Count it all JOY......???
Have you ever
wondered about the scripture in James that tells us to "count it all
Joy when we fall into divers temptations"? On the surface that seems
like a tall order. So I wanted to relate to you some things that
happened to me in the hopes of shedding a little light on this.
I
was talking to a friend the other day and he told me that he had been
going through a tremendous amount of problems. All kinds of things were
going wrong and he said it felt like he was under siege by Satan.
I suspect we have all felt like that at times, I know I have.
I had something, along those lines, happen to me that illustrates what I want to bring to you today.
My wife and I had been living in Montana, pretty close to the land at that. That's a nice way of saying we were broke. :-)
Any way God had been in the process of calling us back to him because we had just been drifting for many years.
I
had had a series of set backs all kinds of things going wrong not even
related to each other. It felt like Satan was besieging us so to speak.
Finally, one day, as I was making my way to town I had a flat tire. I
did not even have a spare.
Well the normal response for me, up
to that time at least, would have been to become very upset. But
after all that had already happened and because I had been praying very
hard about all these things, my reaction was startling even to me.
I
started laughing, it just hit me so funny that Satan might think that
this could drive me away from God. I mean I was getting silly laughing
about it. Later I was sure glad no one was around cause I would have
looked like a crazy man for sure to someone looking on.
The
strange thing was that the trials ended immediately afterwards and I
mean all of them. Right then from that moment on it was like a cloud
lifted and the Sun was shining and everything was working just right.
Not that I haven't had plenty of trials since, but those were gone just
that quick.
I have wondered about what had happened and why
Satan would let up his attack at just that moment. Cause it did seem
like that. Over the years I've looked into the word for answers.
I remembered the story of Job and how Satan had to ask God's permission before he was even allowed to do anything to Job.
Job 1:11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job
1:12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath [is]
in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went
forth from the presence of the LORD.
You know God is Sovereign over everything.
I began to think about That Scripture in Romans 8:28
Rom
8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.
And
I began to understand why Satan stopped his attacks on me at that
point. I had learned what God had intended that I learn from it, so God
stopped it.
See when God says all things work together for our
good, He is saying that He is in control of everything that happens to
us who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
That's why and how we can count it all joy when we fall into temptations.
Jas 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
Jas 1:3 Knowing [this], that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
Jas 1:4 But let patience have [her] perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
Because God is in control always, He is right there beside us always in every trial.
Heb
13:5 [Let your] conversation [conduct] [be] without covetousness;
[and be] content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will
never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
We can actually
laugh at our trials because we know that God is right there with us; in
control. Satan is not in control and never was.
We have to
learn from the battle, we are strengthened by the battle, we learn to
make right choices by the battle, we show God our true feelings by our
reaction to the battle, BUT we are not battling Satan because God is in
control.
We don't ever have to fear Satan or man because as it says in Romans 8:31 if God is for us who can be against us.
Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God [be] for us, who [can be] against us?
I recently heard it put in a way I had not heard before and it really illuminated the question for me.
"Trials and temptations are the gestation of a begotten spirit."
We
are growing toward spiritual maturity in this body made of clay. When
we are born into the Kingdom our "gestation" process will be complete.
Each
battle that we go through causes the new spiritual life within us to
grow a little bit more. Even when we appear to fail. Each effort
strengthens the spiritual muscle(character) within.
God creates both good and evil
Isa 45:7 I create both light and darkness; I bring both blessing and disaster. I, the LORD, do all these things.
We need to see that God is in control of the good as well as all the bad that happens to us.`
Like
what happened to Joseph. When his brothers sold him to Egypt. Then he
was falsely accused of taking advantage of Potofirs' wife and thrown
into prison, for three years.
Now I don't know about you but I
might have a hard time finding any joy in a trial like that. But in the
end it was like Job he was brought back to a better situation than
before. And, was instrumental in saving the entire Nation of Israel
from destruction. Notice what he said to his brothers about it in Gen
50:20
Gen 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against
me; [but] God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as [it is] this
day, to save much people alive.
God meant it for good! That's a comforting thought isn't it.
Joh
17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in
one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved
them, as thou hast loved me.
Now that's an interesting comment there. "that they may be MADE PERFECT" looks like theres a process involved doesn't.
And it's our sufferings through which we are made perfect. Notice this comment by Paul in Hebrews about Christ;
Heb 5:8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
Heb 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
Heb
2:10 For it became him, for whom [are] all things, and by whom
[are] all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain
of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
Once
we become God's people, everything that happens in our lives whether by
design or by accident will work out for our good in the end.
We learn and grow by the things that we suffer. Even Christ was perfected by what he suffered in this life. Even CHRIST!
Now
we know that Christ had never sinned yet by suffering and still being
obedient he learned something that made him more perfect.
He
learned to trust God even in the midst of suffering and to remain
obedient no matter what. That's character folks. That's what loving God
is all about.
When we have that kind of Love for God then we
know that our love has been made perfect because there is no fear in
love as John told us in 1 Jn 4:17-18
1Jn
4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness
in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
1Jn
4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear:
because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
So when trials hit us hard even terrible ones that bring
grief and tears. Hold on to these thoughts and scriptures and let our
love for God be perfected by the things which we suffer.
Knowing that should make it easier to "wait on the Lord"
Lam 3:25 The LORD [is] good unto them that wait for him, to the soul [that] seeketh him.
Lam 3:26 [It is] good that [a man] should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.
And then again in Eph 4:13 Paul says
Eph
4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the
knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of
the stature of the fulness of Christ:
I don't
know about you folks, but that makes it a lot easier to bear up under
trials knowing that God means it for our good and is right there
waiting for us to learn what we need so He can give us rest.
It's the goal that does it, the reward at the end of all these trials. Paul shows us the example that Jesus gave;
Heb
12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of [our] faith;
who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising
the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The
Joy that we have from trials is the joy that comes from knowing what is
set before us, the Goal of Salvation and Eternal life. This is what
Paul means in Romans 8:18
Rom
8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time [are]
not worthy [to be compared] with the glory which shall be revealed in
us.
Bible Study by Raymond Mills September 2007
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