An "Impossible" Directive Exposed - 12

This is the last posting of theJames "Impossible" directive -  rejoice during tough times. I hope the study has been helpful to you.

To get James 1:2-5, 12 into shoe leather:

1.      Recognize God’s sovereignty – all powerful. He could have prevented the adversity.

2.      Commit your life to Him  and yield to His plan for  your life.

3.      Shift focus from the circumstances to asking Him for wisdom on what He is wanting to do in  your life. How is He wanting  you to grow?

4.      Something may need to be done about the situation – an intervention, a confrontation, a tightened budget or whatever the situation calls for. But that will not be the focus. The focal point is “How does God want to use this in my  life?”

5.      Don’t try to sqirm out of the difficulty or be too quick to ask God for a reprieve.Rather, allow Him to do a deep work within of healing and growth. That is something about which to rejoice.  There may come a time when you need to take action. Like the wife of an adulterous  husband.  You may ask him to leave if he doesn’t want to let go of the other gal. But the eviction is for him, to awaken him to reality, not for  your own comfort.

6.       Recall the promise of James 1:2-4 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. ³ For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. ⁴ So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. Great rejoicing material.

A very dear friend, Dr. John Vawter, suggested I include with the question: “How do I see my Parkinson’s Disease as a refiner and not as an enemy?” Hopefully a good way to end this study.   Walk with me as  I shoe leather  this example.

            PD is basically a diminution  of dopamine in the  brain. It doesn’t act the same way in any two people, nor does a singular treatment fit all. The cause of PD has not been determined. For me, the symptoms are: no energy or strength when “off”; driving complications (I have  quit driving); balance - I fall much – fractured rib, etc.; insomnia excerbated by RLS; Dyskinesia ( body movement out of control);  bradykinesia (slow body movement); stuttering worsened markedly when a stronger medication was needed; drooling; constipation; and much more. I don’t want to bore  you, so that ‘s enough. Needless to say it is very restrictive, at times very painful, and sometimes quite embarrassing.

 I’m scheduled for Deep Brain Stimulation surgery April 23. . Deep brain stimulation involves inserting very thin wire electrodes into specific targets in the brain:  The electrodes are attached to a generator implanted under the skin in the chest, much like a pacemaker, resulting in a roughly 30% diminishment of symptoms and the  possibility of taking less medication

Do I perceive this as an enemy to my well-being or as God’s loving, refining process? Got  your  shoes on? Hike with me.

I have 65 years of walking with Him, so I have a record of how He has taken care of me all this time.  I recognize God’s sovereignty – He is all powerful and He could have prevented the adversity. I’m committed to Him and whatever His plan is for my  life. Thus, I know that is important to  shift focus from the  stressful wages of Parkinson’s (and stuttering) to: “God, what are you wanting to do in my life through  this adversity? How can this be a good gift from you? (Matthew 7:11) Then, I can truthfully rejoice, because my focus is not on the hard times but on what God is wanting to do in and through me.How He wants to mature me.

 

I’d like to say I handle all the PD stress given in the above paragraph perfectly, 100% of the time. But I would be lying. After having fallen five times one day, I grew very discouraged and wept. Wept out of sorrow for all I have lost. Wept out of frustration for all the blocked doors, present and future. And once in a while I can get  a little self pity going. That’s ugly but that is where I am part of the time.

 

Shoe leather continues with: “Is there anything I should be doing about it?” Seeking medical help is most appropriate and that is where the brain surgery enters the picture. But  neither PD nor its treatment is the focus. I desire to be a man who loves God and people and I want to walk closely with Christ. That kind of growth can only come  through tough times.

My desire (most of the time) is to deeply integrate that fifth shoe leather principle: “Don’t try to sqirm out of the difficulty or be too quick to ask God for a reprieve.Rather, allow Him to do a deep work within of healing and growth. That is something about which to rejoice.” 

 

 We are applying James 1:2-4 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. ³ For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. ⁴ So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. Great rejoicing material.

 

As I make that most difficult decision to bring my thoughts into captivity, from the pain of adversity to the James chapter one principle, I reap the blessing described in verse 12 of that first chapter. ¹² God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

If you would like a 13 page email copy of this series, let me know at rburwick@mindspring.com

An "Impossible" Directive - 8

 Continuing  the study of James 1.

