On the night before he died, in the Garden of Gethsemane our Lord pled with the Father, “If it is possible, let this cup pass from me.” Jesus pled with the Father to make a way so that he would not have to go to the cross. God said, “no.” God refused to rescue Jesus from the suffering he would endure. Many times, our God refuses to rescue US from the painful difficulties and trials he has ordained for us. Why? For the same reason he didn’t rescue Jesus. This episode examines this reason, which points to God’s purpose for us. Better understanding that purpose can draw us TO God when his path takes us through daily difficulties, instead of pushing us AWAY FROM him.
The way Jesus poured out his feelings to his Heavenly Father is a model for the way we need to honestly take our feelings to God, especially when it hurts, or we are afraid. Stuffing our feelings may seem macho, but in contrast, the godly manhood displayed by Jesus was honesty with God about what he was feeling. It is also an example to us of the way, God sometimes says, “no,” to our prayers. God knew it was better for Jesus, his beloved son, to endure the agony of the cross. Paul tells us that the final step of going to the cross was to complete Jesus’ obedience to the Father. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Phil 2:8).
Last week, our podcast closed by reminding us of the familiar promise of God, in Romans 8:28, which is based upon God’s goodness. We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his PURPOSE. But we can’t understand how painful trials and daily difficulties can possibly be for our good unless we know God’s PURPOSE for our lives. That purpose is revealed in 1 Thes 4:3, God’s will is to make you holy. God’s plan is to restore his covenant people to godliness. The promise of Romans 8:28—that all things work together for our good—can only be understood by continuing to the next verse, Romans 8:29. There, we find out that God’s PURPOSE is to conform us to the image of Christ—to become Christ-like in character. This purpose is the reason this podcast defines our calling as not only TO Christ and TO EXERCISE DOMION for Christ, but TO BECOME LIKE CHRIST.
There is one book of the Bible that is one hundred percent devoted to teaching us how to be like Jesus. It was written by the one biblical author who knew Jesus far better than any other writer. This writer watched Jesus live out righteousness 24/7 365 days a year for probably 25 years. The author is James, the brother of Jesus. With the exception of Jesus’ mother, Mary, no one could tell us more about being like Jesus than James—who ate at the same table, slept under the same roof, and watched perfection in the flesh, while sitting in his own house. Though James does not give us the theology behind that lifestyle we are called to live, Paul tells us that we can become more and more like Jesus through the Holy Spirit’s work in us producing the fruit of godly character like love, joy, peace, patience, etc. So, let’s turn to James 1:1-4.
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings. Consider it pure joy, my brothers 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.
Interestingly, the first issue James addresses in his book about being like Jesus is how to handle everyday difficulties and trials. Perhaps that was because his letter is addressed to Hebrew Christians who had been dispersed, fleeing persecution. But still—the very first thing! Could it be that when James thought about what it meant to be like his brother, Jesus, the very first thing James thought about was the way Jesus responded to everyday difficulties. And notice the impossibly high standard. James doesn’t just say, “stop complaining about difficulties.” He says, “count them joy.” I’m certain my sanctification is falling short of Christ’s standard all across my life. But I’m not sure I look less like Jesus anywhere in my life than in my attitude towards difficulties, frustration and trials. Count them joy?
My attitude is much more like Alexander’s in Judith Vorst’s, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. For example, when it came to eating lunch at school, Alexander explains: There were two cupcakes in Philip Parker’s lunch bag and Albert got a Hershey bar with almonds and Paul’s mother gave him a piece of jelly roll that had little coconut sprinkles on the top. Guess whose mother forgot to put in dessert? Things weren’t much better by dinner time. As Alexander continues: There were lima beans for dinner, and I hate limas. There was kissing on TV, and I hate kissing. My bath was too hot, I got soap in my eyes, my marble went down the drain, and I had to wear my rail-road train pajamas. I hate my railroad train pajamas. When I went to bed, Nick took back the pillow he said I could keep, and the Mickey Mouse night light burned out and I bit my tongue. The cat wants to sleep with Anthony, not me. It’s been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
I’m sure everyone listening to the podcast has had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. In fact, maybe you’ve had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year! Life in a fallen world is very trying—full of frustrations, irritations, disappointments, and people who don’t do what they are supposed to do—with the fall out often being on us! And it seems like it is in the midst of such trying days—that God lets other disasters come our way. Our natural response to the frustrations of life is anything but joy. So, let’s examine this command in detail.
