Seeing Through the Struggle: The Gift of Perseverance

Within the church, I hear a common phrase uttered among folks of all ages: “I’m in a difficult season,” or “we’re going through some challenges.” In fact, these topics of conversation are not just limited to the churchgoing family or individual. We are all guaranteed difficulty, and some encounter seasons that cannot be overcome by the power of the individual experiencing the pain. God doesn’t promise a pain-free life for those who believe in him, but he does promise he has overtaken it. There is victory in the end! Unfortunately, in moments of struggle, it is hard to see past the fog and into the perspective of God. Even if God doesn’t snap his fingers to make the fog disappear, he does give us the perfect set of instructions on how to encounter the season of obstacles. Within these set of instructions, God promises us an outcome that develops from putting on an attitude, mindset, and perspective that not only honors him, but delivers you through the difficulty and into victory.

        One of these mindsets comes from James 1:1-4:

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

Not only are we commanded to allow the trials to test our faith, but to take joy in them! Be thrilled that you get to experience difficulty, because in the end, it is the pathway to maturity and completeness in Christ. Your joy through pain is not an excuse for complacency and laziness; we are also called to act in wisdom, not like the foolish and ignorant. However, our attitude and perspective should be focused on our end goal: how our trials can positively influence our maturity in Christ Jesus. Unfortunately, it is during struggle we often take our eyes off of Jesus and/or demand that he take care of our situation. Our attitude is not right. Perseverance is being patient in the midst of difficulty. Unfortunately, steep in fight or flight, we go into protective mode, building steel walls around our heart so nothing can penetrate its vulnerable state. We close up instead of opening up to God’s provision. We become so damaged when we face trials and will even go as far as crafting made-up scenarios in our mind to justify our fear and disappointment. In essence, the trials and possibility of upcoming trials dictate our present attitude. Often, we kick God out of the situation and/or let the situation determine how we approach God instead of letting God teach us and mold us through the struggle.

In James 1:1-4, he does not diminish the impact trials have on us. In no way is James downplaying the power a difficult season can have. Instead, he is describing a mindset we can choose to have in the midst of a season we have don’t have a choice over. Nobody ever told you you have to cheer up when life is tough, but nobody said you couldn’t take joy in those seasons either. Yes, trials are no fun, but trials never had control over your attitude and perspective. You do. You can choose joy through trials instead of pouting about it. God didn’t just gift you with life, but he gifted you the freedom to choose who you trust in and what attitude you will have no matter what. Choosing to have a godly perspective that is filled with joy through difficulty is another way of saying, “I trust you, Jesus! Do what you will in this season.”

 Despite the world providing “solutions” on how to cure “bad vibes” by “doing you,” ask God what he is looking to do with you through the season of trial. A trial-filled season is not the time to bail on God, but to lean in, stand your ground, and go deeper than you have ever gone before. What if instead of reacting through your emotions, you listen to the Spirit and what it is saying to you? Your response to trials will determine the level of growth you reach. Don’t let the level of difficulty you face determine the limitations you place on your growth. God has gifted you the ability to persevere and overcome in the midst of pain. Let it finish its work so you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Amen.

Personal Testimony: My Healing vs. God's Healing

I don't often find myself in an emotional battle with God. Whenever I belligerently point my finger at God, outraged by his lack of intervention in my life when I need it most, I quickly discover I am the one who loses out every time I go down that ill-advised road. I am most certainly always the one who returns the Father with an apologetic attitude. This reason alone compels me to choose who to side with and who to oppose carefully, because let's be honest, any time we transform into attack mode against God, we are opposing him and what we originally believe about him before our outburst.

For most, if not all of the population, the aspect of God that becomes the most puzzling, frustrating, and surprising is his presence, intervention, and timing when we need him most. It feels as though we have a longer list of times where God did not fix things than when he did sort things out in our favor.