Key word #3: Testing.
“When your faith is tested.” The adversity  is to become a testing. “ the whole point of it is  that it is sent not  to make us fall but to make us soar. Adversities are sent not to defeat us but that we may defeat them. Not sent to make us weaker but are sent to make us stronger. Therefore  we cannot bemoan them. We must exult in them and rejoice in them.” (Barclay).

Like the athlete whose coach is pushing him hard by adding extra weight to the bar or more windsprints to increase his endurance. In a sense he is being tested to see the extent of his motivation. How badly does he want success. The champion athlete doesn’t look forward to the added workout but he accepts it because he knows the result will be added strength to accomplish his goal of victory.  So also with the Christian.whose adversity heat is being turned up.It reveals the depth and genuineness of that person's faith. This is why, for the one who wants to live by faith, the trial can be a time for rejoicing, because  God will use the trial to develop some characteristic that is lacking. James says, "Rejoice in that prospect!"

Bottom line: how do  you and I respond to tough times?
 Resist?
Relinquish?
 Rejoice?

Probably the most healthy way would be to go through each phase.  As with King David as recorded in the Psalms, express the natural feeling response to a  tough time. “Hey God. Why do I have to  …? A resistance. If occupying this space very long, bitterness toward God is inevitable. Resistance can be a chronic life-long mind set or it can be brought under control and often a relinquishment stage follows. ” I don’t like what I am experiencing but I’ll put up with it. Tough times are just a part of life.”

For the person desiring a close walk with God, James’ exhortation to be joyful in the adversity becomes  the response, because of the knowledge that a result can be growth in character, “that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.”
Wow! “Lord, work this concept into the very core of my being…but don’t make the cost too high.”J

An "Impossible" Directive - 7

"JOY" is another key word in our study of James 1.

Key word #2  Joy

            “When troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.”

 If one's goal is to become mature in Christ, and if that is a goal far higher and more valuable than merely avoiding hardships, or escaping from them, then indeed consider it joy when you meet the trials by which you attain that treasured goal.  Joy is an attitude choice no matter the circumstances because if one is walking with God, Psalm 16:11 tells us that in God’s presence is fullness of joy.

            “You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.”

Dallas Willard in his book “Renovation of the Heart,” describes it so well. “Joy is a pervasive sense of delight in an encompassing good well-secured. For joy, all is well, even in the midst of specific suffering and loss. Self-sacrificial love is therefore always joyous – no matter  the pain and loss it may involve. For we are always looking at the larger scene in which love rules: Where all things (no matter what ) work together for good to  those who love God and are drawn into His purposeful actions on earth. Joy is a basic element of inner transformation into Christ-likeness and of  the outer life  that flows from it.”

            It has been said that joy is the finest of heart and mind tonics; it gives new jest to life; it is the song of  the heart.

            We’re not viewing  joy as a rah rah emotional  high. Joy feels different to different people.When I’m sensing God’s presence, my joy  feels more like contentment. Joy is available even when in adversity, not for adversity, but IN. If we were rejoicing for a hardship, that would be called “masochism” (deriving pleasure from being mistreated in some way).

 Consider it joy when you meet the trials by which you attain that treasured goal of completeness.. Though joy is a fruit of  he Spirit, it is our responsibility to  appropriate it and put it into action. Rejoice! We are called to joy – even in tough times.

An "Impossible" Directive - 5

To experience tough times periodicaly is normal. What isn't normal is James' directive to rejoice when going tfhrough adversity.This is the 5th segment of a study on James 1:2-8,12.We've obsesrved that causes of hardships can be our own doing or can be God's discipline. Today we look at another source from God - His refining prcocess.

3. God’s refining process can be a source of personal pain.

Job 23;10; But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold.

Mal.3;3, He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify

 the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the Lord

God’s way of  preparing us for a future ministry is “burning off our dross” through His refining process. What is dross? To  help answer  that look at Galatians 5:13-21  ” For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. ¹⁴ For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵ But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.

 ¹⁶ “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. ¹⁷ The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. ¹⁸ But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.

