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Manna for the Journey

With all the love that is possible in and through Jesus, I greet you with our first “Joy in the Journey”of 2010. I am well into my second year of my pastorate with you all, and I hope that you will know, and always know, how much you are loved by your pastor. We begin a new year, but I also understand there are a good many circumstances that continue to carry over from the previous year. Most of these situations and circumstances are ones that would have been better to have left in 2009, but nonetheless they still linger. There is always hope and great expectation at the beginning of a new year, but how is Hope and a positive outlook to blossom when relational issues, medical issues, financial woes, and anxieties beyond number continue to show their nasty head on a day to day basis?

For this letter of my love to you all, I wish to dwell for a few moments on the part of our relationship with God that is not often our favorite; TRIALS. I have to be honest, that every time I come across the beginning of the Apostle James’ letter, I feel like I begin to flinch as I come to verse 2 and following:

(James 1:2-4) ²Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. ³For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. ⁴So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.

“Let it be an opportunity for Joy?” Really? Are you kidding me? Joy in the face of pain? Joy in the face of sorrow? Joy in the face of the unknown? Joy in the face of fear? What is the payoff James? James says, “When your faith is tested, your endurance is fully developed, and has a chance to grow.” He adds this truth by adding some icing to the cake of trials by saying, “When your endurance matures and grows, you will become a person that is strong in character and ready for anything.” So is the core of my joy in trials all about me becoming more of a virtuous person of character? I do not believe it is just that. In fact I do not think that it is that at all. The character and virtuous nature of endurance is a by-product of something else; Faith and Trust.

What do I mean? Well, God is not necessarily interested in producing a people that appear to be persevering enduring pillars of strength in themselves. No, God is always more interested in our personal one on one relationship with Him. The Bible is His letter of Love to us and his rescue plan of restoring to Himself His children. The Bible is not a rule book of do’s and don’ts to be used all for the sake of producing people of virtue. No, God is relational and the core of everything He says and does is about relationship. So to understand James’ joy in the face of trials, one needs to think about the relational aspect of this.

As the great Hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” implies of the believer “Prone to wander, Prone to Leave the God I love.” Imagine how much you or I would really pursue God if everything in our life worked perfectly. Imagine how much you would actually NEED God if your life was marked by all of the blessings you want in life. I am not sure about you, but my heart would probably do more than wander…it may even forget about God and pursue the “good life.” My wandering would probably happen with out notice.

I came across an incredible passage the other morning from the prophet Zechariah. The context of the passage was about God redeeming His people by His fountain of cleansing, and for His people to be identified with His shepherd. Of His special people God says through the prophet:

(Zechariah 13:9) ⁹I will bring that group through the fire and make them pure, just as gold and silver are refined and purified by fire. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, 'These are my people,' and they will say, 'The LORD is our God.'"

Do you notice something in this verse? God the Father brings his special people (his children) through fire (trials) in order to make them pure and refined. Why? So that they may Call on His Name, and that He will answer them “These are my people” and we will say, “The Lord is our God” Wow…I sit in awe of such a passage. Silently I ponder this passage and I think of my life, and yours. God is the one that orchestrates all of life. All of the ups and downs and yes, even the trials. But for what purpose? …..So that we may call on the name of the Lord and He will say, “These are my people, and we will say “He is our God.” My dear, dear family, we grow through our pain, and the turning and crying out to Him.

It seems a strange way to grow in our love and trust of him, but endurance and character manifest themselves in the backdrop of the trial, because through each painful trial He again and again proves Himself to be faithful, and our personal Father and God. James and the other Apostles knew of pain and trial so well. Some of the great “saints” of church history also new pain and trials, and one thing seems to be consistent in each of their lives, they had such a deep and tangible love relationship with God because of the pain that God proved to be faithful in and through their lives. My friends, I wish I had all the answers for each of you in your trial and season of pain, but I do not. I pray this letter is of great encouragement to you that in turn will lead you even more deeply into the arms of the Father that loves you so much. I leave you with the comforting words of God through the prophet Isaiah:

(Isaiah 43:1-2; 4,5) "Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. ²When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you…you are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you. ⁵"Do not be afraid, for I am with you.

My Love to you all in the journey and trials of your life, and may His Love and Peace be with You.

-Bro. Brandon