Joy From Trouble

James says to rejoice if your life is full of trouble! Does anyone actually believe that? I read a very interesting insight the other day which quoted Jowett as saying: "It is possible to evade a multitude of sorrows by the cultivation of an insignificant life!" If a person has few goals, weak purpose, and few relationships there will be little turbulence. Tiny souls can dodge and slide through life; bigger persons are blocked at every turn. 

So a Christian with little passion for Christ can stumble along in the shadows with less than normal difficulty, or so it seems. But if a person steps into the glorious potential of letting Christ be your life, troubles abound, and that is actually good. Without troubles and difficulties, we would not realize we need God. The nature of sin is to be independent of God, to be self-sufficient. So whatever helps us realize that we really are dependent on God is a good thing. Would you agree with that?

Here is what the New Living Translation of James 1.2,3 says: "Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything. "

We will all have a chance to test what God says there...this week! Sadly, most of us will not pass that test; but will continue to cultivate insignificance - but I am very interested in breaking out of that attitude, and let God teach me how to rejoice at the trouble that inevitably will come to me...today! If you do that too, and find 'joy'....send me an encouraging note!

bh July 26, 2008

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