Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
God, for mine, and all reader's sakes, let these be Your Words and not mine. I beg you, for i am small sinful man, but You are the Holy God. Your Words are what we seek God, please let them flow into us like sweet water.
There have already been a couple blog post on this Scripture, and many other references in the others. But I haven't thought of it the way that God revealed a few days ago. Going through it word by word and thinking about the mindset behind it. It gets insane.
To start, the first word is "Consider." To consider something, in this case, is to adopt the idea or mindset of what is presented. So there is a mindset to adopt now. What is that mindset? That it is "Pure Joy" to go through trials. In the past I've described Joy as an understanding that we are broken beings living broken lives, but do not have to dwell in that because our Lord Jesus Christ died for us and gave us a future. But the new part God pointed out more was the word before it, Pure. Something that is Pure is the essence of something, the definition of it. So "Pure Joy" is the absolute version of Joy that cannot be denied. So we need to have a mindset of Pure Joy. But when?
"Trials of many kinds." Trials can be anything in this case, small things that annoy us and make us lose patience, or they can be major life altering events that bring us to our breaking points and shake us to the core. They can become very destructive very quickly. But only if the mindset of pure Joy is not there. To have a mindset of pure Joy in trials sounded hard before, but now it looks almost impossible. To have a true mindset of Joy is to be able to recognize the price Jesus Christ paid for us to save us in all situations. I have found it easier to see Jesus in the big things, but not the little things. I have been guilty of being quick to anger over the little things in the day. It feels easy because they are little things that we think won't affect us later. But the thing is that they affect us just as much as the big things over time. The thing about having Joy in trials is that it is us turning to God when we can't do something on our own. It's us turning to Him remembering what He did for us with a desire to live a life worthy of the calling we have received (Eph. 4:1). That is how we pass the test. Because, as the passage says, every trial is a test. If we pass that test then it brings us just that much closer to God.
Have you noticed that if you go through a major trial in life by relying on God, you grow closer to Him and your life is changed with Him? Every time we turn to Him in a trial, big or small, we grow closer to Him. The more we do so, the more natural it becomes to do so in similar trials. This natural turning to Him when our nature is pulling in the other direction is perseverance. Our persevering in life through trials brings us closer to God and changes us more and more in Him. Eventually though there will always be a trial that brings us to the brink. Even though God never lets anything happen to us that we can't get through by relying on Him, there is still the part where we have to turn and rely on Him. This can either be easy or hard. If we aren't used to turning to Him in other trials, then guaranteed, it won't be easy to turn to Him in that big trial. This is why it is so important to take these small trials and rely on God and grow the relationship and faith in Him. The lack of perseverance can end up costing us our relationship with Him. Anyone who thinks they are immune to losing that is a fool. We are all susceptible to breaking that bond. I've known people who did after having such a deep relationship with God, and I myself almost did so as well. The small tests are just as important as the big ones.
The more we persevere in God, the closer we are to Him. When we are close to Him, we are changed into a new creation that is constantly growing. When perseverance finishes this work we are made mature and complete, we do not lack anything. We do not lack, because we have put everything in Jesus Christ, who is our everything. So we must have Joy in the big trials and the small trials, so that we can pass the tests, and become complete.
This post was written with my next trial in mind, a jaw realignment surgery 3 days from now. I've been nervous about the pain and the mental strain I'll be under, but this Scripture helped me as it always has by God's power ever since He first brought it to me four and a half years ago. So I will face this trial with a reliance on God in Pure Joy thanks to His Mercy and Love. There will not be any blog posts for 2-4 weeks depending on my recovery rate, but prayers would be appreciated. Thank you, and find Joy in all times.
Thank You For Reading
Long Live Jesus Christ
Amen
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