Matthew Gaither – Page 16

What We Forget Is Just As Important As What We Remember

June 15, 2015 by Matthew Gaither

One of the ways that God speaks to us is through other people. Just this past week I’ve read and heard the same verse with the same theme from multiple sources. None of these authors knew each other and in some cases the material was written months ago (as is the case with my daily devotional) yet God orchestrated the timing so that they would all be read by me within a few days of each other.

Clearly, God has a message He is trying to get across to me and it’s one that I am having a hard time with.

Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead ..(Philippians 3:13) HCSB

The part that keeps coming up to me is “forgetting what is behind”. It is the idea of letting go and leaving behind that which is past. More than that even, Paul tells us to “forget” those things which are behind. Forgetting means we remember them no longer and they no longer have any place in our hearts or minds. They are truly gone and forgotten.

It’s easy to say “I am moving on with my life and I will do better next time!” It is much harder to forget that mistake or that failure and to leave it behind us forgotten for good.

I think many of us (myself included) carry an invisible bag on our shoulders that we lug around and rifle through fairly often. This invisible bag only comes off of our shoulders whenever we have a big decision to make or face a fork in the road of life. We set the bag down and we rummage through its contents looking at our past mistakes and errors because that is what the bag holds. It holds our guilt, it holds our errors and we dare not let it go because if we truly forgot then we might make the same mistake twice or go back to being what we used to be.

So we have to peer in from time to time and remind ourselves of what to avoid and what kind of person we used to be. (I don’t think I have to tell you that this is an incredibly damaging practice for us and it isn’t God who prompts us to do this!)

I think Paul struggled with this and that’s why he wrote this verse in Philippians. Paul was once called Saul and was personally responsible for the death and imprisonment of many Christians. Families were destroyed and the early church was sorely persecuted by the man called Saul.

So if there was anyone who really needed to “forget those things which are behind” it would be Paul who was once called Saul. And if God could help Paul leave it all behind and forget it, then He can surely help us do the same.

Now I am really thinking hard about my invisible bag and what I’m carrying around in it. God is making me aware, slowly and mercifully, that I have not truly forgotten what lies behind me. Although He has washed me and made me clean I evidently have not left it all at His feet. So while I am not completely sure what it is yet, I have faith that God will reveal it in His time and as I continue to prayerfully seek Him.

Are you also carrying around things which God would have you to lay down and leave behind? Paul said something else that might be helpful to us here:

And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:11) ESV

In 1st Corinthians Chapter 6, Paul has just gone through a long list of sins and sinful behavior which cause us to miss Heaven and eternity with God. Every one of us is guilty of at least some of those sins. But he doesn’t stop there. He follows up with verse 11 which is just about the best news that any of us could possible receive. Read it again, if you will.

To God, it doesn’t matter what you were. Your past is in the past and if you are a saved child of God then you have been washed and cleansed of all that you were before. You are new and that which is behind has no power over God’s future for you.

I am not what I was nor am I yet what I will be. But I can choose to live in the present and be joyful. I can choose to forget the past and those things that are behind. And I can choose to hope for the future that God has prepared for me. What about you?

Filed Under: Daily Tagged With: 1 Corinthians 6:11, Philippians 3:13

Worth Thinking About

May 18, 2015 by Matthew Gaither

I’m going to give you a quote from a recent article on CNN and let you think about it for a moment. Once you’ve done that please continue reading and we’ll discuss what I think it means and why it is important.

“Christianity in the United States hasn’t done a good job of engaging serious Christian reflection with young people, in ways that would be relevant to their lives.” said L. Gregory Jones, a senior strategist for leadership education at Duke University in North Carolina.

If you would like to read the whole story (which I recommend) the article in question can be found here. http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/12/living/pew-religion-study/index.html

It’s an article about young people and millennials (the “millenial” generation is defined by most as people born between 1981 and 1997) in particular leaving the church. What’s interesting is that the article states that many of the millenials who now claim no faith or religious affiliation were raised in homes where the parents claimed to be Christian. The takeaway being that this generation has in large part rejected the faith of their fathers in favor of a much different world view.

