All of us are faced with the task of turning challenges into opportunities throughout our lives.

Thursday, September 17th, 2009

James 1:2-4…My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
There is unrest in our nation and in the world at present….. economic unrest, educational unrest, political unrest ,civil unrest and even unrest in the church. These kinds of times create confusion and a perception of doom and gloom, with no hope, and fosters a feeling of urgency for somebody to do something….It reminds me of a line in the movie “The American President” when the actor Michael J. Fox says (not exactly) “Mr. President, In the absence of true leadership, the people will listen to anyone who is speaking” In these kinds of times it is easy to make quick decisions that can be emotionally driven…..or listen to whoever is speaking. Relax….be still and know….Ps 46:10… Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! ….The LORD of hosts is with us;…. As Christians, let’s listen first and foremost to what God says…..and to what Godly men and women are saying…..  We should pray for our leaders and ask God to keep them as true leaders….Whether our government leadership chooses to acknowledges it or not, this is a Christian nation and the church of Jesus Christ is the hub of the family that shapes the spokes of each societal pillar.  One of the biggest mistakes believers can make is to be premature in judgments, decisions and actions.  Anything premature is incomplete, imperfect and will struggle because of something missing or something lacking.  As a believer, our denominator is always faith, and God has a plan to use our faith to mature us into a place where our judgments, decisions, and actions are not impaired by immaturity, and our discernment is not diluted by emotion. When our challenges are divided into our faith it always matures us….and a mature believer will make good decisions…. and good decisions will perfect your work and when your work is perfected, you wont be missing anything, lacking anything or looking for something to complete you…So relax! That’s why James could make such a bold declaration about the joy of the trial. The word for you today is: Patience