I know many of you just opened this blog, looked at the
length, and are contemplating clicking on the back arrow. I understand. It’s long.
As much as I desire for you to
stay a few moments and read, I have to confess that I didn’t write this blog
for you. I wrote it for me. You see, I’m struggling and writing helps me
work out my thoughts.
Raising financial support to be a missionary has been the
most difficult thing I’ve done. Difficult for many reasons: relationships can be strained when money is
mentioned, discouragement is powerful when churches decline to have us speak,
and fear, doubt, and the desire to quit are constantly nagging the edges of my
thoughts. But I’ve learned and I’ve
grown and I know God, His word, and His promises better than I did when we
began this process sixteen months ago. Join me if you can as I wrestle my thoughts
onto the screen.
I’ve spent most of my life avoiding struggle and
trials. I’ve prayed for God to give me
what I want, I’ve prayed for Him to make my life easier, and I’ve prayed for
him to change my circumstances, all with the desire to avoid suffering and
struggle. I fervently sought a life of
ease and comfort because I believed struggle was bad and after all who wants to
suffer? Certainly not me. But God doesn’t define struggles as bad. He has a different perspective.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers,
whenever you face trials of many kinds,
because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” (Jms. 1:2-3).
Trials bring something into our life. They develop perseverance. That word perseverance means, “endurance,
constancy.” (1) Both of these words imply a long haul, an
“ability to last” (2), a marathon. We don’t often look at a sprinter and talk
about his endurance. We talk about his
power, his speed, and his form, but rarely, if ever, is his endurance mentioned.
To be a good sprinter, he doesn’t need
the ability to run for hours, he needs to be fast for a short time.
On the contrary, a marathon runner does need the ability to run
mile after mile and that is why we use the word endurance when we mention a
marathon runner. His endurance is the
very thing that makes it possible for him to run the long distance. Without endurance or the ability to last he
couldn’t finish the race. Without
constancy he couldn’t finish the race. Think about running a marathon, choosing a
pace and placing one foot in front of the other mile after mile after mile. No fancy footwork in a marathon, just constancy. Just
one step after another.
The verses in James tell us that through trials we grow in
perseverance. We grow stronger
emotionally and spiritually, and are better equipped to “…run with perseverance
the race marked out for us” (Heb. 12:2).
We need perseverance (endurance/constancy) to do what God wants us doing
in this life because we aren’t sprinting, we are running a marathon. He says that we acquire this needed perseverance
through trial.
Let me say it differently.
Without perseverance we cannot run the race He wants us running. We cannot do God’s will. Without perseverance we will not be able to
take step after step in the direction God wants us going. The Bible tells us that without trials we won’t
have that perseverance. Without struggle
we will not have what it takes to last. When
we look at struggle from this perspective, we might even consider trials a good
thing. Who doesn’t want to last? Considering trials a good thing is exactly
what God says to do.
“Consider it pure joy.” Note that this is a command, not an option or
a recommendation. It is something we
must do, yet it seems impossible. Who
can look at struggle and consider it joy?
The person who looks at life from God’s perspective can. The person who clings to the promise in the
passage can.
“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.” (Jms. 1:2-4).
The promise that enables a person to consider struggle with
joy is maturity, completion, lacking nothing.
The first two words mean “completion
in every part”(1) Lacking nothing means exactly that. We
will lack nothing once perseverance has finished its work in our heart.(3) Our
character will lack nothing needed to do God’s work. I know that this may sound like a silly hope
to some, but to me it is precious.
My deepest desire is to serve God, bring Him glory, and
declare His glory to others. So for me
lacking nothing means I will be able to satisfy my deepest desire. Once trials have produced perseverance and perseverance
has completed its work, I will have everything I need to do God’s will.
God’s perspective is not set on the temporary struggles or
trials we face. His perspective takes into
account all of eternity. He doesn’t just
see our suffering and fix it because He sees what we will be once suffering has
produced perseverance in our life. He
can already see us as mature, complete, and lacking nothing.
What an amazing hope God offers as we face trial. I don’t
know about you, but I’m going to do my best to consider it joy as I face the
remaining time of support raising. After
all, I wouldn’t want to arrive in Paraguay lacking. I want to arrive complete and with the
ability to run the race set before me with perseverance. I’m training for a marathon, not a sprint. I need the ability to last and constancy to
take step after step.
1. James Strong, James Exhaustive Concordance of
the Bible.
2. Webster’s School and Office Dictionary.
3. Nowhere in this part of James is money, fame,
or riches mentioned. All the words are
used in reference to our character. That
means that “lacking nothing” does not refer to material possessions. It refers to our character.