While it is the atheists and those who outright reject belief in God who often get most of the attention in Christian circles the article goes on to state that many more millenials profess to be agnostic or unsure about their belief in God rather than atheistic. And even among those who profess to believe in God they are still leaving church pews empty because they do not find the traditional church service and church programs to be relevant or engaging. Another quote from the article is relevant here:

“If it is the case that millennials are less ‘atheists’ than they are ‘bored,’ then serious engagements with Christian social innovation, and with deep intellectual reflection (and these two things are connected), would offer promising signs of hope,” Jones said.

The truly amazing thing about all of this to me is that a vibrant, growing faith in Jesus Christ is the most relevant and engaging experience that a human being could ever hope to be a part of and somehow “the church” has made it seem boring, old fashioned, misguided and not at all relevant. And lest we cast all of the blame at the churches’ feet we have to remember that a good portion of the millennials that this article is addressing were raised in homes where the parents claimed to be Christians. Since education starts in the home and God’s Word tells us that if we “Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6) then what we really have is a failure to educate and train our kids both at church AND in the home.

I don’t think this is a new problem, either. I think this is a problem that is as old as humanity and Christianity. The devil is always going to come after family units and will always try to distract us in any way that he possibly can and he’s been doing that for thousands of years. The fact that we have more media coverage and more distractions nowadays is just causing the problem to get more attention and more coverage.

But make no mistake, we do have a problem. We, as Christ’s church and Christ’s body need to do a better job at communicating why the gospel is still so relevant and so powerful. We need to emphasize the relational aspect of our faith with a loving heavenly father who has forgiven our sins and longs for us to be with Him. And we need to be bold in proclaiming that not making a decision is the same as rejecting God and carries grave consequences for an eternity without hope.

Filed Under: Daily Tagged With: education, faith, proverbs 22:6

Faith In The Rabbit Hole

April 27, 2015 by Matthew Gaither

Confused? Yes. Dismayed? Yes. Uncomfortable with your situation? Yes. Irritated and annoyed? Yes. Unsure about your direction? Yes. Lacking in confidence? Most assuredly.

This describes me. Does it describe you? Ok maybe it isn’t every minute of every day but those descriptors certainly fit me often enough for me to notice and feel bad about it. After all, I am a Christian, a saved child of God who is honestly trying his best to love the Lord and walk in righteousness. Aren’t I supposed to have it all together at this point? Shouldn’t I be mature enough in my walk that I am armored against such things? Apparently not.

At times, I feel like I am living in Alice’s rabbit hole.

Wikipedia says the expression “down the rabbit hole” is a metaphor for an entry into the unknown, the disorientating or the mentally confusing and can also refer to an initial page or clue that opens a persons eyes to an alternate reality. I think that’s a pretty good explanation for certain aspects of life as a Christian.

The flesh in me wants to act out so badly and sometimes, unfortunately, I let it. And because I’ve let my flesh have its way I then berate and beat myself up about it instead of resting in God’s grace and immediately seeking His forgiveness. This process of being fixed by God for His glory is described by the fancy word “sanctification” and sanctification, at least for me, is hard.

See if this sounds familiar to you. Through prayer and life experience God reveals a weak area that needs attention. You confess it, ask for God’s help in it and begin to see some progress in growing out of it. But then you slip up and the old man, that old sin, comes right back to the forefront. I think the apostle Paul understood this very well.

For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. (Romans 7:15-20) NASB

How frustrating it is and how dismayed I am with myself when I do those things that I know I shouldn’t do and don’t do those things that I know I should! Some days I just want to cry out to God to take this sin out of me and make me like Jesus, perfect and holy as He is.

But that isn’t how God works with us, is it? This is a process. The route of sanctification isn’t a short, straight line from point A (start) to point B (finish). It’s more like a meandering path through hills, valleys, deserts, rivers, oceans, caves, jungles and an erupting volcano or two before we reach our goal. At each new sight and at each bend in the road God is there to guide us and teach us something new, if we will let Him. If I will let Him.

