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Through The Pain
''Consider it all joy ... when you encounter various trials'' James 1:2
James must've flown over the cuckoo's nest once too often! What is he talking about in today's verse? 'Consider it all joy...when you encounter various trials...' Joy?!
Sure, there's nothing like a bad test result from the doctor to bring a smile to your face, is there James? It's such a laugh when you're bullied just because you're a Christian, eh Jim?
Is James just the sado-masochist of the New Testament or could he be getting at something else here? The rest of the verse is the clue to the 'something else': '.... knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance ... that you may be perfect and complete...' (vv. 2-4 NAS).
Trials, tests or bad times bring us back to basics: prayer. Emergencies - be it illnesses, break-ups, disasters, whatever, bring us to our knees. September 11, 2001 reminded the western world that life is short.
The aftermath in America saw people hit churches in record numbers. Once-sceptical atheists have been known to send up prayers at the deathbeds of loved ones. Bad times remind us all that life is fragile and there must be more to it all than this.
This is especially true for the Christian. Hard times force us to admit we're doomed, unless God turns up. James asks us to consider tough times as joy because the pain sobers us up.
The hurt draws us to the presence of God. The sting thrusts us into Godly maturity. James is NOT saying that you deserve the pain, nor that you need to sit in it helplessly (especially if it's the sort of thing you should be telling someone about).
What James is saying is that God is there with you in it, and, even though it can be downright awful, He will be using it to work His way in you too. The getting closer to God part can only be a joyous thing, right?
written by Bob Gass
''Consider it all joy ... when you encounter various trials'' James 1:2
James must've flown over the cuckoo's nest once too often! What is he talking about in today's verse? 'Consider it all joy...when you encounter various trials...' Joy?!
Sure, there's nothing like a bad test result from the doctor to bring a smile to your face, is there James? It's such a laugh when you're bullied just because you're a Christian, eh Jim?
Is James just the sado-masochist of the New Testament or could he be getting at something else here? The rest of the verse is the clue to the 'something else': '.... knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance ... that you may be perfect and complete...' (vv. 2-4 NAS).
Trials, tests or bad times bring us back to basics: prayer. Emergencies - be it illnesses, break-ups, disasters, whatever, bring us to our knees. September 11, 2001 reminded the western world that life is short.
The aftermath in America saw people hit churches in record numbers. Once-sceptical atheists have been known to send up prayers at the deathbeds of loved ones. Bad times remind us all that life is fragile and there must be more to it all than this.
This is especially true for the Christian. Hard times force us to admit we're doomed, unless God turns up. James asks us to consider tough times as joy because the pain sobers us up.
The hurt draws us to the presence of God. The sting thrusts us into Godly maturity. James is NOT saying that you deserve the pain, nor that you need to sit in it helplessly (especially if it's the sort of thing you should be telling someone about).
What James is saying is that God is there with you in it, and, even though it can be downright awful, He will be using it to work His way in you too. The getting closer to God part can only be a joyous thing, right?
written by Bob Gass
