First perseverance,
then the prize!
Sometimes we forget
and want the Prize now!
James 1:2-8
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a]
whenever you face trials of many kinds,
3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature
and complete, not lacking anything.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God,
who gives generously to all without finding fault,
and it will be given to you.
6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt,
because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea,
blown and tossed by the wind.
7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.
8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
The testing of our faith produces perseverance!
I used to subconsciously equate the word 'testing' with physical trials
such as sickness, death, natural disasters etc.
but in the phrase 'trials of many kinds' one I had not considered
until perhaps the past few years,
and one that has many once confessed believers denying their faith,
is the fact that because our minds cannot explain or reconcile
God's thoughts and ways and commands
(whether in the Old Testament or
in this age of love and holiness misunderstood)
disillusionment/confusion/anger forsakes faith
rather than letting the test produce perseverance.
Heb.6:11
And without faith it is impossible to please God,
because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists
and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
God doesn't meet us on our terms.
We meet Him on His, laid out ever-so-changelessly
and perfectly in His Word,
Let's pray for a more humble faith,
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus
and your love for all God’s people, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you,
remembering you in my prayers.
17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit[f] of wisdom and revelation,
so that you may know him better.
18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened
in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you,
*the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,
19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted
when he raised Christ from the dead
and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,
That sin seems still to test the faith of many!
Lord, help us hate the sinfulness of sin (in so many subtle forms).
Lord, help us to look on You, soberly and thankfully remembering
what You suffered on our behalf to save us from sin's penalty!
Forgive us if we should forget!
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Forgive us, Lord, when we forget
And wise in our own eyes debate
Thy love and righteousness and fret
At the prerequisites of faith;
'the substance of hope, unashamed
the evidence of Things Unseen'
Believing all You have proclaimed
And trusting You to intervene
Where often love misunderstood
Could kindle a fault-finding rue
Remind us You work for the good
Of all who put their trust in You
The Promise, yet with humble hearts
Being assured, they still believed
Forgive us Lord, when we neglect
To see the sinfulness of sin
And thus, unconsciously reject
Thy loving, still, small Voice within
Forgive us when we minimize
The bloodstained cross of Calvary
And far to often fail to prize
The price You paid to set us free
Forgive us when we, with proud thought
Contest Your higher thoughts and ways
And dare to grumble at our lot
Rather than lifting hymns of praise
And should faith tremble in the gale
Of tests and troubles that must be
Remind us, this is but the veil
Faith's Last Gasp rends, then we will see
(*the riches of the glorious inheritance)
© Janet Martin
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