Is Your Trial God's Protection?

The living, the living - they praise you,
   as I am doing today;
fathers tell their children
   about your faithfulness.
The LORD will save me,
   and we will sing with stringed instruments
all the days of our lives
   in the temple of the LORD.
Isaiah 38:19-20

It's funny how some "tough" situations can be God's protection. When I first started teaching I was worried that some more experienced teacher might bump me out because of seniority. Finally, one of the veteran teachers said, "No one wants your job. No teacher who is from one of the "good" areas is going to want to come down here to South Central and teach." She was right. Although I got pink slips (saying my position was in danger) for my first few years, never once did I come even close to losing my job or position. God placed me in a class that no one else wanted. I was safe there. 

Where are you now? Are you in a tough position? Maybe a job or assignment that is not all that glamorous? Maybe God has you there to protect you. He definitely wants to reveal his faithfulness to you. Remember that  God's love for you is unfailing and his faithfulness is unchanging. Thank you, Lord!

Father, help us to trust you where we are at and thrive. Praise be to you in us today!

I Almost Waited Long Enough

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 

2 Peter 1:5-7 (NIV)

All I can think of is the story of Saul in I Samuel 13. Saul waited seven days in the face of the enemy and the army of Israel looking to him to lead them. He was waiting for Samuel the priest. He panicked and offered the offerings himself. Just as he got done, Samuel arrives.  Samuel tells him he acted foolishly by not keeping the command God gave him. 

What hits me, is the question of how many times I have been impatient and not persevered and tried to take things into my own hands? 

I don't want to condemn myself or anyone else because I know that God is forgiving, merciful and gracious. He is faithful and just to forgive us from all unrighteousness. I do want to remind us to patiently endure in our present circumstances. Whether that be a situation at work or at home, God, who began a good work in you, is faithful to complete that work. 

Father, help us to remember, even when confronted with unbearable pressure, to wait on you, to persevere. Praise be to you in us today!

LET THE JAMBALAYA MATURE

"Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:4 (NIV)

I was watching Throwdown with Bobby Flay on the Food Channel once and they were cooking jambalaya. The local jambalaya king said the key was to let it alone once you had the rice in it. So of course Bobby Flay didn't leave it alone, he kept taking the lid off and his rice didn't come out right. The jambalaya king didn't mess with his and his rice was perfect. The key was to let the pot do its work. 

I think our spiritual maturity is a bit like waiting for jambalaya to cook. We want to lift the lid and see what God is doing. We get impatient and start asking, "Am I mature yet? Are you done, God?" I won't know if I am patient, until I need to be patient. I won't know if I am compassionate until an opportunity to show compassion presents itself. I guess the key is just letting God do what he wants to do and having the faith that he is in control. 

Maturity is not about reaching some spot where I can say I am mature and then I am done with it. Maturity is when I learn to rest in God no matter where I am at. Everyday is an opportunity to let God work in and through us. What does God have in store for today?

Father, help us to let perseverance do it's work in us to to love as you have loved us. Praise be to you in us today!

NOT A FEELING, PERSEVERANCE

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." James 1:2-3

Consider this: it's not about your feelings. James is not telling us to feel joyful when we encounter trials. He is teaching that when you are in a trial to act like you would act if your were joyful about something. 

We are joyful when something is going well. We are joyful when we know God is in control and that he has worked something out for the good in our lives. You know, like when you get the job, you get the raise, something goes your way. You act with confidence, you know you are in the right place, you know God is with you. Choose to act like that when you go through a trial. That is what James is teaching.

When we go through trials God uses them to develop us spiritually. Now, if you are like me, you usually ask and look for any other way besides a trial. Like W.C. Fields said when asked why he was reading a Bible he said, "Looking for loopholes." Sometimes we look at grace as a loophole to get out of things rather than through them. 