That’s where the alternate reality of the rabbit hole comes in. Although we walk on this earth we are not of the earth and our destination can’t be found on any map. Our spiritual eyes have been opened and we long for a home that we have never seen. We long to be with our savior and to be like Him.

It is that dissatisfaction with who we are now versus who God wants us to be that can sometimes drive us to distraction but can also be a catalyst for great change. Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic wrote “Dissatisfaction is the mother of change, and only change can drive improvement.” Although he was speaking in a secular sense, there is still spiritual truth in his statement. God does not want us to be satisfied and comfortable in our sin and until we hate it as much as He does there will be some things that we will not be able to overcome. I am convinced of this.

This life we live can be weird, trying and downright exasperating at times. Sometimes, the thing I am most exasperated with is myself. Even so, I have faith that God is still working and that the process of sanctification that He started in me will be completed in His good time. Until then I need to hold on and keep believing. You hold on and keep believing also. Don’t loose your way and don’t loose your faith in the rabbit hole. God knows exactly where we are and He has a perfect plan to bring us home. What we need to do now, is help each other get there.

Filed Under: Daily Tagged With: faith, flesh, Romans 7:15-20

Can We Be Friends With God?

April 20, 2015 by Matthew Gaither

How can I, a sinful, imperfect man, be a friend to the perfect, all-powerful creator of the universe? In human terms, it would seem to be an impossibility. After all, I can’t actually see God nor can I hear His voice audibly. Beyond the perception problem is the even larger problem of status and ability. God can do everything, knows everything and is absolutely pure and righteous while I can do very little, know very little and am mostly selfish and full of failure.

In my human thinking I have a very hard time understanding why God would want to be friends with me at all. It certainly doesn’t make logical sense for one who is of the stature of God to lower Himself just so that He could enter in to a relationship with me.

Yet, that is exactly what He did. He came as a man named Jesus and lived on this earth for 33 years as one of us. And although He was a man He was still God and He lived a perfect life that was without sin. When the Roman government put Him to death on a cross made of wood, God accepted His shed blood as a sacrifice for the sin and failure of the whole world. Anyone who now believes that Jesus was the Savior of the world and confesses that fact with their mouth will be born again into a new life with a spirit that is made alive.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever would believe on Him would not perish but would have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

The most often quoted verse in the Bible is the explanation for why God would want to be friends with me. The strength and power of God’s love defies all explanation, transcends time and space and will stop at nothing to bring me back to Him.

Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain but He washed it white as snow.

God opened the door to a relationship with Him. He was the only one who could. It wasn’t because I deserved it (I don’t) or for any other reason than He loves me and wants me to get to know Him.

Imagine that, the perfect, all-powerful creator of time and space wants me to know who He is and that He cares for me! Not only that, He asks me to cast all my cares on Him and rest in His grace because He will never leave me or forsake me. He is the best friend that I could ever ask for and the friend that I will never be good enough to deserve.

No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. (John 15:15) NASB

I am a friend of God because I have believed on the name of Jesus Christ and strive to walk day by day with Him. Can you say the same?

Filed Under: Daily Tagged With: friendship with God, John 15:15, John 3:16

Three Things To Never Forget

April 13, 2015 by Matthew Gaither

It’s easy to forget. It’s easy to lose focus on what really matters and to take for granted those things that are the most important. When we lose focus, we have a tendency to drift into ways of doing things and patterns of thinking that are of the flesh and not of God. With that in mind here are three truths that we should call to mind every single day.

God is real – We profess to know Him and to be His children but our thoughts and actions often tell a different story. How often do we try to solve a problem without consulting Him? How many of our decisions on a daily basis include Him and His strength rather than our own? Are we moving through life with the weight of the world on our shoulders or have we cast all of our cares on Him?

If God is real and His words are true then it follows that we would be better off to listen and obey. When we remember Him and include Him we are blessed and He is glorified. When we forget Him and try to do things our own way we will inevitably stumble and fall.

Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created (Revelations 4:11) NASB

God is able – More than just knowing God exists and believing in Him we must learn that God is able. He alone holds this world and all of us in His mighty hands. He spoke all of creation into existence with just a word and with just a word He is able to calm all of the storms of life.