A. Consider it pure joy. The Greek word, consider, is HEGEOMAI. At the root the word means to set the direction of your mind. It is used in Phil 2:3, “in humility count others more significant than yourselves” and 2:6 “(Christ) did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.” The word describes the process of choosing your perspective, deciding upon your attitude. So, the key to responding to trials, says James is choosing your attitude. This word reminds me of the quote from Vitor Frankl, mentioned two weeks ago that the last freedom a human has is to choose his attitude. Here is a profound secret about attitude: It results from choosing your perspective—HOW you see something. Author Elizabeth Elliot illustrated this truth, in a writing class I took from her. She said that in her first marriage she found herself irritated by her husband, Jim’s snoring (no cpap machines back then). Then Jim was killed. What she heard at night, then was awful silence. When she remarried, she said her husband’s snoring was a sweet, sweet sound in her ears! Perspective changes attitude. Same irritating snoring. Different attitude. Zig Ziggler illustrates this same principle: How you choose to view something totally changes your attitude. After a very draining morning, he was extremely anxious to get back home to Dallas. He barely made it to the airport on time. When he reached the head of the line, in his words,
The ticket agent looked at me, smiled, and said, “The three o’clock flight to Dallas has been canceled.” To this, I enthusiastically responded, “Fantastic!” When I said that, the ticket agent, with a puzzled look on her face asked, “Now why in the world would you say, ‘fantastic’ when I’ve just told you the three o’clock flight to Dallas has been canceled.” I smiled back at her and said, “Ma’am, there are only three reasons why anybody would cancel a flight to Dallas, TX. Number one, something must be wrong with that airplane; number two, something must be wrong with the person who is going to fly that airplane; number three, something must be wrong with the weather they’re going to fly that airplane in. Now Ma’am, if any one of those three situations exists, I don’t want to be up there. I want to be right down here. Fantastic.
Your perspective determines your attitude! And HOW you look at something is a choice! James is commanding us to look at our frustrations and trials from the right perspective, which he says brings joy. Can the right perspective actually turn something painful into something that is positive? YES. It happens all the time.
- Colon cancer runs in my family. Last time I went through a colonoscopy, the nurse was surprised that it didn’t bother me at all. Why not? This kind of procedure (proctoscope back then) found a tumor and saved my father’s life.
- The classic example. A woman (especially one who has had great difficulty getting pregnant) who must go through agony of childbirth—but whose pain is swallowed up by the joy of holding her baby.
- Anyone who works out who knows the pain of another rep or another mile when muscles are screaming “stop!” understands this principle. When I view pain from the perspective that it is helping me achieve my goals—I can become glad for the pain. In fact, there is even a part of us that sees overcoming the pain as a challenge.
B. That is the perspective that James tells us we need to have if we want to be like Jesus. In essence, James’ message in these three verses is, “You can even be joyful in the midst of trials when you remember their end result.” Consider it pure joy, my brothers whenever you face trials of many kinds, BECAUSE YOU KNOW THAT THE TESTING OF YOUR FAITH PRODUCES PERSEVERANCE. God wants us to not just show Christ-like character once in a while. His goal in every Christ-like quality he builds into us is perseverance in that attitude. Character is your characteristic attitude even under stress!
- God doesn’t just want us to love. He wants us to be able to keep loving when no love is returned, when we are hurt, when we’re spent from giving and giving to another.
- God doesn’t just want us to be patient with others, controlling our temper. He wants us to control our temper when everything has gone wrong all day and then someone does something that really ticks us off!
- God doesn’t just want us to respond to a trial with faith. He will keep testing and testing and testing our faith, because he wants a faith in us that will persevere.
How do you know God is working on your perseverance? That’s easy. You feel like quitting. You want to give up. You want to bail out. You feel so defeated you don’t want to try anymore. But, that is precisely the time NOT to quit! That is when God is really accomplishing his work in you. Persevere. Stay with it. Don’t give up. God will not test you beyond your ability to endure (I Cor 10:13). Relief will come in his perfect time. Remember: Quitting is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.
