Pure Joy in our Trials

James 1:1-8

“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 in anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.”

It's interesting how trials and suffering can be understood in a new light. James is suggesting for us to see it in a different way – to perceive trials and suffering as pure joy. Why? Because through these, we will grow stronger. Our faith will grow stronger. We will become mature and complete. Isn't that what we want as followers of Christ? To not stay stagnant, but to continue to grow in our love for God and for others.

Being able to weather the storms and trials will create perseverance, so when more come, we will be able to withstand them, stronger than before, because we have the experience of getting through them. We can recall the season where we got through it, because we persisted in prayer. We persisted in worship. We persisted in meeting up with community.

We must try not to forget the promises of our Father in those trials. He is faithful and He is true. His words and His promises never waver. They are steady. They do not shift like the wind.

Lamentations 3:22-23

“Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

-Laura

Pinned to Home, Living Here with Joy

I went “home” this past weekend for our Community Days celebrations. I grew up in a small community, at the centre of which is my parents' property. Their house sits on one side of a large lot and most of the festivities were held under a tent on the far side. My husband and I pulled into my parents driveway at a little after 2pm. As I walked across the lawn to find my mum, I was spotted by a slightly-beyond-middle-aged (like, 80 maybe?) woman from the community. I have known her all my life. She loves me, dearly. She got up quickly and almost ran to hug me. I love her, too. She has loved me and prayed for me, hugged me and comforted me when my heart was broken, and encouraged me in all of my endeavours. She is one among many who have been a part of my “village” since birth.

I love my home community and I have missed living there since we moved to Saint John 8 years ago. I used to go home to visit and would shed quiet tears the whole way back to our house. It took some time, but I have come to love Saint John, too, and while a part of me hates to leave Springfield, another part looks forward to getting back to the port city. I love the friendliness of the citizens; I love the old parts and the new parts; I love the sea breeze and Mispec Beach; I love my friends and the new “village” my family has begun to build; I love my job and the brothers and sisters I work with and those we serve. BUT. It's not the same. It isn't “home.” My heart belongs in Springfield. Not the close to here Springfield, the other, farther one. The one it takes an hour and forty minutes to get to.

On my way back to Saint John last weekend, I was reflecting on how I have changed and how I've stayed the same. As I drive away from Springfield, it still feels as though a piece of me, that place above my stomach and below my ribs, my centre, my core, is pinned there. It stretches from “home” to home where I live, but doesn't break. I still belong there. I am known and loved there. I am safe there.

I often feel the same piece of me tacked and stretched when I consider our ultimate Home, our home with Jesus. I am nostalgic for what is to come. I am not the first to feel this loneliness for Home. Squire Parsons once penned, “I'm kind of homesick for a country to which I've never been before.” (Sweet Beulah Land, 1973) I imagine he felt the longing in exactly the same visceral way that I do.

There is a lesson in all of this for me. I think that the way I felt when I drove back this past Saturday (pinned to home but coming back to Saint John with gladness) is the way we are meant to live all the time: pinned to HOME, living here on earth with joy for the time being; longing for Beulah Land, but appreciating creation (even broken) and taking joy in it because it “proclaims the glory of God”, loving our neighbours who are made in God's image.

We have a permanent home. One where we belong, where we are known, loved, safe and with Jesus:

John 14:1-3 “Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father's home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me.”

The Lord is joyful about his creation. Shouldn't we be too?

Psalm 104:31 “May the glory of the LORD continue forever! The LORD takes pleasure in all he has made!”

And how can Psalm 19 not spark joy in our hearts when we think about this beautiful temporary home?

“The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. God has made a home in the heavens for the sun. It bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding. It rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race. The sun rises at one end of the heavens and follows its course to the other end. Nothing can hide from its heat.”

