Brethren,
Christ once
said, “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have trouble, but take
heart. I have overcome the world.”
That verse used to scare me. I used to not have much trouble. I thought, ‘Does Christ want me to seek out
trouble?’ I was thinking that my life
was too easy and simple. I never was
arrested for my faith. I hadn’t even
given all that I had. I never fed or
visited the least of these in prison. I
never needed saving from the den of lions or the fiery furnace because I was
never worth throwing into a den or a furnace in the first place.
Why do I
feel like such a bad Christian when I feel good? Am I a bad Christian when I feel good? The brother of my brother (how am I related
to James), my brother in the Lord, once said, “Consider it pure joy when you
face trials of many kinds because you know that testing of your faith produces
perseverance. Let perseverance finish its
work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” Those are the kind of passages that make me
think about punching the devil in the nose.
It makes me want to make my life a Rocky-like montage of acts of faith
and service. They make me think that if
my life isn’t difficult then I must be doing something wrong.
But like I
said that verse used to scare me because my life didn’t feel too troubled. Now that verse scares me because I have
trouble, but I’m not sure the troubles are the right kind. Here I am, angry that my students at the
school I work at don’t have supportive parents and it’s quasi-difficult for me
to do anything to make them invest. Or
today my wife and I are having heart wrenching problems and I can’t help, but
suspect that the troubles this world was supposed to have are being drowned out
by the one’s it actually has.
But then I
remember what God cares most about. It’s
relationship. He sent his one and only
son so that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have ever lasting
life. He sent his son to save the church
and exist in community forever. He
created the church to model the communion of saints. He cares about relationships.
So I know that
my students and my wife ARE the troubles he cares about. I know that God CARES about these things. I know that God wants me to take heart because
He has overcome the world. I know that GOD
wants me to consider these trials pure joy. This IS how I punch the devil in the nose; by being as supportive of
these kids as I can and working through the difficult times with my wife
because it produces perseverance. I know
that perseverance can make me mature and complete. And it still scares me, but
one day I might not lack anything.