C. James continues in verse 4 telling us that it is only when God has repeatedly tested us and built into us the ability to persevere that he has achieved his ultimate goals for our lives: Vs 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. This is the GAIN that James says is WORTH the PAIN—that we become mature, that we become complete, that we are not deficient. Let’s look at each of these prizes that we win through persevering through God’s process for Christ-like character formation.
1. “So that you may be mature.” This word is also translated perfect or complete. The Greek word is TELEOS, which signifies an end accomplished. What is the chief end of man? As the WCF Shorter Catechism reminds us, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” These two purposes are accomplished by persevering through the trials that make us more Christ-like. First, the more Christ-like we become, the more we glorify God. “By this is my Father glorified,” said Jesus, “that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” (Jn 15:8). Second, trials and frustrations that bring out the true attitudes in our hearts make us dependent upon Christ more, driving us TO him for his strength. I’m told that a tree planted in a rain forest is never forced to extend its roots downward into the soil in search of water. Consequently, it remains poorly anchored and can be toppled easily by a windstorm. In contrast, a Mesquite tree lives in the harsh, dry desert. It can only survive by sending its roots deeper and deeper into the soil—sometimes as much as thirty feet deep! Like the Mesquite tree, adversity causes us to put our roots down deeply into the Lord who is the Vine. The deeper our roots go into the Lord, the richer our lives become. Reason #1 for choosing joy in trials is that only trials can bring about maturity.
2. Vs 4 continues, “So that you may be complete.” The Greek word used here is HOLOKLAROI, which means entire, perfect in every part. It is used of the animal that is fit to be offered to God as a sacrifice and of the priest, who is fit to offer that sacrifice. The overall idea is one who is pleasing to God. Reason #2 for choosing joy in trials is that they bring about the character that is even more like that of Jesus. Our heavenly father wants look into the attitudes of our hearts and see a reflection of His Son. We can give God that pleasure as we welcome the trials that make us more Christ-like.
3. The third goal mentioned in vs 4 is that we have no deficiency—not lacking anything. God does not want deficient followers of Christ. In context, the implication is that unless you have the ability to persevere in a godly attitude, you are deficient. What Jesus is saying is that if you can love in the face of unreturned love a little bit—but not persevere, you are a deficient follower of Christ. If you can get up early to meet God a few times but you can’t persevere to make it a habit—your self-control is deficient. If you can handle life usually with patience and inner tranquility, that’s good. But the real test is crisis—if you can’t trust Christ then, there is a deficiency in your character. This word, deficient, seems a bit derogatory, doesn't it? Perhaps that is exacltly the way it is intended—because most of us are motivated to overcome our deficiencies. The only way we can do that is to surrender to the process of experiencing frustration, trials and difficulties, building Christ-like character, and finding joy in the process.
What does Jesus’ unanswered prayer to be rescued from pain teach us? That God’s purpose is godly character. Even Jesus went through the most severe of trials to test his obedience to the Father. But James also seemed to know something else about Jesus that the author to the Hebrews also noted. Jesus, for the joy set before him, endured a cross. James teaches us that joy is an attitude that results from our perspective about what everyday difficulties and trials accomplish. He says, in essence:
--If you want more than anything for your life to glorify God,
--If what you really want in your life is to have your roots down deep in Christ and to walk intimately with him,
--If in response to God’s love for you, you most want to please him in every possible way,
--If you really want to overcome your deficiencies as a representative of Christ to others…the trials that test your faith and build your character will bring joy to you because these ultimate goals CAN BE REACHED NO OTHER WAY!
Consider it pure joy, my brothers 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 (James 1:2-4).
For Further Prayerful Thought:
- What are the chief obstacles that keep you from choosing to be positive about irritations and frustrations that God is using in your life to make you more Christ-like?
- Do you agree that your attitude is based upon your perspective? If so, what needs to change in our perspective about everyday difficulties, irritations and trials in order to view those positively?
- Verse 4 in James identifies four ultimate objectives that persevering through difficulties and trials accomplishes—better glorifying God, putting your roots deeper into Christ, pleasing Christ more, and becoming a better representative of Christ. Which of these four is most motivating to you?
