Years ago, while still In college,
my nephew and I took up memorizing the book of James. Time and time again those
verse will be brought to my mind and heart as I face various trials and difficulties.
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when
you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith
produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you
may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (Jas 1:2-4)
Jesus said, I have said these things
to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation.
But take heart; I have overcome the world." (Joh 16:33)
Have you faced tribulations in your
life yet?
If you have not yet, you will. Jesus
knows that we will have difficult situations that we will go through. He
also told us how we can have peace even in the midst of the tribulations. Those
of you who know me well know of the personal tribulations I have
faced. Through those times God often would need to carry me through
because I could not walk on my own. I can remember when reading God’s word,
singing songs of praise, and being with other believers in church were the only
glimpses of peace I had. Without Jesus and the Holy Spirit as my comforter I know
I would not have lived through those times. I have been so blessed now with my
wife and beautiful daughter. My wife Heather was an answer to many prayers and
time spent walking and talking to God as I asked Him to give me a wife that was
after His own heart. And our daughter Hannah was a blessing too great for me to
put into words. Her smile fills both Heather and me with such great love. Her
birth was a miracle and her love a gift from Heaven. God has been so gracious
and merciful to me. I can never thank Him enough for the grace He has lavished
on me. When I think of all that I have gone through, and all that I have
received, my present troubles quickly faded away in the light of God’s abundant
grace.
We face troubles and tribulations
for various reasons. The first is sin, both our own personal sin and the sin of
others. We live in a world that is governed by sin and man’s desire to place
himself above God. This has been our reality since Adam and Eve chose to follow
Satan’s lie that man can be his own god and to what he wants to do rather than
obey God. Their sin brought death not just to them but to the earth and those
effects will be felt until God brings about the new Heaven and the new Earth.
Man still chases after and believes the lie of Satan and that lie greatly affect
us today. Unless you can find a way to exist apart and completely isolate yourself
from every person on the planet and the effects of their actions you will
always face the consequences of the sins of others while here on this earth.
Our personal sin is something that
we do have control over and it is sad that so often we choose not to. For all
of us who have asked Jesus to be Lord of our life we have been given the
victory through His death, burial and resurrection over sin and death. We are
now no longer slaves to sin. Our new master is God and we need only to obey Him. For
those who have not given their life to God they have no choice. They are a
slave to their flesh and carried away by its lusts for sin. In one of our
scripture passages of our 40 days of prayer we read:
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and
you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are
against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for
these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to
do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works
of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry,
sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions,
divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I
warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom
of God. (Gal 5:16-21)
These actions are evidence that we
have not yet given are lives over to God and his lordship in our lives.
Christians who have the Spirit of God living inside them and choose not to obey
are placing themselves in a place of suffering that they need not to be in. God
teaches us that when we choose not to walk in the spirit but decide to walk in
the flesh we will reap the consequences of that choice.
For the Lord disciplines the one he
loves, and chastises every son whom he receives." (Heb 12:6)
God does not discipline us out of
anger but out of love. He wants us to be growing and experiencing all that He
has for us. When we are seeking the desires of the flesh we are at the same
time saying no to God. Have you ever been around children that their
parents have neglected to discipline? They are rude, disrespectful, and only
concerned about their immediate wants and desires. They do not consider the
people around them; all they care about is themselves. When they do not get
what they want they go into tirades while their parents just look on and do
nothing. Or they start bargaining with them to behave. These children grow up
and behave the same way as they did as a child. When it does come time to
discipline my daughter Hannah I will do so, not because I am angry but because
I love her. The point of discipline is not for judgment but for correction. God
desires to mold us into what we were meant to be and His discipline is for our
benefit not our shame.
A third area of suffering I want for
us to look at is that of suffering for the cause of Christ. This suffering
though it can be as painful if not more is a great privilege for us and one
that will be rewarded in Heaven. Many times we will face trails that were not
brought on by our sin but by our obedience for Christ. This can happen anywhere
you or I sand firm and do not wavier in our faith and obedience to God.
Most of us know the story of Cain and Abel. Abel was the first to suffer
for obedience to God and his unwillingness to waver in that
obedience. Cain instead of choosing to obey God like his brother decided
it better to kill him in attempt to lower the standard instead of dealing with
his own sin and repenting. This same line of thinking permeates in the heart of
everyone that has followed and chosen to persecute the one who is obedient
instead of repent and turn to God themselves. Sadly I have seen this too often
in places that claim to be churches. Instead of obeying God they simply
eliminate any one that does and challenges others to do so as well. As these
last days come how much more of this will we truly see?
But understand this, that in the
last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of
self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents,
ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control,
brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of
pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but
denying its power. Avoid such people.
(2Ti 3:1-5)
These passages do not refer to the
world but rather to those who claim to be godly. This is not to say we will not
be persecuted by the world. The world will persecute us for our obedience to
Christ. Jesus said of this persecution, "Then they will deliver you
up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations
for my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and
hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And
because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the
one who endures to the end will be saved. (Mat 24:9-13)
It is easy for us to think that we
are suffering merely because of bad choices we, or others have made but that is
a naive understanding. We must remember that we are not struggling against one
another.
“For we do not wrestle against flesh
and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic
powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly places.” (Eph 6:12)
Our enemy is Satan, his forces of
evil in this present darkness, and our own desire for sin and the desires of
the Flesh. When we face are selves against one another and are unwilling to
forgive those who have wronged us we are allowing Satan to have the victory in
our lives. He is getting what he wants when families come apart, churches
split, we hurt one another, and we are not willing to love one another. When we
do not love sacrificially like God loves us we are not walking in the Spirit
but in the flesh, only pain and suffering will follow us.
But do you want to hear the good
news?
It does not matter if you
suffer whether because of the sin of others, the sins you have committed, or
because you are suffering for the cause of Christ. God is greater than all of
these.
And we know that for those who love
God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to
his purpose. (Rom 8:28)
Even when you are going through a
trail that you feel is too great for you to bear, trust God, and He
will carry you through. It does not matter why you are suffering and who caused
it. Your help, comfort, and peace always comes from the Lord. He will never
leave you and He will never forsake you even though you may feel that He has.
He is always right there beside you. I am not saying this as some grand idea I
have of what God will do or something I have read in the Bible and therefore am
teaching it now, though that is where I learned it. I have personally lived and
proved it in my own life time and time again. My God is my redeemer! Both now
and forever my God will deliver me and He will deliver you regardless of what
you have done or what present sufferings you find yourself in. The awesome fact
about God is that He is always faithful, ALWAYS! We never need to worry if He
will be faithful. That is why we can and should,
“Count it all joy, my
brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing
of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full
effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (Jas 1:2-4)
Each time God delivers us and shows
us His mercy and grace it develops in us steadfastness. Each time we run
into a challenge of faith and God delivers, our faith is strengthened
and our faith and dependence on God deepens. If you want to be perfect and
complete it only comes by learning to perfectly and completely trust
God for all things at all times.
God Bless,
David Ingram
New Day Christian Ministry
Isa. 43:18-21
