4:12: “You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy”.)
These trials are an opportunity for joy because of the result:
* Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. * So let it grow, for when your enduranceis a fully developed, you will be a perfect and complete, needing nothing
(James 1:2-4 NLTSB)
God wants to bring us to a place where ‘we are perfect, complete and need nothing!’ Imagine that - needing nothing! Not blaming, not worried about the situation, the trial - anything. Complete. Perfect!
Why oh why does He want this for us? Because He is a loving, intimate, concerned Father - He would never leave us the way we are. We are so used to hearing some words quoted from Revelation (I stand at the door and knock) but what about these:
“I correct and e discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference”
(Revelation 3:19 NLTSB)
These are words from the Lord of all! Interestingly in this part of Revelation we are told of another type of trial - one that we will avoid. Maybe all humans will go through trials- we either submit to Him and go through them now for a period and experience His peace, to live in harmony and peace as His son / daughter with Him forever - or take the easy option now - love the world and what is offers (selfish ambition, lusts of the flesh) and suffer a larger trial and eternal separation from Him. I know which I would rather!
Again:
For the L ord k disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.”
* As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? * If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. * Since we respected our earthly a fathers who b disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the a Father of our spirits, and live forever?
* For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. * No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.
* So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. * Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong
(Hebrews 12:6-13 NLTSB)
Not-so coincidentally, the section after these verses in Hebrews talks about walking away from a corrupt life - the same as the verses after we have looked at in James. Compare Hebrews 12 and James 4/5)
So remember, through these current trials, that there is One behind the trials. His love is perfect, His peace is perfect and His plan is perfect. He is…
Conclusion: He is love, He loves, Embrace Him!
PRAYER: Lord thank you for your love. Thank you. The reality and feeling of knowing that, no matter what, you want the very best for us is incredible. Help us deal with any hinderance that stops us falling headlong into your arms of love. We long to be continually lost in, and empowered by, your love. Amen.
NOTES:
*Some people are experiencing the consequences of bad choices - sin. If this is the case be honest - He already knows and the same applies. This could be a violation of God's law (ie the 10 Commandments (Do not Lie, Do not STeal, Do not commit adultery (lust), Do not murder (hate) etc) or it could be just an inner knowing that you have done the wrong thing and carry guilt for it. Don't ignore it - it can lead you to all kinds of serious issues and death.
Own it, confess it and repent**, - turn to Him - Embrace Him! Even in this He has a perfect plan! He can restore anything and everything. Seriously say sorry and follow God!
For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death
(2 Corinthians 7:10 NLTSB)
** Repentance is not just a mental decision to turn away - it is also a change of heart that God brings about.
If you would like help in this please contact us.
Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s d return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. * You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near.
* Don’t grumble about each other, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. For look—the Judge is standing at the door!
* For examples of patience in suffering, dear brothers and sisters, look at the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. * We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy.
* But most of all, my brothers and sisters, never take an oath, by heaven or earth or anything else. Just say a simple yes or no, so that you will not sin and be condemned
(James 5:7-12 NLTSB)