"God wasn't there when I needed him most," is a phrase heard often in our world, and can be so detrimental, it can lead some to completely walking out on their belief. After all, who wants to serve, love, and believe in a God who not only abandons us when we need him most, but is nearly impossible to find in the physical realm to begin with? In the end, with this mindset, many would conclude that being a follower of Jesus is a dangerous game because most who commit to believing in God most likely will feel abandonment when they need him, even if they never were abandoned to begin with (we can be confident in God never abandoning us when we look at Hebrews 13:5).

Personally, I have felt most abandoned by God when I am physically sick. For over 14 years, I have battled migraines. In many ways, I struggled believing it was "just a migraine" because it involved so many other side effects; vertigo, numbness (typically on the left side, waist up), severe headaches. I tried everything from praising God through my pain to rebuking the pain in Jesus' name. I even took pills at the right time to get rid of the pain, drank plenty of water, etc. and it still didn't get rid of the occasional migraine. In most cases, I would pray for healing and have others pray as well, and I was never healed. Then, in July 2017, I had a mini-stroke due to a tiny blood clot finding its way through a small hole in my heart. A massive hospital bill and one year later, and I am still taking pills to take the pressure off of getting another stroke. Since July 2017, I have gotten five migraines, so I am still not completely healed.

From 2003 to 2017, the battle between God was intense. I would often ask God, "Why aren't you here for me when I need you most?" I was raised in a Christian home and never had a memorable season in my life where I was on the fence about believing in God. I always believed in God and considered him Lord of my life, but that didn't mean I never had my doubts about his ability to intervene and be the God he says he is. When your sick over and over again, viewing God is like seeing Spiderman when he first discovers he had the ability to shoot a web out of his wrist. Sometimes he used it correctly, and other times he would try to shoot it, but nothing would come out as he would plummet to the ground below, looking like a fool who promises success but fails at every jump. The problem with viewing God from this perspective is that you believe in everything else about him, but you hesitate to believe he'll follow through when he shoots his version of a web. Therefore, you don't actually believe in God entirely.

When the mini-stroke happened, my attitude was the opposite of what most would expect. I could have walked out on God, and from a worldly view, I would have been completely justified. God didn't intervene when I had migraines, and now I have a stroke and a massive hospital bill because of it. Some God you are, I could have thought. Instead, I felt a wave of blessing, because God protected me from far more than just a migraine. His saving grace protected me from long term disability, flipping my life upside down because the stroke could've flipped my health on its side. Everything I aspired to be would be incinerated by this unmerciful stroke. Yet, God protected me from a life I couldn't even imagine.

The stroke, though, wasn't the only event in my life where I had a perspective change. January 6th, 2016, I had a difficult beginning to the new year. Outside of my physical health, I was dealing with additional issues that made me question my purpose. So, I went to the show by myself to see the movie A Monster Calls. Little did I know it would be about inner healing, as the main character would learn some valuable lessons from a made-up monster about letting go during his mother's battle with cancer. The main theme in the movie was that healing often comes to the rescue in ways we least expect. The boy is belligerent when he finds out the monster is not going to save his mother, so he spends most of the film viewing the monster like a Spiderman who can't shoot his web properly.

How often do we immediately assume God bailed on us when our physical pain does not go away. Or, better yet, when our situation doesn't improve when we ask God to make it improve? How many times do we only see the circumstances around us as a litmus test for God's goodness, but fail to look internally to see what God is doing within?

One day, during Jesus' ministry in Capernaum, a paralyzed man was lowered into the house from the ceiling where Jesus was visiting. The paralyzed man was hoping to walk again, and the men lowering him on the mat were hoping for the same. Spoiler alert, Jesus did heal the man, but that's not what I want to focus on. Verses before the man is healed of his paralysis, Jesus sees their faith and says to the paralyzed man,

"My child, your sins are forgiven."

(Mark 2:5)

"Your sins are forgiven"? Not, "Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home"? If I were the paralyzed man, I would have been hysterical! What about my pain? I would question. I don't care about my sin, I want my pain to be gone! I would demand. 