If you have been a Christian for a while I am sure you have had one of those waiting on God experiences where it went past the time you had for it being possible to work things out. You thought all was lost and then God worked. We are supposed to learn perseverance from those trials, it's not a been there, done that thing. God is developing perseverance or patience (KJV) in us. That is a good thing. That God is working in your life is a good thing, a very good thing. We persevere because we know that God is Sovereign over everything and that he works all things out for our good.  

Father, help us to rest in you and persevere. Praise be to you in us today!

JUST KEEP RUNNING

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Hebrews 12:1

When I was around sixteen my grandfather was dying from cancer. I deeply respected my grandfather. When my mom would go visit him I would always ask her to tell him we love him and we're praying for him. After his last operation mom said that he came out and kept asking granny if she saw who was there. Granny said, "Yes, the doctors and the nurses." Grandpa, "Yes, and PT was there too." Granny tried to tell him I wasn't there but he insisted and told her I held his hand and said, "We love you grandpa and we're praying for you." There have been many times since grandpa and granny died that I think of them in heaven looking down on me. 

I know the trials that my grandparents went through. I know they weren't perfect, yet in the end, God saw them through. That encourages me to press on sometimes. 

In the same way, knowing that the people in the bible were real people who went through real and intense trials should encourage us press on. What is encouraging is that God was and is always faithful. We press on which often means we get back up, confess our sins, and keep walking by faith. Each time we learn that it is about Christ's faithfulness, not ours. Men and women of faith have faith in God, not themselves. 

So, keep running. Christ will get you there.

Thank you, Lord Jesus Christ, for you faithfulness and unfailing love. Help us to run with perseverance. Praise be to you in us today!

DEFEAT INTO VICTORY!

"So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised." Hebrews 10:35-36

Yesterday morning at a men's study I attend we were discussing how you turn defeat into victory and victory into defeat. What it made me think about was the times that I was impatient and not willing to wait for God. In that I turned victory into defeat. 

I think about Saul and how he got impatient waiting for Samuel  (I Samuel 13) and offered up the offerings himself. If he would of waited his kingdom would of been established for all time, instead, he lost it all. 

Hebrews reminds us to persevere. Don't give up! I may be a long wait and may seem like God isn't going to show up, but, in his time, he will! We turn defeat into victory by persevering. 

God has promised us abundant life. Our perseverance will be rewarded. Keep on trying to do the will of God and he will be faithful to reward you. 

Father, help us to be confident in you. Show us yourself! Help us to persevere and do you will. Praise be to you in us today!

GOT PERSEVERANCE?: II Thessalonians 1:4-5

"Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. All this is evidence that God's judgement is right, and as a  result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering." II Thessalonians 1:4-5

I have seen some very good teachers in my time as an educator. Frankly, none of the best teachers I have known teach honors classes. It is easy to teach A students because they already know how to get an A. Teaching low performing students how to  improve, now that's a challenge. My point is that I know people who just want to "teach" good kids and not be bothered by any students who have issues. Well,  seeing an educator endure all the trials of a challenging group of students is proof to me that they are a good, if not a great, educator. As a Christian, persevering by faith through persecutions and trials is "proof" of authentic Christianity. 

Sometimes we get things backwards in that we think that going through difficult times is proof that God does not love us. Trials and how we respond to them are the test to see if we are worthy. Listen, I know this is not what we want to hear, but, it is what the Bible says, so it is the truth by which we must govern our lives. 

The encouragement is that just because you are experiencing some hardships that does not mean you are outside of God's will and protection. Remember Romans 8:28, that God will work all things out for the good. Think of Joseph and how after years of being sold into slavery and prison time for honoring his boss (even though his bosses wife was anything but honorable), he ends up basically ruling the known world and saving his family. 

If you are in a trial, seek God and endure, persevere and walk by faith, knowing that God has you where he wants you and he will work it out for the good. 

Father, sometimes it is hard to see that you are with us in the middle of a trial. Show us yourself. Be our rock of refuge today! Praise be to you in us today!