Day 2

James 1:2-5

It seems that in order to gain anything of value, something HAS to be lost. The more valuable the thing to be gained, the greater the amount that must be lost. IF you have something that I want, whether it is for sale or not, I will attempt to make a deal with you to give you some amount of money that will convince you to give that thing to me. Because in order to gain anything of value, something has to be lost. In some situations, in order to gain the benefit of a resource, it must be destroyed. This happens when we consume food. It is part of the process. I remember growing up that I felt good when I looked in the fridge or in the cupboard and saw that they were full. But how many know that a full cupboard is of no use to a hungry belly. It’s filled with potential. But if we never open a can, or a box, our hunger will not be satiated. It’s not enough just to have the resource, but in order for us to gain the benefit of the resource, that resource has to be destroyed.

For example, if you want heat from your fireplace, you have to destroy wood. Just putting the wood in the fireplace will not produce heat for you. Having the wood nicely stacked make look good, but you will freeze unless you light a match and burn that wood.

Now consider that you are the resource, you have the potential to feed, or to give warmth to someone else, but in order for that potential to be reached, you’re going to have to give up something. You may need to be burned, you may need to be broken, you may need to be crushed, you may need to be poured out, you may need to be shaken, you may need to be pressed down. What ever God needs to do to you in order to get the potential out, He will do it! 

That’s why James tells us to rejoice. Romans lets us know that tribulations come for a specific purpose to point us to hope. James’ message to the people all over the Jewish diaspora is there is still hope especially in tough times. Family not working right, keep looking up. Job not treating you right? Keep looking up. It’s the hope that is born from within that allows us to have joy in the midst of what others would call pain. At my house, we call them faith building opportunities.

In order to count earthly afflictions joy, we have to be able to take into account the future. Sometimes a Christian’s hope for heaven is ridiculed in our day. The lost mock those whose lives are characterized by hope. But sometimes this is all we have. When our lives are filled with sorrow and grief, we must be able to look to the future—to heaven—to find the joy that can soothe our troubled souls. Our joy must be based on looking to God and to the inheritance we will receive in heaven. This is exactly what Jesus did. He was able to endure the cross because of the joy that was set before Him (Heb. 12:2). We, too, must realize that the suffering we endure in this life cannot compare with the joy that is laid up for us in heaven.

Prayer focus