"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. " James 1:2-4
At the Freedom Firm staff retreat, Roger led us in a series of study sessions entitled "Keep Climbing: Why God Doesn't Give Us Everything We Want." I was so moved by this study and I thought I would share with you some of these insights, that you might also be blessed by them.
"Many times as God is trying to deepen your faith, He will shake you at the core of the things you find security in, because He wants to be the place you find security in." Amen. As I reflect on this, I know that I find security in routine and predictability and in knowing things ahead of time, which are things that I no longer have in India. Father, I praise You that You don't leave us in our comfort zones, but that you call us out of them after You. Father, thank you that you love us too much to leave us the way we are! Lord, you use discomfort to draw us to You-the only Source of comfort.
If I ask myself from where does my discouragement stem, I realize that it is from my expectations, spoken or unspoken, not being met. Lord, may I rid myself of my expectations. May they be replaced with a deeper trust in You.
Why doesn't God take our problems away? Why doesn't He just removed the difficulties? Why doesn't He just flatten the mountain? Instead, He equips us with what we need to overcome the mountain. He doesn't just come and rescue us all the time, sometimes he leaves us in the fire for a little while to be refined, for our impurities and false securities to be burned away, and to show us His sufficiency, that we might come to believe in His power!
There are three ways that God can work in our lives:
1) Intervention: when God changes the circumstances and does something only He can do.
2) Interaction: when God empowers us to do something. God comforts us so that we can comfort others. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort that we ourselves receive from God." 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
3) Inner Action: when God changes us. Paul was in prison 7 times and God only intervened one time with a miracle. In Philippians 4, Paul writes about his joy in the middle of being imprisoned. The circumstances hadn't changed, but Paul had.
I read James 1:17, which says that "Every good and perfect gift is from heaven." Have I ever thought of trials as part of God's "good and perfect gifts?" No, I certainly haven't. But they are! Why do I always forget that my perseverance in trials produces maturity and fruitfulness, and that God has me in it for a reason, to mold me and shape me?
What is it that makes me anxious? Practicing an attitude of prayerfulness will give me peace in my heart and mind. I really struggle in my prayer life, and I am terribly inconsistent. As I was reading Beth Moore's book Breaking Free recently, she said that we are to ask God for anything that we are lacking. Anything! And she said, "If you're lacking a desire to pray and to spend time with God in prayer, ask God to create that desire in you!" I've been asking God to give me a desire to pray, to remain in Him in prayer.
What are we to exchange our anxieties with? With prayer and petition, with thanksgiving! "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition, and with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:6-7. God promises us ridiculous, illogical peace, peace beyond all understanding, if we come to Him, if we cast all our anxieties on Him. How often does I draw on Christ's power to help me find contentment in my circumstances? Do I really believe that Jesus' presence is more than enough no matter how stormy my life gets? Do I live like that? Am I content to keep climbing in silence, to remain in Him? Do I find my joy and peace in just being with Him, in spending time with Him? "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." Psalm 46:10
We must surrender all to Christ, even our thought life. Lord, take control of my thought life! "We take every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:5b. I must actively take my thoughts and the lies that Satan tells me and make them obedient to Christ.
Every time God takes us through a storm in life, every time He creates a challenge in front of us, He's trying to create a new perspective that begins to change the way we view life and God. How often do we look for fulfillment or happiness in something or someone else besides Christ? I know that I look for fulfillment a lot in the approval of others and in my activities, instead of in my relationship with Christ.
So I go running every other day to keep myself physically fit. But am I similarly training myself towards godliness? "Command and teach these things. Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. " I Tim. 4:11,16
How often do I find myself relying on my own strength or intelligence? If I'm honest, that's most of the time. I came to India on much of my own strength, confidence, and self-assurance. And I found myself broken and hurting, with His strength alone to sustain me. And I have found that His strength is enough for me, it is more than enough. I consider myself blessed to have the chance to learn this.
God doesn't just make things easy and remove all our difficulties. But He goes before us, He holds our hand, and because He cares about us, He equips us with His strength to overcome anything. So what would we rather have: immediate removal from difficulties, or all we need to overcome anything we might face in this life? Christ offers us that and more. His grace is more than sufficient.
Where are you praying for deliverance in your life? What if you prayed not for deliverance, but for what you need to persevere? Ought we to expand our prayers beyond the horizons of deliverance, and realize that God has reasons for keeping us where He has us, because He is doing a work in us?
Lord, thank You that You know us so much better than we know ourselves. Thank You that we can trust that You know what You're doing, even when we don't. Thank you for caring enough about us to mold us and shape us into Your image, a process that will take eternity. Thank You for not giving us everything we want, but always giving us all that we need. Thank You that You use trials to Your glory, always, if we will but give them over to You. Father, be Lord of my struggles and help me to rest in the knowledge that You intend ALL things for good. Amen.
