Joy in Trials

"Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. " James 1:2-3

There's a lot going on with me personally. I'm not going to go too much in depth since they involve others, but I will share some struggles and things on my heart. My grandparents almost died this week (not even due to their particular illnesses), and along with that I'm dealing with some anger at family members. I'm struggling with the job search. It intimidates, frustrates, and discourages me. And I'm having a tough time being joyful at this particular time.

Yesterday, everything hit me at the same time. I tend to avoid emotions until I explode. I didn't explode, but I did end up having to deal with everything at the same time. I got on Facebook and saw a quote from a local pastor, Judah Smith, "First things first...Focus FIRST on God's love for you, not your love for Him. 1 John 4:19" That was just what I needed to hear, so I decided that I needed to listen to worship music.

God put everything in perspective for me. He consistently does that. While listening to music, a Father by Hillsong was playing, and a few verses really stuck out to me,

"You restore the broken hearted

You bring freedom to the captive

For one and all

Forever this means love"

God is so kind. Even when I'm not kind or faithful, He is consistently kind and faithful. He was showing me His love when I was being anything from loving. He's done so much for me, so how can I not be joyful?

You can't say that God doesn't know what He is doing. I'm studying the book of James, the guy who told us to be joyful whenever we experience trials. It's not a coincidence that I read and studied this verse today.

"Trials don't get to steal from followers of Christ unless we hand over the goods (Beth Moore)." How many times have we handed over our goods and completely given up? If we give up and surrender to satan, we end up building up his kingdom. But the testing of our faith produces endurance or perseverance. Perseverance means nerving oneself, like a person determined to stay on her feet, holding tight to Jesus, while storm wings try to toss her like a rubber duck on a swelling sea (Beth Moore). I want to persevere, not surrender and hand over my goods.

Perseverance must finish its work in us, so we will be perfect, lacking nothing. (v4)

"If any of you lack wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." James 1:5

James brings up another thing, wisdom, we may lack that we need to become "perfect." We need wisdom to know what to do with knowledge. Verse 5 says all you need to do is ASK GOD FOR WISDOM. It's that simple, but read verses 6-8.

"But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do." James 1:6-8

I definitely don't want to be characterized as unstable or double-minded, but when I'm doubting and not living by faith, that's exactly what I am--unstable and double-minded. Being double-minded means living for both God and the world. But we're called to live only for God. If I speak things but don't really believe them, I'm being double-minded. If I claim to be for God and speak perverse words, then I'm being double-minded. It comes down to faith: Do we really believe what we say we believe? We must go to God with confidence that we've already received it, and be grateful in advance for what you know you will receive. That's faith, and that's living for God. Doubt robs us of wisdom, but also other priceless provisions. "Faith receives more than it asks. Doubt loses more than it disbelieved (Beth Moore)." There's a lot at stake!

If we are double-minded, we are also unstable. I love the comfort of this verse:

"He is your constant source of stability." Isaiah 33:6

[Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him." But the people said nothing.]

1 Kings 18:21

Instead of Baal, insert whatever is taking place of God in that blank, perhaps the world.

I don't know if any of what I said made sense, but it does in my brain. I write this for encouragement for others and myself. Instead of letting satan rob me of my joy, I'm going to hold tight to God and only follow Him.

So what are you going to do with all you're going through?

Lately

Dear Whoever Is Reading This,

Sorry I'm so delinquent on blog postings. I can't believe the summer is almost over! This summer has been productive and lazy at the Elm household. The laziness comes only from me. We've done much needed projects around the house this summer, and all I can think after they're done is, "Why didn't we do this earlier?" We've painted, bought and assembled patio furniture, placed boards in attic to create more storage, organized and decluttered the house. I feel like a new woman! I'll have to post pictures of the house soon, but I have no storage on my computer so it may not be for a while.

God has also taught me a lot this summer. I've read a lot of books, but the two that have really been helpful are "So Long, Insecurity..." by Beth Moore and "Forgotten God" by Francis Chan. Insecurity is something that either is always present or just crops up during our weakest moments, when we're most vulnerable. Insecurity has always had a grip on me, but in different forms. I used to be really insecure about my body image, then insecurity became circumstantial. When I was weak, I would become insecure about anything and everything. This book taught me that "I am clothed in strength and dignity, and I laugh without fear of the future. (Proverbs 31:25)" And I truly believe this about myself. A job doesn't change my worth; I am still clothed with strength and dignity. I did enjoy my summer because I laughed without fear of the future. Every person deserves to feel this way about themselves.

God also taught and inspired me through Francis Chan. The "Forgotten God" in his book is the Holy Spirit. I am guilty of frequently quenching the Holy Spirit. I'll feel Him leading me to do something or to not do something, and I'll ignore Him and do what I want to do. Think about how a butterfly becomes a new creation. It begins as a caterpillar, then one day, it takes a long nap and wakes up as a beautiful butterfly. It not only looks different, but it can fly and do new things. We should be the same when we become a Christian. We become a new creation, but too often, we don't look any different or act as if we can do anything new. When the Holy Spirit begins to dwell in us, we should look and act differently. God can do a whole lot more than we can on our own, and if God is in us, we have newfound strength and are a brand new creation. We shouldn't act like those who don't have the Holy Spirit inside of us. I haven't been acting any different than non Christians. I need to follow where the Spirit leads me. Things are changing a lot in our lives right now (which I'll talk about later), and I need to follow the Spirit more than ever. I now have love, joy and peace like I've never had before because I'm obeying. Though our circumstances aren't ideal, no one can take my joy away from me.

-Christie