In a few weeks, we are going to begin to study the book of James at LWC.  James wrote, “When troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.”  James 1:2 NLT.  I’m sorry, but, “Are you kidding??”  God is asking us to be joyful about troubles.  Is that even humanly possible?

And the answer is… no, it is not humanly possible.  But, it is Divinely possible.   With God, all things are possible.

God is not calling us to have a happy, emotionally joyful response to trials.  Rather, He wants us to view troubles as a means for moral and spiritual growth.  So we do not rejoice in the trials themselves but in their possible results.  He calls us to look at life’s troubles, from His perspective, and not just our own limited one.  And in His perspective, He is working all things together for good.  We can trust Him.  He is faithful.  He hasn’t forgotten us.  And we can have joy, even when life spirals out of control, because He is in control of all things.

One of my goals as a parent is to train my boys to take personal responsibility for their actions.  Admitting mistakes is never easy (it requires humility).  There is something within each of us that wants to defend “self” and cover our tracks so that we can cast off blame.  The root of this is of course pride.

Humility admits mistakes, takes ownership of failures, and works to learn to make better choices.  I have found that I have learned a whole lot more from my mistakes than my successes.  It is when I fail, own up to my actions, that I see true growth occur in my heart.  It is when I fail, that I find myself draw near to Jesus and cry out to him for forgiveness and acceptance.  God never called us to be perfect.  He called to be complete.  And it is in Jesus alone, walking with Him, loving Him, and knowing Him, where that completeness lies.  Yes, we want to live a life worthy of the calling of God on our lives.  But saints are the sinners who fall down and get up quickly.

“To the degree that success drives me to God, in that measure I can be trusted with success.”         (Bill Johnson)

“The disappointments of yesterday can keep us praying bold prayers today.” (Brady Boyd)

“God knew we were going to be messy before He created us.  Our struggles are not a big surprise.”  (Brady Boyd)

“One of the biggest gifts we can give ourselves is time alone with God.” (Joyce Meyer)

“There are two people we need in our lives—someone who can tell us no and someone who can tell us to move forward when we have stalled.”  (Brady Boyd)

“Learning from mistakes is slow and painful.  Learning from mentors is faster but it requires humility and teach-ability.”  (Rick Warren)

“Every saint has a past, every sinner has a future.”  (Rick Warren)

2 Corinthians 5:9-10 says, “Therefore we make it our aim…to be well pleasing to Him.”   In college, and since then, I have made it my aim, my goal, to please God.  It hasn’t always been easy, to say the least.  I have failed many times.  But I must choose daily, not to please myself, not to live selfishly, focused on my needs.  Additionally, I must not be a “people pleaser” looking for self-worth by trying to make everyone around me happy.  I heard a statement recently that impacted me.  It said, “I would rather disappoint people and please God, than please people and disappoint God.”

I wrote a note to myself this week and put it on my desk.  It simply said, ‘Think about the good things.’  While it is so easy to concentrate on the bad, I found that it takes some effort to focus on the good.

Scripture tells us (commands us actually) to give thanks in all things.  That doesn’t mean that we are to give thanks for all things.  But rather, in spite of all things, we can still give thanks.  This week I made a list for myself of things that I can (and should be) thankful to God for providing.  I want to live life focused on the good.  I want to be a thankful person.  I want to be a content person; not someone always longing for more.  1 Timothy 6:6, “But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.”

Lord, give me gentleness beyond my personality;

give me wisdom beyond my years;

give me forgiveness beyond my strength;

give me loving-kindness beyond my emotions.

I find that it is so easy to react to “things” based on my personality.  So in essence, my prayer is asking God to help me go beyond that which is my natural inclination.  For example, I have a strong, lion-type personality.  So, it is easy for me to speak with authority but it’s not so natural for me to speak with gentleness.  In my prayer, I am asking God to help me “go beyond” that which is natural.

You are different from me.  You have a different personality with different strengths and weaknesses.  So this prayer might not work for you.  But consider putting in your own “go beyond” phrases.  I want to be a person that is not ruled by my personality.  Nor, do I want to be ruled by my strengths, my weaknesses, or my natural inclinations.  My cry is that the Holy Spirit will reign in me.

But you know what, God likes to be in control too.  In fact, for Him it isn’t just a feeling, it’s a reality.  He is in control.  Sometimes I think He sits up in heaven amused by our vain attempts to control our circumstances.  He seems to let us go on for awhile, feeling like we’re in control.  Then often (for our own good) he throws in a curve ball.  And the test is this – how do we react?   Do we get angry at life’s troubles?  Do we get fearful?  Do we just pull up our boot straps and try to regain control?  We all react differently to hard circumstances.

When God allows life to get rocky, He is after something in us.  When we are “in control” we tend to trust in ourselves.  But, when life gets difficult, and we feel things are out of control, God wants us to surrender and just trust in Him.  Ps. 138:8 comforts me.  It says, “The Lord will work out His plans for my life—for Your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever.”

It seems like the enemy’s strategy is to attack us on both ends—on one hand, get us to remain silent.  Or on the opposite extreme, we can drown someone with the Gospel.  I have been guilty of both.

So what David said really impacted me.  He talked about how he simply lives his faith.  It’s the basis for everything He does.  For the customers he encounters on a daily basis, he prays for God to bring them to salvation.  He shows people kindness and mercy.  He acts justly.  He is a servant.  Ultimately, he just shows love and care for everyone he encounters.  He lives his faith by action and deed.

In a world dominated by self-love and selfishness, people are starving for love.  David’s life exudes joy and peace.  He is kind and considerate.  As he cares for those around him, people keep wondering what is different about him.  And ultimately, they want what he has—hope in a Savior.  “They will know that we are Christians by our love.”  Live your faith.

“It’s all about You, Jesus.  And all this is for You,
for Your glory and Your fame.
It’s not about me, as if You should do things my way.
You alone are God and I surrender to Your ways.”

I feel like I have a new awareness in my life that everything I do needs to be centered around Jesus.  As I live this way, I find so much comfort.  Comfort because when I feel like my hard work and endeavors don’t quite meet the mark, I have comfort because all of this isn’t about me anyway.  I am not here to promote myself, my church, my ministry, my (fill in the blank).  I am here to bring glory and fame to my Lord.

And as I surrender to Him, He becomes in charge of everything.  He is in the driver’s seat; and though He uses me as a willing vessel, the results of my labor are ultimately His responsibility and not my own.  Colossians 1:16-17 says, “All things have been created through Him and for Him.  He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”   It’s all about Jesus.  I surrender to His ways.

The last thing I want for my life is to live in such a way where God is opposed to me, against me.  So how do I humble myself before God’s mighty hand?  Rick Warren said this week that we don’t grow in humility by trying to be humble.  That statement struck me, because I have been guilty of that very thing.  And all it does is make me self-focused.  So how do we grow in humility?   Interestingly enough, Brady Boyd addressed this topic this week as well.  He said, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking about yourself less.”   Wow!

When we walk in humility we shift our focus off of ourselves and begin to focus on the greatness of our God.  We don’t focus on our inadequacies, but on God’s provision.  Then we can truly cast our cares upon Him, knowing that He cares for us.  And once this happens, then instead of being so concerned about ourselves, we can serve and be a blessing to others.  This is walking in humility.