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- Apr 25, 2006
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- 18,404
Are you being tested? (1)
'...EVERY DETAIL WORKS TO YOUR ADVANTAGE AND TO GOD'S GLORY.' 2 CORINTHIANS 4:15
When you were a child, do you remember being in school when the fire alarm would keep going off? Once a year a fire bell test was an exciting prospect but when it went through a phase of being faulty or because a group of naughty kids found it amusing to set it off every day it was purely irritating! Testing times come and go. Occasionally they can be a welcome distraction, something to make life a bit interesting, but normally they're like the fire bell; they're inconvenient, they're not fun and you can't just ignore it. Testing times can make us feel helpless, but there is one part of a test we can control - how we respond to it. Get this: testing times are essential to make you grow. In fact, we can't grow properly without them, as much as you wish you could. It's your standing the tests and trials that gives you a story to tell!
Paul writes, '...Every detail works to your advantage and to God's glory: more and more grace...more and more praise! So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace...' (2 Corinthians 4:15-18 TM).
And Job adds 'But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold' (Job 23:10 NIV). It takes a lot more heat to produce gold than it does tin. So which do you want to be?
Are you being tested? (2)
'...WHEN TROUBLE COMES YOUR WAY, CONSIDER IT AN OPPORTUNITY FOR GREAT JOY.' JAMES 1:2
Now, be honest. You've probably read today's verse and wondered if James was living on the same planet you live on. Now let's be honest, this has got to be one of the daftest things the Bible says. Trials and difficulty come along, life sucks and this is the moment you should be filled with joy?! That means you can't even complain or feel sorry for yourself. So how do you have joy? Well when life is interrupted by a trial or problem praise God! Worship Him, praise Him, hang out with him and tell people how good he is too. Why? Because the truth is, life is one trial after another and if we weren't joyful before, during and after them we'd never be joyful at all.
James speaks of 'various trials'. You won't get bored by the trials you face because they'll come in every variety you can imagine. Notice, James didn't say 'if' they come, but 'when.'
Will Rogers once read a newspaper headline 'Innocent Bystander Shot In New York.' 'How about that?' he said. 'All you have to do to get shot in New York is be innocent and stand by.' That's how it is with trials. You can't avoid them, just stand by innocently and you'll still get hit. But why? James answers: 'Under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colours. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way' (James 1:2-4 TM). Problems produce maturity. The truth is, it can't come any other way!
'...EVERY DETAIL WORKS TO YOUR ADVANTAGE AND TO GOD'S GLORY.' 2 CORINTHIANS 4:15
When you were a child, do you remember being in school when the fire alarm would keep going off? Once a year a fire bell test was an exciting prospect but when it went through a phase of being faulty or because a group of naughty kids found it amusing to set it off every day it was purely irritating! Testing times come and go. Occasionally they can be a welcome distraction, something to make life a bit interesting, but normally they're like the fire bell; they're inconvenient, they're not fun and you can't just ignore it. Testing times can make us feel helpless, but there is one part of a test we can control - how we respond to it. Get this: testing times are essential to make you grow. In fact, we can't grow properly without them, as much as you wish you could. It's your standing the tests and trials that gives you a story to tell!
Paul writes, '...Every detail works to your advantage and to God's glory: more and more grace...more and more praise! So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace...' (2 Corinthians 4:15-18 TM).
And Job adds 'But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold' (Job 23:10 NIV). It takes a lot more heat to produce gold than it does tin. So which do you want to be?
Are you being tested? (2)
'...WHEN TROUBLE COMES YOUR WAY, CONSIDER IT AN OPPORTUNITY FOR GREAT JOY.' JAMES 1:2
Now, be honest. You've probably read today's verse and wondered if James was living on the same planet you live on. Now let's be honest, this has got to be one of the daftest things the Bible says. Trials and difficulty come along, life sucks and this is the moment you should be filled with joy?! That means you can't even complain or feel sorry for yourself. So how do you have joy? Well when life is interrupted by a trial or problem praise God! Worship Him, praise Him, hang out with him and tell people how good he is too. Why? Because the truth is, life is one trial after another and if we weren't joyful before, during and after them we'd never be joyful at all.
James speaks of 'various trials'. You won't get bored by the trials you face because they'll come in every variety you can imagine. Notice, James didn't say 'if' they come, but 'when.'
Will Rogers once read a newspaper headline 'Innocent Bystander Shot In New York.' 'How about that?' he said. 'All you have to do to get shot in New York is be innocent and stand by.' That's how it is with trials. You can't avoid them, just stand by innocently and you'll still get hit. But why? James answers: 'Under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colours. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way' (James 1:2-4 TM). Problems produce maturity. The truth is, it can't come any other way!
