Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
You know those times when God's Word just smacks you over the head? I had one of those tonight. I shouldn't be surprised. God does things like that. This week at church Matt Chandler talked about the authority of Scripture and how it is universal (not cultural or dated) and also how it is sufficient. According to Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."
So on Sunday I remember thinking, yeah I have heard that God's word is relevant to my life and I know I have experienced that before but it just doesn't seem like it has anything to say about my situation right now. "It speaks vaguely about God's overall plan for your life...bla bla bla". All I have to say is be careful what you say to God because He WILL shine light on those areas where you are wrong. I don't think this verse (James 1:2-8) could be any MORE specific about my situation. Today after work I stopped by the bank to deposit a check and ended up opening up a savings account. It was really a blessing because I got to talk with the personal banker for almost an hour about finances and online banking etc. It was such a great time and I left encouraged and feeling a little bit further along in my journey to "maturity". Well when I got home I had a very "immature" moment and felt very discouraged just 20 minutes later. I went back to the "this is going to be a long year"... mode and lets just say I wasn't being joyful. Then I open my Bible and decide to read James for my B-study tomorrow night. The first thing I read: "consider it pure joy...". Yeah, Lord I don't want to. Keep reading. "The testing of your faith develops perseverance." But I don't want to persevere. I want to give up. Keep reading. "Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him."Boom. Thats it! I can't be mature by myself. I'm not going to wake up one morning (shouldn't this have already happened?) and be this Godly woman! First of all, it comes from God. There is nothing inside of me that is good, its all Him. And He is the one who is going to produce fruit in my life. My job is to keep pressing into Him even when I don't feel like it and allow Him to change me. Persevere. What a relief! I can't change myself, and when I let go and allow Christ to transform me that's when the JOY comes! And....how can I be transformed by Christ? By spending time with Him through His Word.
1 comment:
That's pretty much exactly what I needed to hear right now. Thanks Emily :)
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