Persevering/Live It!

Trusting God is easy in the good times.
It's during the hard times that we begin to wonder (and possibly wander).

"Is God there? Does He see what's going on in my life? Does He care?"

For James, persevering means more than just outlasting a trial. It involves maintaining your faith when everything around you is calling that faith into question. "Did God really say you would go through trials? Do you deserve this?" Can you hear the hissss?

So how do we remain faithful during times of hardship? Alistair Begg shared four principles we can remember that will help us to trust God during trials. Here's a quick summary of each.

Understand that when you are experiencing a trial:

• You are still within God's will. Scripture makes clear that God has a plan for the one's He loves and that plan is not voided by trials. In fact, God takes the trials and turns them into good things for those who put their faith in Him.
• You are still within God's keeping. Likewise, God's watch care over us does not stop during a trial. Even though Job suffered some hard stuff, God was there setting limits. In fact, Scripture promises God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we're able to stand. (I Cor. 10:13)
• You are still within God's training. Hardships can be part of God's equipping regimen to prepare you for an assignment He plans in your future. Consider how you might grow through perseverance. Then, consider how you might help others who are confronted with the same trial you're now experiencing.
• You are still within God's timing. We can't see the end of trials we face. But God can. Our job is to trust that God knows the length of the trial, that he knows how much we can take, that He knows when He has perfected you in this area, and that He will bring the time to a conclusion. Usually, in the nick of time.

By keeping these principles, we can endure the crunch of trials with our faith intact. You've got to admit, it's more constructive than "Run it out!"

Persevering/Go Deep

"Gut it out!"

Seems like coaches have just one answer when players find themselves experiencing a muscle cramp or a sprain. "Rub it...tape it...get up and run it out!"

James 1:12 is not that: "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him."

James wasn't saying, "You will be blessed if you gut it out!" That's an incorrect interpretation that we men tend to make based on our life experiences. We think that--when hit by a trial--our job is to take it stoically and just survive.

God has much more in mind for "those who love him"--those who have a relationship with God through His son Jesus Christ. Notice the language used in this verse.

First of all, James calls a trial a "test." God doesn't create hardships for us; this fallen, sinful world does. But God uses the opportunity of trials to test us. Do you believe that God is sovereign? Do you believe that He is good and that he rewards those who love Him? The only way you and others know for sure is in how you respond to hardships.

Notice also that James says "persevere," not "gut it out." To persevere indicates a continuing movement forward in the face of hurdles that slow you down and have the potential of stopping you. In this case, James is saying that believers should maintain their faith in God (a positive attitude) and continue to progress and grow in their relationship with Him and to obey Christ's teachings in terms of how we treat others--all in spite of the trials we are facing.

Now those are attitudes and actions God can reward.

Easier said than done, you say? I hear you. That's what I liked about Alistair Begg's message the other morning. He quoted from a classic Christian thinker who outlined things we can focus our minds on that will help us trust God through trials.

Those we will look at on Friday.

Persevering/Think About It

I heard a great word this morning.

My typical start-up includes a cup of coffee, a shave and shower, and the radio tuned to a variety of Christian programs. It's been my habit for many years and, I have to admit, Christian radio is responsible for much of my spiritual growth.

This morning, Alistair Begg was sharing a message from his latest series, "Faith that Works" out of James (www.truthforlife.org). The message caught my attention because it was so applicable to my life, and I'm assuming to most others as well.

My wife fell down a flight of stairs about three years ago and severely broke her right leg. About 18 months after that, she received a knee replacement in the same leg because the damage of the original injury demanded it.

Immediately after that surgery, she began to show signs of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), a condition affecting the nervous system that began causing pain in her injured leg 24/7. For my wife, the best her leg ever feels (with a full dose of medication) is as if she has a really bad sun burn. Imagine your worst sunburn. That's the best it ever gets.

Doctors tell us there is no cure. The CRPS can go away in a year. It could last for 10 years, or longer.

My wife is the epitome of the person James was describing in chapter 1, verse 12: "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him."

Persevering is not just surviving the trial. It's standing in a particular way as the trial bulldozes through your life.

Think about what that might look like in your own life, and we'll go deeper Wednesday.