It all comes down to this: We are made for more than this broken, sin-filled world. We have a home that is greater than all of this. But we have been given a job. We are to love our neighbours and show them Jesus. If we are living without joy, without hope, in mourning, then we are not living here properly. People need to see joy, they need to see love, they need to see hope. Because of Jesus, we have all of that, and we can point to all of the things around us and show them the glory of the LORD. We can point to ourselves and say, “Look what the Lord has done for me.” Like David, we can say, “For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.” Psalm 92:4

--Chanelle

How Precious Did That Grace Appear

The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

Then Jesus told her, “I am the Messiah!”

Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, “What do you want with her?” or “Why are you talking to her?” John 4:25-27 (NLT)

Three characters. There is a woman who has sinned. There is a messiah who came. There are disciples who are shocked by grace. It seems that, best-case scenario, I am a shocked disciple.

One day someone I know did something he should not have done. It is probably fair to say that he sinned that day. He thought he had a small injury as a result of this something. He talked to me about this something and his injury, looking at the floor. He seemed embarrassed and ashamed. Rightly so, I expect. A few days later he started to suspect that his injury was not as small as he thought. Then I delivered a message to him that his doctor called. He looked worried. He doesn't know this but I saw him a little while later when I passed him while I was driving. At this point, it was clear that his injury actually was more severe than he thought. His face was sad. Two feelings crossed my mind. Immediately I felt sorry for him. His injury would heal, but it would be a nuisance and it would hurt for a few weeks. A few minutes later I thought, “Well, he did this to himself. It is hard to feel too bad for him.”

Imagine if Jesus had the same reaction I did. What if...

God the Father watched Adam sin and he watched Eve sin. God the Father goes to God the Son and says, “My son. Our creation is broken. The man and woman we created broke it when they themselves sinned. Now they will have difficult lives – work will be exhausting and childbirth will be agonizing – and then they will die. Son, I have a way to fix this.” Then the Father tells the Son the plan. The Son responds with initial compassion, but then says, “Well, they did it to themselves. It is hard to feel too bad for them.”

God the Father and God the Son had the right and ability to react like they did in our imagined scenario. They did not react this way, however. We were created by a God who is gracious. We need to be mindful of this and grateful for this always.

I will not pretend that I spent a lot of time reflecting about my second reaction to come to this realization. I probably would never have thought of it again; however; I had to run an unexpected errand this morning. On this errand I walked down the road that I drove on previously. I walked past the spot where the man I know was sitting and I remembered his face. Immediately, I thought about the woman at the well...

Then I thought about Jesus...

Then I thought about me...

Then I thanked Jesus because Jesus is not like me. I thanked him for grace.

Stand Still

By no means am I an expert in the area of stillness and silence in order to draw closer to Jesus and have a deeper relationship with the Lord.  I believe we are talking about spiritual discipline and we certainly can't begin to dive fully into this topic in the space we have to work with in this blog. I would, however, like to challenge us all to consider the importance of standing, sitting, laying quietly before the all-powerful Lord - of being still and reverently honoring God.  Lately I have been stirred more and more to be still with the desire to be filled with the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.  Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still, and know that I am God!"  Exodus 14:14 says, "The Lord Himself will fight for you.  Just stay calm."

Perhaps you are feeling led to something or you feel you are in a battle right now and things have to get sorted out.  You're a doer...you need to be busy planning for what is ahead, problem solving, strategic planning.  BUT God is asking the most insane thing of all of you - stand still!  He promised he would do the fighting.

Over the last year or so, a couple of godly women from the Sisters of Charity have been running a drop-in centre a few afternoons a week at our building on Waterloo Street.  Sister Anita and Sister Celene came to us with extensive experience in running a drop-in centre for a number of years in Vancouver.  Their desire is to work with vulnerable women, some caught in the sex trade.  After some time, they asked what they could do for Outflow.  I responded with, "please pray for us."  I believe they have taken that request to heart and spent time with God in prayer for the ministry of Outflow and the people we are journeying with.  Just knowing that people are spending time praying for Outflow is so good, but that's not the lesson I've learned through all this!  It's the power of taking time to meditate on the word and spend time praying to Jesus that He would have mercy on us and touch our hearts in order to change our minds and bring our focus toward Him for His glory no matter is we are alone or in a room full of people.  The battle belongs to the Lord.

