1. Deadly tornados across the states
2. A friends sister and husband lost their 1 week old baby, they have no children and this will be the 2nd baby they will have to bury this Friday…unbearable
3. 3 grandfathers (from different families) are in the hospital each with serious conditions.
4. A family lost their grandmother and their 3 year old little boy in a car accident
5. A distant relative’s wife was shot & killed & her baby was kidnapped, thank you Jesus the baby was found
6. A friends dad had another stroke this week & is in the hospital and now his mom had a mini stroke today & is in the hospital too.
6. A friends dad had another stroke this week & is in the hospital and now his mom had a mini stroke today & is in the hospital too.
7. My Papa, whom I am extremely close to, as well as my family and more importantly my 6 year old son. Was just diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer…it is everywhere. For my family this will be the 3rd inner circle person we have lost in 2 years. There are so many details and sadness that I want to tell you, for now I can hardly pull it together to write this.
I mean what do we say to all of that? How are we supposed to function at all? I want to take my family and run, but where to?
I’m sure some of you may stop here, and I wouldn’t blame you. Either way in life, we have to talk about it; we have to figure out how to cope.
James tells us it is not if, it is when. I’m thinking this is “when” for a lot of us. Sometimes, I am overwhelmed, let me rephrase that, sometimes I am devastated by God allowing me to experience firsthand exactly what I’m studying. This morning I had a huge feeling of regret that I decided two weeks ago to study James. It wasn’t until I sat down and prayed about it that I realized whether I had chosen to study James or not it would not have changed the trials, this was just a way for God to help me push through it.
So the question I am asking today is, “What do we do about it?” Before I attempt to answer this let’s take a look at James 1:13-15.
13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Let me just say that I am “tempted” the throw in the towel on this one. I am mad, I am heart broken and I am confused. But today I am thanking God for making these verses so fresh in my mind.
I want to receive the temptation and act on it. I want to half way believe that God is in charge and loves us more than we could ever imagine. I want to half way be tempted to believe that bad things are going to continue to happen because evil has so consumed this world and live in constant terror over what is to come next. I want to run and hide. I am tempted to be mad…
I wonder if all the ones (that I mentioned) who are laying their loved ones to rest this week are tempted in some of this too. I hope that I am not taking what James 1:13-15 is saying out of context. I believe that any desire other than the desire of doing what is right in the eyes of the LORD comes from the evil one. Just as it says after the desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
We cannot say that God is tempting us, however we do have to take on the test and pursue the limits of our endurance and faith we have in him. I don’t want Satan to gain one ounce of satisfaction through any of this.
Romans 5:1-5 says,
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b] rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we[c] also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
And one of my favorites.
2 Corinthians 4:7,
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
We have to take a stand against the schemes of our enemy. If we don’t have hope in our Lord Jesus Christ what do we have?
James 1:16-18 says, 16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
I love that he is our heavenly light, who does not change like shifting shadows. He wants us to be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. He wants us to give our first and the best of all we have to him at all times, in all trials. (The first-century Christians were the first generation to believe in Jesus as Messiah, James is referring to them as the first fruits in this passage.)
I’m not saying that I am there yet. Our family is about to travel down a long hard road that none of us are excited about. I’m praying that at some point I can understand and experience what James means by counting pure joy in these trials. I had such intentions of finishing the first chapter of James today; I’m guessing God had other plans.
So today just commit to pray, pray and pray again for all of those you know that are hurting. We need it. And please pray for the salvation of my Papa, Gene Clare. He has not yet accepted Christ, the seed has been planted for years and this may be what has needed to happen to make it grow. I hate it, but I really wouldn’t be able to function if that doesn’t happen.
In Him
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