Well, it’s been a while, but I’m back again. I hadn’t realised that two months could go so quickly—you’d think I might be used to that sort of thing by now! My theory is this: the reason each year feels shorter than the last is that with each new year there are more years past to which we can compare it. To this year I will have 19 others to compare. Every year becomes a smaller fraction of our life.
You’d think we would have stopped getting so surprised.
What’s new?
At the time of writing, a very significant change has taken place in my life. By God’s grace, it’s one that he’s helped to guide. I’ve entered into a relationship with a girl who is very dear to me, and the future seems to be staring at me whilst screaming at the top of its lungs, “Opportunity!” There are (at least) two feelings that I’ve never felt before that define me at the moment: enormous untapped opportunity, and the fear I’ll make entirely the wrong decision. I believe both of these find their genesis and resolution at the hand of the Lord my God.
So I’m asking a few questions.
“Where to next?” There have never been so many things that I’ve wanted to do all at once—go to America, live and work in the big city, be a software developer for a revolutionary company, start my own revolutionary company, find out what it’s like to live away from home and support myself, do something that will grow God’s kingdom. The more I think about these things and encounter new opportunities that I can be passionate about, the less idea I have of what I will one day do and where I will one day be.
“Is it wrong to want this?” With all of this in mind, the reality of God’s will for my life becomes of ever-increasing import. I firmly believe that God is placing these desires within my heart, expanding my mind, and giving me a glimpse of what he has in store for my life. Will all of this come to pass? Maybe yes, maybe no. Like Joseph, God places desires within each of us, but it is not by our own strength that the come to pass—it is through faithful obedience.
But all of this hope I have does not stop the fact that it is a hard road to get to where God wants me to be. When we’re stressed or worried it is so easy to lose sight of the goal and become fixated on the trial at hand.
So. That James guy, huh?
And then we read something like this: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds” (Jam 1:2). I have heard many Christians give mental assent to this statement (I mean, it’s in the Bible, so we have to agree with it, right?), but by their manner they betray that the trial brings them no joy whatsoever. What was James thinking when he wrote this? Unfortunately this statement is usually taken by itself, but in fact the sentence doesn’t end there: “…because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” My point is that it’s not the trial we should have joy in—that’s completely ludicrous. No one in their right mind enjoys pain and testing. It is what lies beyond the trial that gives us joy!
I feel quite a bit of unrest at the moment about university, about work and about church responsibilities, but I thank God for the trials he puts me through, because I come out more like him at the other side. In the last 18 months of my life I have known more growth in my walk with God than in the rest of my life combined, and that’s because I’ve made the decision to trust him in every situation and to obey without doubt and without compromise. I’m not perfect—I fail these trials quite regularly. But I choose to have faith in the Lord’s promises, so that “the testing of [my] faith produces perseverance.”
James knew what he was talking about.
What on earth is wrong with James?
Well, it’s been a while, but I’m back again. I hadn’t realised that two months could go so quickly—you’d think I might be used to that sort of thing by now! My theory is this: the reason each year feels shorter than the last is that with each new year there are more years past to which we can compare it. To this year I will have 19 others to compare. Every year becomes a smaller fraction of our life.
You’d think we would have stopped getting so surprised.
What’s new?
At the time of writing, a very significant change has taken place in my life. By God’s grace, it’s one that he’s helped to guide. I’ve entered into a relationship with a girl who is very dear to me, and the future seems to be staring at me whilst screaming at the top of its lungs, “Opportunity!” There are (at least) two feelings that I’ve never felt before that define me at the moment: enormous untapped opportunity, and the fear I’ll make entirely the wrong decision. I believe both of these find their genesis and resolution at the hand of the Lord my God.
So I’m asking a few questions.
“Where to next?” There have never been so many things that I’ve wanted to do all at once—go to America, live and work in the big city, be a software developer for a revolutionary company, start my own revolutionary company, find out what it’s like to live away from home and support myself, do something that will grow God’s kingdom. The more I think about these things and encounter new opportunities that I can be passionate about, the less idea I have of what I will one day do and where I will one day be.
“Is it wrong to want this?” With all of this in mind, the reality of God’s will for my life becomes of ever-increasing import. I firmly believe that God is placing these desires within my heart, expanding my mind, and giving me a glimpse of what he has in store for my life. Will all of this come to pass? Maybe yes, maybe no. Like Joseph, God places desires within each of us, but it is not by our own strength that the come to pass—it is through faithful obedience.
But all of this hope I have does not stop the fact that it is a hard road to get to where God wants me to be. When we’re stressed or worried it is so easy to lose sight of the goal and become fixated on the trial at hand.
So. That James guy, huh?
And then we read something like this: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds” (Jam 1:2). I have heard many Christians give mental assent to this statement (I mean, it’s in the Bible, so we have to agree with it, right?), but by their manner they betray that the trial brings them no joy whatsoever. What was James thinking when he wrote this? Unfortunately this statement is usually taken by itself, but in fact the sentence doesn’t end there: “…because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” My point is that it’s not the trial we should have joy in—that’s completely ludicrous. No one in their right mind enjoys pain and testing. It is what lies beyond the trial that gives us joy!
I feel quite a bit of unrest at the moment about university, about work and about church responsibilities, but I thank God for the trials he puts me through, because I come out more like him at the other side. In the last 18 months of my life I have known more growth in my walk with God than in the rest of my life combined, and that’s because I’ve made the decision to trust him in every situation and to obey without doubt and without compromise. I’m not perfect—I fail these trials quite regularly. But I choose to have faith in the Lord’s promises, so that “the testing of [my] faith produces perseverance.”
James knew what he was talking about.