James 1:2-4 (MSG)
Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.
Don’t look now, your faith might be showing! Do you ever feel squished and squeezed, and sure that everything isn’t situating where it should? I’m not just talking about the burden those extra holiday pounds has caused, I’m also talking about being emotionally strained, physically pushed, and mentally exhausted. When things come at you from all sides, the pressure causes things to be squeezed into the open. Like a balloon freed from it’s containment, we squeal and squelch at levels that make dogs howl and offended ears everywhere turn to see what all the commotion is. So often in our “human struggle” we feel pushed to the brink by our circumstances. Now, there are a number of encouraging verses to give perspective, and the base one I will share is this:
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. (2 Cor. 12:19)
The consideration today is not just the encouragement of the current situation, but the big picture payoff. It is so easy to place our own perspective on the longview playout, but God NEVER sees things one-sided. He is so much more; he sees so much more; his plan is so much more. Take the story of David and Goliath (I Samuel 17). David found himself in a situation that had already been playing the same tune for forty days. He arrived on the scene and was grossly offended by Goliath and his disrespect toward the “armies of the living God”. When it was told to king Saul that David had taken an interest, the king summoned him, and David said he would fight the Philistine warrior. Saul had his concerns, to which David replied,
“Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock, I went after it, struck it down, and rescued the lamb from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down, and kill it. Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” Then David said, “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” (1 Sam. 17:34-37)
David’s confidence came from a built-upon faith from all the others trials the living God had seen him through… not just passively, but actively he accredits his victory and rescue to the Lord. This is a completely different take then just “manning up” and taking on a giant. This is total surrender and trust in the God who saw him through so much.
Our takeaway? We can do the same! We are no different than David, and we serve the same living God as him. Take stock: remember the times the Lord has delivered you. Rely on him; trust in him. And with joy and thanksgiving that squeal from the pressure may just turn into a battle cry.
Prayers and Petition 