James 1:2-4) Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Acts 5:40-41) His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.
Corinthians 11:23-29) Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?
I have wondered about these verses because here in America we have religious freedom like no where else on earth. We can talk about Jesus here and not get beaten and flogged. Yes, we may be called a bigot or intolerant, but I will take that any day over being stoned or boiled in oil. So how can I relate James 1:2-4, Acts 40-41, 2 Corinthians 11:23-29 to my own life? My trials aren't exactly like Paul's. James 1:2 says that we should take joy when we face trials of ANY kind. In my mind there are "religious" problems and "everyday" problems. It is very compartmentalized to me. God has been challenging this mindset recently. I also have "religious" dreams and goals and "everyday" dreams and goals. How can these two mesh? Bear with me as I work through this and try to explain it to you. In the end I pray it makes sense...to both of us!
When God allows a trial He desires us to handle it in a certain manner. Notice I said allow and not cause. I will not pretend to understand why He allows certain things and not others. I DO NOT KNOW and will never know on this side of heaven. I believe in heaven we may be privileged to that information. Of course I may be completely off base on that, but will not venture off on that rabbit trail. How are my sufferings sufferings for Christ like Paul talks about? I can directly relate Paul's (or any apostle) actions to his pain. This guy was out of control the Pharisees thought. He actually got stoned on his first mission trip. When the stoning was finished he moved on to preach more. He was being tortured because he wouldn't shut up about Christ. Let's not forget the ultimate sacrifice...Jesus Christ. To say He suffered is an understatement. Anytime we suffer for whatever reason we share a common bond with Christ.
When we go through something really hard it can do so many things for us. It can humble us, it can show us that we are not the masters of our own domain, it exposes us, it can also teach us that we need a Savior. Some people talk a great deal about how blessed they are. I can see how some people's declared blessings would make another feel really low about their own life. I hope when I say I am blessed it doesn't actually discourage another. We are taught to count our blessings and that is all well and good. I mean really, it's really good to count our blessings. It is not only good, but Biblical. If only the bad is dwelt upon we can become very depressed. So keeping your mind focused on the good is smart. I think we should look at the "bad" differently. Dave likes to call them opportunities. So when he does an employee review he shares the good they have done and also their "opportunities." Any challenge is an opportunity to see Christ work through us and to grow in character and perseverance. We all also know the Facebook person that constantly posts negativity and sarcasm. These people dwell on the negative. What about counting our battles? When we count our battles we are saying, "you know what?! I've been through some stuff, but I'm still here. I'm still here standing strong." There are problems we face that are a result of our sin and others problems come because we are living on the great planet earth. My mom didn't get brain cancer because she sinned. I didn't have to have a total hysterectomy because I sinned. Some people do get sick because of sinful lifestyles yes, but it's all between you and your God. Sometimes suffering is a result of poor choices If we approach Him honestly He will show you the root cause and in your humbleness you can work it out with Him.
What I am saying is to be proud of the junk you have been through. Do not be proud that you sinned or caused yourself and others pain, but be proud that your still standing by the grace of God. The pain, the hopelessness, the unholy thoughts didn't beat you. God's power flows through you and you are still fighting the good fight and when you have really, truly experienced God's redeeming grace you can't be quiet about it.
Watching my mother battle cancer and subsequently die was unbelievably hard. I have never, ever felt pain in my heart like that. There were some days that it was hard to breath and when I sat by her bedside I couldn't even understand why God would allow a faithful child to endure this amount of pain. Watching the mortician carry her body out of our front door made me want to vomit. I still remember the robe she was wearing...it was navy and white pinstripe and it zipped up the front. I remember grasping her left behind glasses and sobbing like I have never sobbed before. I remember cleaning out her closet the next day and opening a box that held the beautiful dress she wore to my wedding. You know what though? We all got through it. I can be proud of that scar on my heart because God is still God and He still sits on His throne and will one day send His son to earth to take His followers home. I can say to Satan, "you tried to destroy our faith (especially Dad and Christy), but we are still standing on His promises." We have become more loving, joyful, peaceful, tolerant, kind, faithful, gentle, and have more self-control (Gal. 5:22-23). Has my health/hormone situation gone like I wanted? No. Has it all lasted longer than I prayed for? Yes. Do I want to scream some days our of frustration? A big yes! Have I felt let down by God on occasion? Yep. Again, I look to our enemy and say, "I'm still standing and I have literal scars on me from a very unexpected surgery, but you can't beat me and you can't steal my trust in God." I hope you can see how my "everyday" problems transcend that and become "religious" problems because at the end of the day there is a battle between good and evil. I refuse to disown God and live in bitterness and selfishness. I can't disown the very reason for my perseverance. Only with Him can I behave with any remote level of grace!
