When you fall into various trials ... (Jam. 1:2-4)

By -
I have fallen into various trials over the past month:
  • Three weeks ago my wife's post-op pain got out of control and she was hospitalized for 2 days..
  • Five days later all five members of my immediate family, myself included, plus my father-in-law, got food poisoning and we were vomiting in turns and simultaneously over a period of 12 hours.
  • Four days later my wife reacts horribly to a medicine prescribed by her gynecologist--burning in the chest, then overwhelming nausea, then overwhelming irrational fear, then return to normal, to be repeated every 30-40 minutes for the next 24-36 hours.
  • Another four days and another medicine is prescribed to which she reacts even more violently and that puts her in the hospital for three days. (She does not tolerate SSRI or SNRI meds!)
The results of all the above plus the stress of the surgery and a long list of other stressors preceding the surgery: her adrenal glands appear to have gone haywire, messing with her ability to sleep, putting her out of commission for a while as she attempts to rest enough to recover. That placed her care and the care of our three boys on my plate: all summer projects out the window!

I think that qualifies for James' "various trials." And regarding all such trials he commands, "Count it all joy!"

James' command raises a host of questions: What is joy? What is "all joy?" What does it mean to "count" it all joy? Why should we count falling into various trials all joy? And how do you do that?

In this and the (hopefully) following posts I'm going to try to answer these questions. But a little background first. I first worked on this passage back in 1992 for second year Greek exegesis project. I've preached this passage probably more than I've preached any other passage in Scripture. And, since 2002 I've been requiring my Advanced Homiletics students to preach this passage. So I've heard it preached, both well and poorly, quite a bit!

All that to say, I've been mulling this one over for a long time. As the Lord takes me through deeper waters, I have found this passage to be unshakable bedrock. My appreciation for its profundity only grows as I face more difficult trials.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Pursue Peace and Holiness (Heb. 12:14)

By -
Hebrews 12:14 says, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” To know how to follow peace and holiness, we need to understand several things about this verse: (1) what it means to “follow,” (2) what peace is, (3) what holiness means in this context, and (4) how Hebrews 12:14 ties into the previous thirteen verses of chapter 12. Although the verb “follow” sounds passive and lackadaisical, that is the opposite of its actual meaning. The Greek word translated “follow” means “to seek or pursue aggressively.” In other words, this verse teaches us that we must be passionate and fervent in our pursuit of both peace and holiness. The word “peace” refers to a state of harmony and tranquility in one’s relationships. Negatively, peace is a relational state in which there is no unresolved conflict or trouble. Notice that the writer of Hebrews said to pursue peace “with all men.” It might sound odd, but God wants us to be aggressive pursuers of peace in...
Read more

Remove not the ancient landmark ... what does that mean?

By -
KJV   Proverbs 22:28 Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set. What were the “ancient landmarks?” and why weren’t they to be moved? I have on various occasions read or heard this text referenced when talking about traditional practices created by the fathers of a particular group of people. The context in which this phrase is referenced generally is admonishing people not to make changes to such traditional practices. For example, Nathan Bangs in 1850 speaks of the Methodist Episcopal Church’s “ancient landmarks” of “doctrine, discipline, or practical piety.” Similarly, I find a sermon published in 1886 in which the “ancient landmarks” were “noble patriotism, religion, and learning.” As recently as this semester, a college student asked me, “But what about the verse that says we aren’t to remove the ancient landmarks?” He had heard that verse quoted often in defense of the traditional lifestyle practices of his background. A quick look at a dict...
Read more

Hebrews 12:14 - Holiness or Hell?

By -
Hebrews 12:14 says, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” Some have concluded that this verse teaches one must be entirely sanctified to make it to heaven (e.g., Creffield , Godbey ). There are several things to consider in determinin what this passage is teaching: (1) the relationship between the word “holiness” in Hebrews 12:14 and NT Greek; (2) what the words “holiness” and “sanctification” mean in the NT; and (3) the relationship between regeneration and sanctification. The Greek word translated “holiness” in Hebrew 12:14 is hagiasmos (ha-gee-oz-móss). This word occurs ten times in the NT (Rom. 6:19, 22; 1 Cor. 1:30; 1 Thess. 4:3, 4, 7; 2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Tim. 2:15; Heb. 12:14; 1 Pet. 1:2). Hagiasmos normally means “the condition of moral purity that results from being or living separated unto God from all that is sinful.” In 2 Thessalonians 2:13 and 1 Peter 1:2 it means “the act of separating someone unto God from all that is sinful ...
Read more