We need to see God in action. We need to experience firsthand how great and powerful our God really is. And that only happens as we seek Him with our whole heart and invite Him to move and to work in us and through us.

It takes trust to know that God is able. Trust comes from our faith and our faith grows little by little as we walk step by step through this life with Him. As He brings us through each trial and each tribulation and as we stumble and fall and experience His love and mercy all over again we get to know Him more and more. God is able. God can do it. There is nothing that He can’t redeem.

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4) NASB

God is good – If you’ve seen the movie “God is not Dead” (and if you haven’t you should stop what you are doing and go watch it right now!) then you will remember the pastor of the local church and his missionary friend. They have a saying that takes both of them to complete and it is: “God is good (first person says this) All the time (second person says this) And all the time (first person again) God is good. (second person finishes). This movie is not the origin of that statement but it does such an excellent job of showing how important that statement is and how we should be using it to lift one another up that I had to include it here.

In the midst of an evil, fallen world it’s very easy to forget that God is good all the time and all the time He is good. We are tried and we are tested and it often seems like evil is winning. And if evil is winning then how can God really be good?

He is good because His character is perfect and good and it is an ultimate, timeless good. The evil and trials of this world are temporary and will pass away. God allows evil to exist in the world for this span of time so that we might choose Him of our own free will. If we choose Him now, in the midst of this fallen world, then one day we will get to be with Him in a perfect place where there is no evil, no sickness, no death, no weakness and no sin.

As God works in our lives (and He is working whether we notice or not) will we choose to trust in His timing, trust in His plan and trust in His ultimate goodness? Even when it seems like everything is falling apart? Can we encourage each other and hold each other up by looking forward to a day when God will do away with evil once and for all? Or will we forget that God really is good?

To know Him is to know His goodness and His character. Get to know who God is and we will never doubt His goodness or character!

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting. (Psalm 136:1)

Filed Under: Daily Tagged With: God is able, God is good, God is real

It All Started With….

April 6, 2015 by Matthew Gaither

It all started with that thing I saw. It was beautiful and it had an immediate effect on me. I wanted to study it closer and to know all about it. It fascinated me and began to consume my thoughts. I wanted it to be mine.

I began to imagine myself as the owner of this fine item. What fun it would be! It would most likely improve my life and other people would definitely be impressed if they saw me using it and enjoying it. With something so impressive and good, how could I not own it?

I began to think of ways to obtain it. Sure it was expensive and not something I necessarily needed but how could I pass this opportunity by and not make it mine? I must think on this and somehow, someway, I will have it…

How does this story end? That depends on the situation and the person. After all, what I have just described is what can happen to anyone who sees something and begins to lust after it. And what happens when lust takes over?

What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. (James 4:1-3) NASB

Although lust is a word we most often associate with sexual desire it can in fact also be a strong, burning desire for any object or thing. It could be a new vehicle, an article of clothing, a shiny piece of technology or anything else that fascinates our mind. And because we are all built differently what might cause me to lust will have no effect on someone else. In other words, it isn’t the object that’s the problem but what we do when we inevitably encounter that temptation.

In the verses above, James describes unbridled lust as a source for war, murder, envy, and fighting. When the desire to have something becomes so strong that we will stop at nothing to get it, anyone or anything that gets in our way will be a target for our wrath. We will wage war against that thing, that person or that circumstance that is stopping us from getting what we want.

That is why it is so important that we not treat temptation lightly. We need to realize that we are all weak to certain desires and do everything in our power to 1)be honest in confessing our weakness to the Lord, 2) avoid and minimize our exposure to those things that tempt us, 3) have good Godly people around us that can hold us accountable and encourage us to make good decisions.

Lust and desire have no power over a born again Christian except that which we give them. Jesus Christ’s work on the cross broke the chains of sin and bondage and we no longer have to be slaves to our wants. If we keep our eyes on Jesus (and not on the shiny, glittery things of this world) and make our relationship with God our highest priority then we won’t be an easy target for temptation.