Earlier I categorized two types of trouble. One is what I call religious trouble and the other is everyday trouble. Paul had some serious religious trouble. Missionaries that are being burned at the stake have religious trouble. Anyone who stands up for Christ that experiences backlash is experiencing religious trouble. The college student who refuses to be like everyone else because they are called by God to be different and experiences teasing and ridicule is suffering religious problems. See what I mean? I have been teased in my life because of my religious views and I have been labeled indirectly (and maybe directly behind my back). I wish I could say I suffered more for these views, but I think living in America in general will minimize that. We are so spoiled still despite the onslaught of taking God out of everything. So how do my health problems factor in here? How does the suffering we endured with my mother's death factor in here? Here is a major point to remember. Are you ready?! Anytime we are faced with a trial whether it be a job loss, a scary diagnosis, a child who is far from God, a chronic health condition, a lost relationship, the list goes on, IF we handle it with love, joy, peace, tolerance, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control we are overcoming evil. We are suffering for Christ's sake because those traits are the traits of Christ. Satan wants us to react with guilt, anger, frustration, despair, depression, victimization, self-pity, etc. Christ has thought of us worthy to suffer for Him. He has trusted us with challenges and has equipped us with the Holy Spirit to overcome evil for good in the middle of our pain. When we really grasp that suffering strengthens us and allows us to experience God like nothing else in the world then we can't keep quiet just like the Apostles couldn't keep quiet in Acts 5:42. I think the list of trials above would be considered everyday trouble, but you can see how I married the two. Even our everyday trouble can strengthen our resolve in Christ and enable us to live bolder in Him.
I listened to an absolute incredible Steven Furtick sermon this past Saturday. I listened to it again today. It pretty much rocked my world. Pastor Furtick talked about how we put blessings and battles into two separate categories. He challenged his listeners to really evaluate those categories. The blessing category is filled with all things we think of as good and the battle category is all the yucky stuff of life. He said many of the items in the loss category need to be added to the gain side. I love that! It really made me think of my own list and how off it probably is. By allowing me to go through some stuff God is actually complimenting me. He's showing confidence in me. He's refining me and making me a much, much stronger more compassionate individual. He is revealing traits of myself to myself that need improved upon. He has exposed friends that ended up not being there when I desperately needed someone and showed me the times I have been a lousy friend. Through my serious trials He has made me bold in my faith. He has made me more understanding and He has also revealed how little I trusted Him. He has stripped away much vanity and exposed me for the spoiled Christian I was. He has revealed how judgmental I was. He has exposed my natural tendencies of complete selfishness and navel gazing. I have also learned how unbelievably stubborn and unforgiving I have been. How can all these revelations be added to the loss category?! My battle column is sure shrinking! It isn't shrinking because my battles have miraculous disappeared. It is shrinking because my perspective is changing. I still have a long way to go. I love the following saying, "I am not where I need to be, but thank God I am not where I was."
I really, really hope this made some resemblance of sense. I have these thoughts in my brain and heart and have to find a way to put words on them. One of my main goals is to encourage you. I want you to be better than you were before reading these entries. I want you to know I am no better or holier than you are! We all have battles both public and personal. As I have matured in my faith I have really held onto the following quote: "Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle." I can't even tell you how much I love this quote! I never, ever want anyone to feel condemned by my blog entries. I want you to know God loves you and has an incredible plan for your life. His plans far exceed any you can even fathom for yourself. Ephesians 3:20 assures us that He wants to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. Here is to a 2014 full of "blessings!"
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