When attempting to talk about silence, we often feel the impossibilities of this task.  It's like trying to depict the invisible.  Silence is difficult to describe through words.  Trying to give a definition would be difficult.  One of the Fathers from the early Christian centuries is a good example of this.  It is said that one day Abba Theophilis, who was an Arch-Bishop, came to Cetus, a desert wasteland and spiritual paradise, where a great number of monks carried their unseen spiritual warfare.  Arch Bishop Theophilis made his way to the cell of Abba Pamba, a man acclaimed and recognized for his humility and wisdom.  The  brethren that accompanied the Arch-Bishop asked Abba Pamba to say something to him so that he may be edified.  Abba Pamba replied, "If he is not edified by my silence, he will not be edified by my speech."  There is really little more that should be said.  If people are not edified by our silence, they will not be edified by our words.

Thomas a Kempis said, "In silence and quietness, the devout soul makes progress and learns the hidden mysteries of the scriptures."

Present day spiritual writers commend silence as well.  Richard Foster carries on the tradition, linking silence and solitude: "Without silence there is no solitude.  Though silence sometimes involves the absence of speech, it always involves the act of listening.  Simply to refrain from talking, without a heart of listening to God, is not silence."

In his book, The Sacred Way, Tony Evans points out that solitude and silence go back at least to Jesus, reminding us that in preparation for His ministry, Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness outside of Jerusalem, setting the example for the monks who would follow Him there three centuries later.  Clearly in solitude, Jesus was presumably in silence as well, only talking to Abba Father and finally rebuffing Satan.  Jesus made a habit of withdrawing "to the hills" or to a "lonely place" or to the "wilderness" or a "high mountain" and to the "Garden of Gethsemane."  He went to those places before He chose His disciples, after he heard of his cousin John's beheading, after feeding the 5000, after healing a leper, before the transfiguration and, of course, to prepare for His passion.

Richard Foster says, "The seeking out of solitary places was a regular practice for Jesus.  So it should be for us."  Getting alone with the Father is especially important when it doesn't make sense.  It is most important when you are thinking that you've "got this one."

When the Israelite people were fleeing Egypt after the 10 plagues, they were pursued by the Egyptians.  Martin Luther says that they "were like a mouse in a trap or a partridge in a snare."  Their choices were the desert, the sea, or the enemy.  God kept telling them the most insane thing of all - stand still!  He promised He would do the fighting.  The marvelous story that follows is today called "the Crossing of the Red Sea."  

Often it's our fears that hold us back from experiencing God, our control not allowing ourselves to go deeper in our journey with God.  At least that's my problem.

Trust the Lord and Be Still (Exodus 14:13-14)

But Moses told the people, "Don't be afraid.  Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today.  The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again.  The Lord Himself will fight for you.  Just stay calm."

If you are hemmed in on every side and don't have a way out, it's time to watch the Lord go to work on your behalf.  If you belong to Him in Christ Jesus, trust Him.  Your dilemma may be financial.  It may be in your business or with your supervisor.  It might be with your health.  It might be with your marriage or your children.

Here are a few applications:

1. Don't submit to fear.  Fear will immobilize you, skew your thinking.  Panic will cause you to do crazy things.

2. Trust the Lord.  Trust His heart, His character.  Entrust your obstacle to Him.  he can handle it a whole lot better than you can anyway.  Admit it.

3. Quit whining about yourself and listen to Him.  The Lord has instructions for you in order for Him to make a way where there is none right now.

4. Obey without reservation. Don't question it.  Don't wait on four hundred confirmations.  Obey with abandonment.  Your obedience opens channels of blessings from the Throne.

5. Thank Him for His faithfulness.  Reflect on His work in your life.  Tell your children about how God worked in your life.  Tell your church.  Tell your co-workers.  Give Him the glory for the great things He has done in your life.

The Lord Himself will fight for you.  Just stay calm.

--Jayme