Some Pharisees were in the area and witnessed what Jesus said, so they told Jesus only God can forgive sins. Jesus' response? "Why do you question this in your hearts?" (v. 8).

Jesus understood there was need of physical healing, but he is also aware of our need for heart healing as well. What Jesus saw when he was approached by the paralyzed man was a heart change. Jesus recognized what was in the man's heart and healed him from his sins. In addition, he healed the man's physical ailment as well.

Unfortunately, most people are so wrapped up in the physical circumstances that they fail to see what other forms of healing God desires to accomplish within us. In these cases, our hearts become so hardened by what appears to be God's lack of protection that we miss out on partnering with what God is doing inside of us. 

Bear in mind, I am not suggesting we just accept that God will not or cannot heal us physically because he does not want to or cannot do it. His desire is to not only heal us physically, but to do a soul work that involves a change of heart. Paul writes about physical training compared to godliness in 1 Timothy 4:8: "For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." In other words, while the physical body has importance, godliness, which comes from the heart and soul, is of greater importance for now and to come. 2 Corinthians 4:16 says, "...though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day." In 1 Timothy, Paul mentions that strict physical training does "little to promote holiness...there must be a deeper work on the soul than any which can be accomplished by the mere mortification of the body" (Barnes Notes on the Bible - Commentary). In 2 Corinthians, we are encouraged that our renewal comes from inward transformation, not by the body. Therefore, what we desire in the flesh and physical is understandable, but our main focus should be on heart and soul healing, because that's what will go with us in thew present and future, afterlife.

Friends, what if we focused on trusting God through the entire process, knowing that he is in the business of healing in more ways than just physically? Jesus healed the paralyzed man of his sins first because of his faith that comes from the heart, then he healed him physically. Though inward faith and trust doesn't promise immediate outward healing of our situation on our watch, it does provide transformation in the Spirit, and God is at work in more ways than we know. If we limit God to what we expect him to heal and do with our circumstances, we will miss out on what he is actually doing through us. Let go of your expectations, let God intervene in his own way, and declare that his plan is perfect. 

He is doing far more healing in you than you will ever know in the moment. Watch and be amazed.

Christians, Assemble!

The character of God can be summarized by how he engages humanity and what he desires our response be when we read about his commands and communicate with him through prayer and supplication (Philippians 4:6-7). For example, God specifically lays out a foundation for how we should treat one another. On multiple occasions, the power of our influence is well documented in Scripture. Hebrews 10:24-25 says,

“And let us consider how to spur one another on towards love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

God created us to be in community with one another. Fellowship matters to him because it is a reflection of him and his deepest desires. In fact, our influence on one another withholds so much power, it will even prepare us for the dark days that are ahead of us. All the more is a key phrase used to explain how much more important it will be when the men and women who serve the Lord will be put on trial for their beliefs (see Matthew Henry Commentary of Hebrews 10:25).

In addition to all the more, another phrase that is important to focus on is as some are in the habit of doing. Long before this day and age, God knew the greatest weakness that could potentially eliminate the positive influence of man, and it would come in the form of isolation. Commentary suggests ‘assembling Christians’ (found in Hebrews 10:25) translates to Christians who publicly worship (Barnes’ Notes on the Bible). The problem, unfortunately, is the lack of meeting and publicly worshiping God together in word and deed. What looms larger is the disguise: Isolation and comfort often go hand-in-hand, and filling our schedules with busy seems to be the norm. Even when there is meeting up with others in worship to God, we are not spurring one another toward love and good deeds as much as we should. We forget and abandon the unlimited power of influence we are given when we meet with the purpose of encouraging one another on.

