“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
(James 1:2-5)
“Nice thought, but really…Come on now. Get real.” This is what I was thinking when I read those lines for the first time over thirty years ago.
I have always hated tests of any kind. There is always either the pressure to perform or the uncertainty of the results, not to mention the waiting for the results. I am impatient. I do not like not knowing the outcome. God knows this about me. So, in order to mold me into the person He wants me to become, He has allowed many tests of faith and trials to come into my life. (“I hate it when that happens.” ...to use an old Saturday Night Live gag line)
Being a little slow on the uptake, God has had to teach me the lessons of faith over and over. Oh, I know what the Bible teaches is true, but do I really trust that what it says is true. In the Latin, there is a difference between knowing something…the word “assensus” meaning “to give mental assent to” and having faith in something…the word
“fiduciae” meaning “to trust something”
More than fifteen years ago, I went through an extended period of unemployment. That was a time for me, as my friend, John Riley, puts it, “where the fork meets the grits!” (For those outside the South, the comparable phrase is “where the rubber meets the road.”) I had read the Scripture in I Peter 5:6, 7, that says, “Humble yourself in God’s strong hand, and, in His own good time, He will lift you up. You can cast the whole weight of your anxieties on Him for you are His personal concern.” Did I really believe that verse? I know I did not like the part about “in His own good time”!
After almost a year, and not a little fist shaking at the Lord, He led me into the next phase of my equipping for the ministry that I am involved with at the present. Did I like what I went through? No. I developed saying during that time, “I am looking forward to looking back on this!” (I am not sure that is original with me.) Did I learn more about trusting God? Absolutely!
MINISTRY NEWS:
- CONDUCTED PRE-MARITAL COUNSELING
- OFFICIATED WEDDING
- ASSISTING DISABLED GENTLEMAN IN HEALTH AND
FINANCIAL FRAUD ISSUES.
- FACILTATED TWO MEN’S GROUPS.
- MET WITH INDIVIDUAL MEN ON A DAILY BASIS FOR
COUNSEL AND ENCOURAGEMENT
- DID HOSPITAL VISITATION
MINISTRY NEEDS:
- YOUR PRAYER SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT
- NEW MEN’S GROUPS TO LEAD IN MORNINGS
- NEW AND/OR ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL SUPPORT.
I PRAY GOD’S RICHEST BLESSINGS IN CHRIST FOR EACH OF YOU, MY DEAR FRIENDS.