Filed Under: Daily Tagged With: James 4, lust, temptation

The Problem With Praying For Gods Will To Be Done

March 30, 2015 by Matthew Gaither

The problem with praying for God’s will to be done is that it sometimes makes for a very short conversation. If prayer really is supposed to be a conversation between we who are God’s children and our heavenly father then it seems to me that there should be more involvement on our part.

I honestly believe, based on what I have read in the scriptures, that God desires to use people to carry out His will. People are important to God. Me, getting involved in carrying out God’s will on earth, is extremely important to God. When I pray for God’s will to be done, that is a start, but it should not be the ending.

If I really examine my motives, sometimes when I pray for God’s will to be done I am actually trying to absolve myself of any responsibility in the matter. It is as if I am saying “I don’t know what to do, so you take care of it while I think about something else”.

I think the Lord would rather that I pray “God, make me fit to carry out your will and use me for your glory. I invite you to use me as your instrument and I am here and available for you.” If I pray this prayer and really mean it, then God’s plan will be carried out and I will be where He wants me to be.

Ultimately, God’s will is going to be carried out one way or another. He has the final say, He is the author and the creator and His word stands forever. That won’t change. What can change, however, is me and my choosing to work together with Him. Will I be His willing vessel or will I refuse and miss out on a great blessing?

My responsibility when I pray is the condition of my heart and the motivation behind my prayer. Am I speaking just to hear myself talk? Am I really asking for God’s intervention in the life of another or am I just trying to get through my prayer list so that I can go on to something else? My flesh wars against my spiritual nature and wants to have its own way but through Christ in me I can pray in the Spirit in a way that pleases the Father.

This is a hard lesson and one that I am still working on. The concept of prayer is a simple one but because it is communication between me (who is finite, flawed and flesh) and God (who is spirit, infinite and perfect) the actual process of prayer is anything but simple. It takes Jesus Christ to bridge the gap between what I am and who God is and it is only through His work on the cross and His shed blood that I am able to come before God with a pure heart and clean hands.

I want my prayer to be heard by God and I want to pray in a way that pleases Him. I want God’s will to be done but before I can honestly pray for it I need to ask for God’s will to be done in me and for the willingness to say “yes” to whatever He asks.

Filed Under: Daily Tagged With: god's will, prayer

Waiting Is The Hard Part

March 23, 2015 by Matthew Gaither

For many of us (myself included) patience does not come naturally. We want what we want and we want it now. This is just human nature and without proper instruction and God’s help we will remain impatient creatures indefinitely.

I believe that the disciples were impatient men. Notice their question to Jesus in the first chapter of Acts:

So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6)

They had reason to be excited. Jesus was alive! He really had come back from the dead!

I am sure that the disciples believed that if Jesus could overcome death then he could do anything. Not only that, they believed that Jesus would continue on with them and eventually overthrow the oppressive Roman government and begin his earthly rule as a king. Their question to Jesus reveals their impatience and the type of salvation that they were looking for. (an earthly one rather than a spiritual one)

So they asked Jesus a simple question: “Hey, is it time for you to restore Israel and fix our political situation?” was the gist of what they were saying. And how did Jesus answer them?

He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” (Acts 1:7-8)

He tells them that the knowledge that they are asking for is beyond them and belongs solely in the dominion of God. Then he redirects their inquiry and their energy into an altogether different task. They are to be witnesses of God’s grace and message of redemption when they have received the power of the Holy Spirit.

Put in another way, Jesus was telling the disciples that they would receive all that they needed (the power of the Holy Spirit – which is now available to all believers all the time!) and that they would be made perfectly fit for the task at hand and not to worry about what would happen when because those details belong in God’s hands.

I don’t know about you but I find this passage incredibly comforting. Like the disciples I sometimes (ok, frequently) ask God questions about “when” or “why”. And sometimes He answers me. But more often that not He tells me exactly what Jesus told the disciples: “I have given you all that you need. I am making you perfect for the task at hand. Be my witness and leave the “when” and the “why” up to me”.

Are you a redeemed child of the King? If so, rejoice that God is making you perfect. Waiting may be hard and we may not know or understand God’s timing but we can know and understand His heart. And that is enough for now.