At the Freedom Firm staff retreat, Roger led us in a series of study sessions entitled "Keep Climbing: Why God Doesn't Give Us Everything We Want." I was so moved by this study and I thought I would share with you some of these insights, that you might also be blessed by them.
"Many times as God is trying to deepen your faith, He will shake you at the core of the things you find security in, because He wants to be the place you find security in." Amen. As I reflect on this, I know that I find security in routine and predictability and in knowing things ahead of time, which are things that I no longer have in India. Father, I praise You that You don't leave us in our comfort zones, but that you call us out of them after You. Father, thank you that you love us too much to leave us the way we are! Lord, you use discomfort to draw us to You-the only Source of comfort.
If I ask myself from where does my discouragement stem, I realize that it is from my expectations, spoken or unspoken, not being met. Lord, may I rid myself of my expectations. May they be replaced with a deeper trust in You.
Why doesn't God take our problems away? Why doesn't He just removed the difficulties? Why doesn't He just flatten the mountain? Instead, He equips us with what we need to overcome the mountain. He doesn't just come and rescue us all the time, sometimes he leaves us in the fire for a little while to be refined, for our impurities and false securities to be burned away, and to show us His sufficiency, that we might come to believe in His power!
There are three ways that God can work in our lives:
1) Intervention: when God changes the circumstances and does something only He can do.
2) Interaction: when God empowers us to do something. God comforts us so that we can comfort others. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort that we ourselves receive from God." 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
3) Inner Action: when God changes us. Paul was in prison 7 times and God only intervened one time with a miracle. In Philippians 4, Paul writes about his joy in the middle of being imprisoned. The circumstances hadn't changed, but Paul had.
I read James 1:17, which says that "Every good and perfect gift is from heaven." Have I ever thought of trials as part of God's "good and perfect gifts?" No, I certainly haven't. But they are! Why do I always forget that my perseverance in trials produces maturity and fruitfulness, and that God has me in it for a reason, to mold me and shape me?
What is it that makes me anxious? Practicing an attitude of prayerfulness will give me peace in my heart and mind. I really struggle in my prayer life, and I am terribly inconsistent. As I was reading Beth Moore's book Breaking Free recently, she said that we are to ask God for anything that we are lacking. Anything! And she said, "If you're lacking a desire to pray and to spend time with God in prayer, ask God to create that desire in you!" I've been asking God to give me a desire to pray, to remain in Him in prayer.
What are we to exchange our anxieties with? With prayer and petition, with thanksgiving! "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition, and with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:6-7. God promises us ridiculous, illogical peace, peace beyond all understanding, if we come to Him, if we cast all our anxieties on Him. How often does I draw on Christ's power to help me find contentment in my circumstances? Do I really believe that Jesus' presence is more than enough no matter how stormy my life gets? Do I live like that? Am I content to keep climbing in silence, to remain in Him? Do I find my joy and peace in just being with Him, in spending time with Him? "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." Psalm 46:10
We must surrender all to Christ, even our thought life. Lord, take control of my thought life! "We take every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:5b. I must actively take my thoughts and the lies that Satan tells me and make them obedient to Christ.
Every time God takes us through a storm in life, every time He creates a challenge in front of us, He's trying to create a new perspective that begins to change the way we view life and God. How often do we look for fulfillment or happiness in something or someone else besides Christ? I know that I look for fulfillment a lot in the approval of others and in my activities, instead of in my relationship with Christ.
So I go running every other day to keep myself physically fit. But am I similarly training myself towards godliness? "Command and teach these things. Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. " I Tim. 4:11,16
How often do I find myself relying on my own strength or intelligence? If I'm honest, that's most of the time. I came to India on much of my own strength, confidence, and self-assurance. And I found myself broken and hurting, with His strength alone to sustain me. And I have found that His strength is enough for me, it is more than enough. I consider myself blessed to have the chance to learn this.
God doesn't just make things easy and remove all our difficulties. But He goes before us, He holds our hand, and because He cares about us, He equips us with His strength to overcome anything. So what would we rather have: immediate removal from difficulties, or all we need to overcome anything we might face in this life? Christ offers us that and more. His grace is more than sufficient.
Where are you praying for deliverance in your life? What if you prayed not for deliverance, but for what you need to persevere? Ought we to expand our prayers beyond the horizons of deliverance, and realize that God has reasons for keeping us where He has us, because He is doing a work in us?
Lord, thank You that You know us so much better than we know ourselves. Thank You that we can trust that You know what You're doing, even when we don't. Thank you for caring enough about us to mold us and shape us into Your image, a process that will take eternity. Thank You for not giving us everything we want, but always giving us all that we need. Thank You that You use trials to Your glory, always, if we will but give them over to You. Father, be Lord of my struggles and help me to rest in the knowledge that You intend ALL things for good. Amen.
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