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| JAMES LESSON #11 As Brennan Manning mentions in his book, �Ruthless Trust,� -How hard for Anne Donovan when she delivered a stillborn baby. She said, �those things I HAD RELIED ON: modern science, women�s intuition, God�s mercy- had failed, and I had nothing to hold on to.� When friends offered well-meaning words of condolence such as �It was God�s will. We cannot understand God�s will,� and told her �how privileged she should feel that now she has her very own baby angel,� the only taste in her mouth was ashes. How does one dare to say �trust� in the face of something like this? Whether it�s divorce that�s raped and pillaged a family, or death of a husband, or death of a child, or diagnosis of terminal illness � and the list goes on, the question that screams loud is, �How can a holy loving God tolerate so much evil-� The bigger thought right next to that : the tangible (touchable, seeable, hearable) reality of evil allows the possibility of God�s existence. Theology can not provide a fix for the mother whose tiny child has just died of cancer. So where in the world do I get the courage to speak �trust� in the face of what surrounds the ones hurting most deeply? From the results of the greatest �test� ever passed: In those moments where pain seems to be so great we can�t contain it, there�s hope. The hope is in the �test results.� We just finished a lesson that began with the definition of �test� : an event or set of circumstances that PROVES what is true and what is fake: If you look into the Word of God you will see that it repeatedly speaks of the cross �the �test results� �the event that �proves� that God can draw good � powerful good, out of the most heinous evil. James is writing to people who�s families are being torn apart. He�s writing to people who are being beheaded, plundered through with the sword, sought out and fed to wild beasts � for doing what is right. They�re frightened, confused, and don�t understand what�s happening. Much like, the mother who carried her child for 9 months and delivered stillborn. It�s time to take a look at �why� we have trials, and �what� to do with them when they surround you � because usually its these trials that trap us into a position where we refuse to forgive, surrender, and/or yield the right of way to God. I want to list several things that you need to �DO� according to James 1 when you�re up against trials. Then we�ll back up and start working through each one of them carefully looking at what�s really being said. If you are going to handle trials and trials are not going to handle you, you need to: James 1:2-4 count it all joy. Why? Because trials have a purpose. Question right next to this one is, �What is joy?� and �Why is it the LAST thing I notice in my life during the heat of the fire?� James 1:5-8 ask for God�s wisdom in how to handle a trial. Usually this is THE LAST thing we do- we burn a long time and exhaust ourselves trying to work our way through it IN OUR OWN WISDOM: if you can get this early on, you�ll save yourself a lot of pain: If that trial was permitted by God, then GOD has a way for you to handle it. James 1:9-11 glory in the fact that the trial causes you to look beyond the temporal (what�s passing in the day) to the eternal. Most of the time we �react� to the temporal (what we see, hear and feel in the �now�) and totally forget the eternal. Big danger there- James 1:12 persevere in love of God, in that trial (notice �how� we persevere � more on this..a lot more on this, later) Why? Because a crown awaits those that persevere (When I initially studied this I thought to myself, �When I�m hurting deeply the LAST thing I care about is some �crown� I can�t even see �� there�s a lot to this picture. We�ll talk more later. James 1:13-17 In that trial, don�t yield to temptation and then say that it was God�s way of escape- This is about 8 lessons worth of material � What God wants out of you in a trial is that you endure. The devil will attempt to offer you his way out by enticing your eyes, your mind, your ears � your lusts-offering you a �fast food� option �when God says �wait for the 12 course meal � I�m making it� � and you�re absolutely STARVED. James 1:18 remember that you belong to God �so that we might be the �First fruits� �a whole group of Christians was being birthed- their responses and handling of trials WOULD DIRECT THE LIVES OF MANY MORE TO COME: James 1:19-21 put away all that remains of wickedness�Get this: TRIALS EXPOSE THINGS IN YOU THAT YOU NEED TO LET GO OF� Put away all that remains of wickedness and do what? RECEIVE the engrafted Word that is able to do what? Save your souls. We�ll talk about how that happens and what it requires of us later. James 1:22-27 be a doer and not a hearer only of what? The Word of God. We�ve been talking about tests- how they prove what�s true and what�s fake- There are a lot of people who �think� they believe in God: There are some who truly do believe in God: The difference is seen in how they respond to the Word of God. One hears and does his/her own thing. The other hears, and obeys- no matter how it feels. We�re going to take a look at James 1:2-8. We�ve already skimmed over the surface, getting the �airplane� view- Now, we�re going to land the plane and start to look at the details. Read James 1:2-5 Notice in verse 5 that James is not teaching them about wisdom, he�s teaching them how to get it. Nothing you�ll ever do or be or think up in your own strength will land in the �wisdom� category. The ONLY place you get it, is from God Himself. How do you get it? ASK. Whenever you�re in a hard place, whether it�s losing your keys and being late for an appointment or holding a dying child, remember that the hard place is testing two things: The Word of God (arranging circumstances in such a way to convince you that God is a liar) � and your faith: what�s that? READ James 1:2-3 again. It says that the �testing of your faith,� produces endurance � What is faith? It�s a firm conviction � nice big word, but what�s that mean? Conviction means: being so convinced that you�d act without any hesitation to stand for, support, and/ or defend � even to the death- Big question: What does this �faith� or this �conviction� or this �state of being totally convinced� influence? MY CHOICES- THAT is the second thing being placed on the front lines during a tough test. Everything that surrounds me calls God a liar- Do I believe what I see and hear and feel, or do I believe what God�s said. Am I convinced enough that GOD LOVES ME � and that He is FOR ME that no matter what happens to me I�ll trust Him? If I�m not � what am I missing? Next question: Where does �faith� � this �firm conviction� � this being �totally convinced,� � where does it come from? Does faith come from being �one with nature?� Does faith come from �bucking up and just believing?� Does faith come from �going to church � singing in the choir � giving in the offering?� Does faith come from �working hard at being good?� Does faith come from �prayer?� Does faith come from �meditation?� Where does faith come from? If I�m supposed to have this kind of deep conviction � If I�m supposed to be totally convinced � What convinces me? What I see? What I hear? What I feel? Nope. Where does faith come from? Look at Romans 10:17 Faith comes from �hearing� � from �listening deeply� Greek: akoe- to hear and receive: and �hearing� comes from what? The Word of God. Now, you fill in the blank. If I�m not convinced � if I�m moved quickly by what I see, hear, and feel � If what surrounds me manipulates my behavior � What am I missing? I haven�t heard enough to be convinced: I haven�t heard enough of what? The Word. The tough stuff that happens to you is really not the big deal in terms of your life. The �big deal� is your response or reaction to those tough things. What controls your reaction, your response? Whatever has convinced you to �trust� - You�re either going to �trust� in �you� � or you�re going to be so convinced by the love of God that you�ll �trust� Him. READ Hebrews 11:1 Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the �conviction� of �things not seen.� �What things? The love of God. What�s the �assurance of things hoped for� mean? I�m in the fire. All that I see around me is fire. I smell the smoke. That which I�ve placed my hope in? --the love of God. That�s the �sure bet� that I�m �hoping for� - I�m going to believe God � or I�m going to be overwhelmed by what I see - NOT BECAUSE OF THE FIRE : - but because I�m taking on a battle that doesn�t belong to me. The fire itself will not overwhelm me. �Overwhelm� happens when I assume God�s position and �battle� the fire instead of �stand� in it. BIG BIG DIFFERENCE in terms of the weight of responsibility on my shoulders. Look at II Chronicles 16:9. The Lord looks to support those whose what? Hearts are completely His. There are �benefits� in the heat of the fire: God. Look at II Chronicles 20:15b (second half of the verse) and 20:17. Who�s battle is it? Who�s responsibility is it? Are we �convinced� enough to �trust� Him with the reigns? What if His hands don�t do what we think they should? What if He says �NO� to the greatest yearning our heart has ever had? Are we �convinced� enough to give Him the reigns and leave them in His hands? The thought to think about until tomorrow: If we�re not �convinced� enough � If our �faith� is not active- so that we�re trusting more intensely with every blow because we�re convinced that God loves us and is �for� us � where do we need to feed our minds? Romans 10:17 Faith comes from �hearing� (listening and receiving) And hearing? Comes from the Word of God. The battle belongs to God. Don�t take it on. Love to all of you, Robin �copywrite 2001 Jim and Robin Hibschman |
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