The Key Ingredient in Perfection: Suffering
Deacon Donald Barksdale
“...Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience” (James 1:2-3)
When you are thrown in the fire, what comes out of you? Is it trust? Do you know that God has you? Or is doubt and fear there, leading you to the wrong reaction and/or outcome?
No longer should we run from the challenges in life, but face them head-on with the confidence to know at the end of the day we will come out on top. Will we remain in the mindset of allowing our problems and challenges to defeat us? Or will see those adversities as opportunities to be developed? The answer is based upon how we respond to the situations we’re faced with.
The sad part is that most of us are blind to see how God wants to use our problems to build us - for our good and the benefit of others.
In most situations, God uses a problem to direct us. He usually has to light a fire under and within us to change our prospective or to move us. I like what the NIV translation say in Proverbs 20:30: “Blows and wounds scrub away evil, and beatings purge the inmost being.”
Sometimes the situation are painful enough to cause us to change who we are (our actions and behaviors). Some situations lead to the trying/testing of our faith, allowing us to examine what is truly inside of our heart. Similar to a teabag, you don’t know what’s inside of it until it’s thrown into hot boiling water.
When you are thrown in the fire, what comes out of you? Is it trust? Do you know that God has you? Or is doubt and fear there, leading you to the wrong reaction and/or outcome?
In those fiery times, we should grab hold of James 1:2-3, “count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.” This patience will allow us to examine the problem more effectively, reminding us not to lean to our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6), and ultimately resulting in a more God-pleasing (and God-displaying) outcome. When patience (slow to anger) and self-control are absent, anger and rage take its place. No good can come from a lack of patience. Patience comes from a position of power and allows us to be able to endure pain and suffering without complaining. We patiently depend on God to provide us with comfort.
Though we may not recognize it, God is at work in our every second of every day. Our cooperation and assurance in Him allows our situation to conclude on top. Everything has been placed under Jesus' feet (Ephesians 1:22), including the devil. Since we are part of the Body of Christ, all things are under our feet as well. It doesn't matter what type of problem comes against us, we walk on top of every one of these situations as we are led by Christ.
Images: Mi Pham, Aziz Acharki