Get Strong in the Struggle

Greetings all,

Once again, in my busy schedule, I have let this site go out of date! I am thinking of doing a regular weekly post, an exegetical study of some verses. I am still toying with the idea, but I figured that I would go ahead and put up one anyway.

I have been working through the book of James. I find this book to be a very valuable text in the bible, one of the better ones, and along with Romans, my favorite.

James 1:1

James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.

Verse 1 is a salutation explaining that the book is to the Jewish people that are scattered around the known world. Not much else to be had (except that a few cults think that the Jewish nation is ‘lost’, that is not the case).

James 1:2-4

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

This verse tells us that problems will occur. Living through these problems produce endurance and a faith in God. Like our physical bodies gain strength when we exercise and our minds get sharper as we study, our faith gets stronger as we endure challenges around us. Once we struggle through a specific problem, it gets easier to tackle others. Just as living the life of sin gets easier with each sin, living in a life of enduring faith gets easier as well.

What kind of problems will challenge our faith? Many kinds. Here are just a few:

Natural Disasters

My first real experience with this type of problem came when I was rather young. On May 31, 1985, a series of severe storms blew across the state of Pennsylvania. We had just moved a few months earlier from Reno, NV, and I asked my aunt if there are Tornados around here. She said “No”, just to comfort the ears of a little child, but those words were eaten when one of the largest tornado storms hit the state!

I remember leaving the house the next day and seeing all the debris that clearly came from houses. I was not yet old enough to comprehend it, but I was in the midst of tragedy.

We don’t have to look too hard to see other natural disasters about us, especially since the southern part of our country was just hit hard by Katrina. Hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, droughts, volcanoes. They all hit, but it is how the Christian preserves in all this that makes the difference.

When such a disaster strikes, the Christian seeks solace in the arms of God, knowing that He is still in control. With that support, he can reach out to other people who do not know this love. This leads to the opportunity to share the love and Gospel of Jesus Christ. All this is easier said than done, but surviving such a tragedy gives you a powerful strength when coupled to the grace of our Lord.

Sins of Past Generations

Coming from a dysfunctional home, I can write volumes on this one topic alone. If you are not there, you will not understand as well as one who is there. This is one of the hardest things to overcome. The question lingers on the hearts and minds of millions of people who are in this situation: How can a loving God place me in a such a wreck as this home? Before I give you the answer, here is a basic picture. My childhood was not as bad as it could have been, but it certainly was not good. We fled Reno from my step-father who was a ‘less than perfect’ example at that time. We lived at a relative’s house for a few months before we rented our own house. My mother worked a lot to pay the bills, so we were alone a lot. I picked up the habit of stealing, eventually getting caught and serving some community service. My mother called me a (profanity) thief, the people at the fire house where I put in my hours treated me like a second rate human being, if even that. I didn’t want much more to do with that stuff (mind you that most people don’t, but never change), so I decided to dump those friends I was in with and get some new ones. They were into drugs…it would only be the first time out of thousands. I never did the drugs, but I was peer pressured by more people than you could imagine. I thought that they were stupid to take, but I found out when I was 14, that my mother was doing drugs, too. I went totally inside myself. My mother married again which caused numerous problems. My life was threatened a few times, but my mother always said “He is only talking, he won’t do anything”. He attacked me when I was 18 and I fled for a few weeks, I almost killed myself, but reasoned that it wasn’t worth it. I would finish my degree in college and disappear into the sunset. How did this happen? There are at least 6 generations of alcoholics on one side of the family and at least 3 on the other side. My mother had a lot of problems which were passed on to myself and my brother, but they were not entirely (I repeat ENTIRELY) her fault, she was simply doing what she had learned. I broke the cycle, recognized the problems, and corrected them. That is a tiny fraction of my story, I hope you get the idea.

The answer that I promised above is this: God places people in such situations to make you strong. That is what He did to me. I came to know Jesus Christ and had to sort out all the things of my past. It was very hard, but it was necessary for God to do His work in me. Because I preserved through that trial, I have been made strong in Christ.

Accidents

Some people suffer the loss of a husband, wife, mother, father, or ‘breadwinner’ for the family. Such a tragedy can leave people feeling hopeless and alone. These situations produce financial strain, emotional strain, and a whole host of other problems. To rebound from an accident takes creativity, often times people have to move, sell property, learn to live with less, get food stamps. The people effected might not understand, but the people in the Lord must recognize that indeed, God is still in control. He will supply all your needs, but perhaps not your wants. Read Matthew 6:25-33.

Persecution without a cause

This often occurs when people are active in ministry in some area. This goes to classic martyrdom where people are (even today) killed for their profession of faith in Jesus Christ, down to being teased. They are all forms of persecution. I have not been killed for my faith, but I have endured some other things. My family thinks that I am a ‘religious nut’, my brother questioned how I could be so stupid to believe in a God when I know so much about science (the ironic thing is how much God actually reveals about Himself in science that my brother doesn’t know about because he knows nothing about science). I am active in children’s ministry at church and beyond the church. I have had people pass Michael Jackson and Catholic Priest jokes at me for being single and working with kids. Such things can undermine your faith if your faith is not genuine. I know I have nothing to hide because 1. I have not done anything inappropriate with a child, and 2. As the adult in the situation, I have the responsibility to guide all conversations and actions in a Godly way.

All such persecutions from teasing up to killing are all things which test the faith and make you stronger. To get a firm grasp on this, I highly recommend you read John Foxes ‘Book of the Martyrs’.

In conclusion, when you find yourself in the middle of a problem, pray to God. Ask for endurance, patience, perseverance, knowing that it will make you a stronger Christian in the end.