While Hebrews does provide clear instruction on how to engage with one another, it is not the only reference in Scripture that cites the importance of meeting together. Matthew 18:20 also promises, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Sure, alone time with God is good for the soul and the relationship, but a fellowship of believers makes a strong impact as well. When those who come together with a common desire to make him the vocal point of conversation and action, God’s presence is multiplied. Why? In the context of Scripture, it’s simple. Take a look at how influential fellowship works:

First, we are called to be “imitators” and to “imitate God” in everything we do (see 1 Corinthians 11:1 and Ephesians 5:1). This means Jesus didn’t just come to save us from sin, but he modeled for us what it looks like to imitate God in all we do. Second, being imitators of Jesus means this: when we are filled with the Holy Spirit and adhere to its promptings, we are very much like Jesus. Now imagine a room full of Jesus’, loving on one another, instructing one another, admonishing one another, etc. Our words, actions, and deeds, when prescribed in the context of imitating God’s goodness (the fruits of the Spirit), carries so much power because God is in the midst of it.

God earnestly desires for us to be committed to one another in Christ because in doing so, we are intentionally engaging in the mission statement of God: to bring Love and Truth to a world who so desperately needs it. Men, women, and children so often struggle to be like Jesus; to live like he did and imitate him in all they do. When we meet together and spur one another on, we collectively see that living like Jesus is possible, and it strengthens our desire to continue living that way.

Those closest to me, the men who run the race with me, know me well. When I am feeling down, or I let my circumstances define my faith, these men give me a pep talk; they snap me out of my mindset. Like a star athlete huddling around his teammates to remind them the game is not over, my buddies will yell in my ear who I am in Jesus and that I am bigger than Satan’s flaming arrows; that I have the armor I need to fend off any attack from him. My friends are good at giving me the pep talk because those pep talks are grounded in Scripture and aligned with God’s promises. When Jesus feels invisible to me, the Holy Spirit living in my friends is what catapults me into Truth and Victory. When Jesus fees non-existent in the midst of my problems, my fellow warriors show me Jesus in them and how that same Jesus still resides in me.

Again, the problem remains. We don’t gather together as much as we should (Hebrews 10:25). We don’t spur one another on enough through meeting one another and worshiping together. Too many people live outside of the realm of this possibility. If we do gather together, God isn’t in the picture as much as he could and should be. Fortunately, each day is new, and each day is another opportunity to flip the script. If you’re not spurring one another on towards love and good deeds and getting spurred on as well, your life will lose Biblical, godly purpose.

We were designed to gather together and encourage one another towards being imitators of Jesus. We were designed to publicly worship together. In today’s age, we have become distracted, and distraction is one of Satan’s tricks. If he can’t take us out, he will use daily distractions to prevent us from living in the complete blessings that come from God. Fellowship is a blessing, and isolation is Satan’s way to eliminate imitating God. When we see another believer properly living out his faith, we are inspired to begin or continue that process. If we are not inspired, we should be. If we are not inspired to meet with others, Satan could be using distractions, busyness, and other excuses to eliminate that desire.

There is a reason God gives the command of meeting together. It works, and it brings us closer to His likeness. Jesus walked with twelve disciples. This means he didn’t go through life alone. We too are not meant to go through life alone, so it is critical to be proactive in this area, because God says it is important.

1. The way to combat complacency and enter into a spiritually Christ-centered community is by doing some of the following. 
2. Making a local church your home and attending (maybe even serving) regularly.
3.  Finding spiritual brothers (if you’re a guy) and sisters (if you’re a girl) and becoming genuine friends with them (one of the most powerful accountability tools is putting yourself around godly people and allowing them to show up in your life)
4. Finding a same-gender leader who is willing to mentor and/or disciple you to become or continue being an imitator of God. 

Never give up on opportunities to meet with others, worship God together, and spur them on toward love and good deeds – this is a command that God gives us, so it is important to not become lazy in this area.

There is a reason God gives the command of meeting together. It works, and it brings us closer to His likeness. Jesus walked with twelve disciples. This means he didn’t go through life alone. We too are not meant to go through life alone, so it is critical to be proactive in this area, because God says it is important.

*Additional verses instructing the engagement of brothers and sisters in Christ: Romans 12:10-21, Colossians 3:12-17, 2 Timothy 2:23-25, Matthew 5:21-23