Faith’s true colors
September 28, 2007
By Jerry Scott
I felt a lot of heartache during a recent day of ministry as my friend Joe was having surgery to determine the extent of his colon cancer. I called his daughter to pray with her and found myself in tears as we talked to the Lord about her dad.
Another couple e-mailed to tell me that despite our fervent and hopeful prayers, they were not pregnant. I cried again, I think as much in frustration with the apparent silence of God in that situation as over disappointment.
Another call came telling me of a man who is compounding his pain with one bad decision piled on another. I cried again, saddened by his blindness, praying for God’s light to dawn on him.
By noontime I got in my car and drove away from the church thinking, No more tears today. But those who were suffering went with me, carried in my mind and heart. I remained prayerfully brokenhearted for much of the day. Is that a bad thing? Not really.
Providentially, my study of Scripture that day spoke to those concerns directly.
“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors” (James 1:2,3, The Message).
That is quite true! Several times during that morning my heart became so heavy for those I love that I pushed away from my desk to walk into the hallway and breath a prayer; more like a sigh really. Yes, indeed, my faith-life was forced into the open, my dependence on the Lord more obvious. The demand for prayer persisted even into the wee hours of the next morning when I spent time with the Lord, called from sleep by the urgency of lifting to Him those who suffer.
We’re so enthralled with the beautiful, the whole, and the happy we sometimes close our eyes to the presence of the disfigured, the broken, and the sad. “Don’t worry, be happy!” goes the catchy tune that describes what many want as the ideal life — one with unclouded skies and endless laughter. But the Bible reminds us God can help us become kinder, gentler and more loving people if we let ourselves be touched by true need.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not asking for cancer, nor am I romanticizing the pain of deformity or sickness! But I believe the Bible teaches suffering plays a role in pulling me to Christ, in making me a better person than I likely would be if I never encountered a tough situation or shed a tear.
Beware of those who claim Jesus Christ exempts the faithful from all sadness. Reject the twisted doctrine that teaches with enough faith you can erase all disappointment, claim your prosperity, and make God do your bidding! He is God; we are not. His ways are higher than our ways.
Yes, we work to build His kingdom and defeat the curse of sin and suffering through Christ Jesus. But along the way to heaven we will encounter plenty of pain, and God will use it to mature us, to grow us deep in faith, and to release His grace into our lives.
In the end, those trials will make something beautiful of our lives beyond what we could ever be apart from God’s grace at work transforming us during hardship. A broken heart can be like a prism that breaks white light into a rainbow of brilliant colors. As the light of Christ shines through us we will refract the colors of faith before our world.
Here’s a word from the Word for your thoughts today:
“ ‘God opposes the proud but favors the humble.’ So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor” (James 4:6-10, NLT).
Jerry D. Scott is senior pastor of Washington (N.J.) Assembly of God.
“As Christians, we do not need to fear God’s judgment as condemnation, for we are saved by His grace through faith in Christ, and not by our works (Ephesians 2:8,9). We are saved, however, ‘to do good works’ (Ephesians 2:10). Our works will be tested.”
“Q&A: Will Christians Experience God’s Judgment?” Stephen Lim
Today’s Pentecostal Evangel, September 23, 2007
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