 ¹⁹ When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, ²¹ envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these (dross). Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.”

Silver and gold dross is all the impurities in the ore in which the precioius metal is found. Used as  metaphor for us, dross is anything that hinders God’s working in and through us.Pride, self-effort, lack of discipline, resentment, etc. Just as  a smithy brings the metal to a liquid form through heat, watching the fire that it not  be too hot to destroy the metal, so also God watches our lives carefully and turns up sufficient heat to achieve greater purification for our own sake and for the sake of those to whom we’ll be influencing.

It  has been said that the goal of the silversmith or goldsmith is to fashion a precious metal until it is pure and shines bright. He heats and works with his metal until he can see his reflection in it. One can only imagine how the silver or gold feels about this arduous process. (I know, silver and gold can’t feel, but just bear with me on this one.)

Isa. 48:10 I have refined you, but not as silver is refined.   Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering.

Because God is sovereign – all powerful, he could have prevented  your misfortune and it is possible He caused it. For verification we look at three Scriptures.   (NLT)

·      Jonah 1:4 But the LORD hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart.

·      In Acts 17 we find Paul addressing  the leaders of Athens, describing God. “This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.  ²⁴ “He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, ²⁵ and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. ²⁶ From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.  ²⁷ “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. ²⁸ For in him we live and move and exist.

·      Nahum 1:12 (NKJV)  Thus says the Lord: …Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more.

Thus God, in His sovereignty can afflict us. “There is a limit to our affliction. God sends it. Then He removes it. Do you complain, saying, “When will this end?” May we quietly wait and patiently endure the will of the Lord til He comes. Our Father  takes away the rod when His purpose in using  it is fully accomplished.” (Spurgeon)

 Or God can cause a storm in our life (for our ultimate good) or He can rescue us out of the storm that He has allowed.

            God’s refining process – not plesant, but can be very productive if we cooperate with His work in our lives.

Tomorrow: Satan, a source of adversity.

An "Impossible" Directive - 4

Rejoice during personal tough times? We're trying to understand why and how James 1:2-8,12 can give us that directive and it not be masochism. Our fourth segment focuses on the different sources of adversity. Yesterday we saw how we can be one of the sources ourselves.
Continuing:

2. God’s discipline can be a source. The Bible tells us in Job 5:17, “But consider the joy of those

 corrected by God! Do not despise the discipline of the Almighty when you sin.”

And in Hebrews 12:5-11   “And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said,  “My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline,  and don’t give up when he corrects you.  ⁶ For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.”  ⁷ As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? ⁸ If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. ⁹ Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever?^[g] 10. For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. ¹¹ No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.”

No explanation needed here. Pretty straight forward.      How does God discipline you ?

Next post: God's refining process.

An "Impossible" Directive - 2

The Dilemma        

Don’t the Scriptures that I posted yesterday sound like I’m to be ecstatic about the death of my wife – the death of my twin boy, the emotional pain of stuttering, the various negative and sometimes debilitating effects of Parkinson’s Disease?   When I observe our political system out of wack, or the economy going belly-up, or one of our loved ones wasting his/her life away, my response is to be joy? YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING. Something is haywire here or there must be a reasonable explanation.

            I checked three different study Bibles for explanation of this passage. Not a word. “God, give us wisdom as we endeavor to make sense of this portion of Your Word.”

            First, this is  not an isolated portion of Scripture. A directive theme of gratitude and rejoicing  runs through much of the New Testament possibly highlighted by these four passages.

 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18  Always be joyful. ¹⁷ Never stop praying. ¹⁸ Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 5:20 And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

            Romans 5:3-5  We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. ⁴ And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. ⁵ And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

            Philippians 4:4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice

            “Give thanks in all…. Give thanks for all….and always be joyful!”  Wow, that is beyond me. Is this for real NOW or is it a directive for that time. Let’s examine.

To Whom this is written

 To whom was James writing this letter? Verse one: “it is written to Jewish Christians scattered among the nations.” To fellow followers of Jesus. As followers of and believers in Jesus, the  principles apply to us today.

Let’s look first at some key words in our study passage. The first one is "when." We will look at that in our next posting. Remember, if you want the 12 page study in tact via email, let me know at rburwick@mindspring.com