God, through James, challenges us to be open to grow in our desire to be more and more Christ-like as demonstrated in the above elements of perfection. And this kind of growth can happen only through some kind of difficulty. That is the reason we can be joyful during a tough time. Not so much thankful for the situation but for what God will do through the situation if we cooperate.
To cooperate requires a willingness to shift focus from the troublesome situation to a willlingness to see what area of character growth is being exposed because of the adversity. The end result:growth to a mature and complete Christian life. It sounds great, but it is not easy to do. Much prayer is usually needed for God to soften our heart to yield to God’s plan for our life.
For example. Marriage has a great potential for adversity. It is an effective revealer of what needs growth and change. So many divorces occur because each person keeps pointing the finger at the other and refuses to face “the log in their own eye.” And that log is usually some form of selfishness.
You are living with a husband who is having an affair. In your eyes he is the culprit. He is a culprit, but unless you were a perfect wife you played a part. That is no excuse for what he has done. But if what he has done is your focus, you are cheating yourself out of some personal growth yourself. Your prayer can be, “God, this really hurts and makes me furious.” Those feelings get processed with God. Then the spotlight is on self. “God what do you want me to learn from this. How do you want me to grow because of this pain?” If there isn’t a ready answer, James 1:5 says pray for wisdom from God and He will give it.
No comments:
Post a Comment