by Wendy Elizabeth Middleton
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. James 1:2-4
Countdown to the supper bowl; counting the days until vacation; advent calendars that count down the days until Christmas these are all exciting days of anticipation. Have you ever been so excited that you just couldn’t sit still? Something is coming, something wonderful and you just can’t wait!
Childbirth is painful but after the pain is pure joy. Trials are painful, but after the trial is joy. That is the message of John 16:20-24. Jesus was about to die. The world would jeer at his suffering. The disciples would be thrown into confusion and mourning. Believers would grieve, while the world rejoiced. But after the pain would come great joy.
Jesus was looking forward to redeeming the faithful. He did not want to suffer on the cross, but was willing to, because after the cross there was the feast of redemption. He was willing to die rather than live without us. He did not enjoy suffering, but he kept his eye on the joy that His suffering would produce.
That is the joy James is talking about. We are called to find joy in suffering, to concentrate on the outcome of the trial, rather than the hardship of the trial itself. God is not asking us to enjoy the trials and tribulations of life, He is encouraging us to look beyond them. There will be trials, pain and suffering in this life. You are going to go through them either way. You can spend your days listing what went wrong, or you can spend them counting your blessings. You are going to endure the trials either way.
Give it a try. For the next three days list everything that went wrong. At the end of three days write down how you feel – depressed? Now spend the next three days listing you blessings. At the end of these three days write down how you feel – better? Really think about it, ponder the difference in the two sets of days.
If you get in the habit of counting your blessings then it is easier to see them on the darkest of days. If you get in the habit of concentrating on the final outcome, the moment when you will see Jesus in all of His glory, then the trials of this world with all of its temporary highs and lows, however high and however low, fade to their proper perspective.
Start counting the days until you meet Jesus as if you were counting the days until Christmas. Anticipate the presence as much as, or more than, you anticipate the presents. You may not know the exact date of that meeting, but today you are one day closer. I’m not suggesting that you count down the days until you die. I’m suggesting that you concentrate on eternity, rather than this brief moment in time. Look forward to getting home and the journey becomes less of a plodding through the muck and more of a dancing in the rain.
So what is joy?
Joy is the satisfaction of a job well done. It is contentment in a life well lived and pleasure in the outcome of the labor.
I have been repainting my house, room by room. I do not enjoy painting. I do not enjoy all the furniture moving, the taping and covering with drop cloths, the standing on a ladder and reaching over my head to paint the molding and all of its groves. But once the room is painted, and the drop cloths and tape are removed and the furniture is replaced and all the knick-knacks are dusted and reset, just so… I can step back and appreciate the transformation. I can enjoy the brighter environment. The work was worth the effort.
Concert pianists practice scales and cords, boring repetition, until their fingers are conditioned to find the cords almost effortlessly. Muscle memory comes from endless practice but the reward is music.
Olympic gymnasts practice for hours a day, every day, in preparation for just a few moments on the bars or balancing beams. Years of work lead up to those few moments, but the reward is beauty in motion, and a joy to behold.
Learning to live on a budget takes a lot of skill, sacrifice and effort. But the reward is bills paid on time with money left over for that vacation that you were counting the days to reach.
The testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance, endurance, muscle memory, these take practice, endless repetition, falling down and getting up to try again, failing miserably, but not giving up. Keep your eye on the prize; endure the trial, for the joy that only comes from enduring the trial.
If the pianist doesn’t practice the music will not be nearly as sweet. If the gymnast doesn’t fall and get back up she will never learn to stay up on the balancing beam, if you don’t save for that vacation you will never get to go, and if you don’t suffer the trials, if you don’t stretch your faith muscles you will miss the contentment in this life, and the satisfaction of a life well lived.
How are your faith muscles getting stretched?
Simple – Ain’t – Easy
Nothing worthwhile ever is
- Wendy
Nothing worthwhile ever is
- Wendy
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