Filed Under: Daily Tagged With: Acts 1, Holy Spirit, patience

Blessed Memories On A Blessed Day

March 16, 2015 by Matthew Gaither

I belong to Jesus and everything I do belongs to Him. My purpose is never to lift myself up but to proclaim Him and let all the world know that Jesus saves. It is with that thought in mind that I want to write about how blessed I am to have just celebrated another birthday.

God has been very good to me. He saw fit to save me at a young age. I remember the revival service and the invitation that was offered and even though I was only six years old I knew that I was lost and wanted Jesus to come in to my heart. I didn’t understand very much about Christianity or the church and I certainly had no idea what God had in store for my life but I knew I wanted Jesus and He wanted me. And that was enough.

As an energetic boy who loved to play outside and roam the neighborhood, Christian growth and development was about as far from my mind as calculus or learning about the stock market. But my parents kept me in church and in Sunday School and made sure I was active in the youth group when the time came. Even then I am sure that I was more interested in socializing and members of the opposite sex than I was in learning about God but I also know that what was being taught and shown to me by teachers, pastors and youth leaders was beginning to sink in. God had a purpose for my life and I was saved for a reason. I just didn’t know what that reason was yet.

Through college and young adulthood I could feel God start to speak to me about what He wanted for my life and for many years I resisted. I began attending the church that my wife had grown up in and felt loved and accepted there and even agreed to begin singing in the choir and teaching a Sunday School class. But it wasn’t until 2013 that I really surrendered to the Lord and His purpose for my life. I remember His call very clearly as I got on my knees that day: “You will write and speak my truth”. And that is the purpose for this blog and more importantly, God’s purpose for me in building His church.

I think about how many years God allowed me to lay fallow. The seeds were planted and I was saved and little by little His word was sinking in and beginning to make me into what He wanted me to be. God used my life experiences and the people around me even when I wasn’t taking Him seriously to prepare me for this time. It still amazes me when I consider all that He has done for me and I am truly blessed to by His child.

So as I celebrate this birthday with my family and friends I realize that it is not about me. This birthday is a celebration of God’s work in a sinful man and God’s grace and redeeming power in the life of one who is not worthy.

“Thank you, Lord, that you have allowed me another year to work for you. May my next year be more profitable for your kingdom than this year was and may I proclaim you with my life for all of my days to come. Amen.”

Filed Under: Daily Tagged With: blessed, God's purpose, saved

Worth The Trouble

March 9, 2015 by Matthew Gaither

Trust in God. When everything seems to be going wrong and you feel despair, choose to trust in God. When nothing’s working and you have no strength left simply tell Him, “I trust you”. Calm yourself in His presence and remember that He holds your “right now” and all of your moments to come. Come back to that place where you can be still and know that He is God.

How is trust formed? Not easily. It takes time and it takes trouble. And the greater the trouble that He brings you through the more your trust grows.

For most of us, we resist trouble. We look for ways around it instead of trusting that God will bring us through it. We stress and agonize over it. We worry ourselves to sickness trying to find solutions for it. But it is only in the midst of trouble that we can learn to fully depend on His strength and His grace to make it through the day.

James says that we should embrace trouble. Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4) To James, the outcome was worth the trouble. The outcome was so worth it that he considered trouble to be an occasion for joy! James looked forward to becoming perfect and complete in his faith, worthy of the one who called him. And to get there he was able to face trouble with a positive outlook.

Being joyful in the midst of trouble is not natural. In fact, it is distinctly unnatural. It requires a conscious choice to focus on God and the goal rather than our circumstances and the moment. And once again, it comes back to trust. Can we trust that God is really here with us? Can we trust that He is big enough to carry us when we can’t seem to take another step? Can we trust that on the other side of this present trouble is an eternal reward and an end to all suffering?

It’s not easy. Without the Holy Spirit’s help it is in fact impossible. But Jesus knows our weaknesses and he has suffered all things so that we can be sure that we have a heavenly father who really understands us and knows our grief and sorrow intimately. Trust in Him. Only trust in Him.

Filed Under: Daily Tagged With: Holy Spirit, James 1, trust