Our pastor has spent the last two Sunday nights preaching from James. His message was entitled "Living Faith in a Dying World." He was encouraging everyone to live faithfully through trials. I must confess, as I listened to the message, I was thinking, "I don't need this message. I haven't ever really gone through a trial. I know people with cancer and broken relationships and family issues, but I don't have any of those." But boy, I was wrong. I have come to realize that pretty much anything in your life that you struggle with can be classified as a trial. I have been going through some things lately that I have really been struggling with. I have been extremely stubborn in listening to the Lord, and I have been unwilling to submit to His authority. A.W. Tozer says, "The voice of God is a friendly voice. No one need fear to listen to it unless he has already made up his mind to resist it." Honestly, I had pretty much made up my mind to resist it. I didn't want to be joyful. I wanted everyone to know that I was miserable so that they would feel sorry for me.
But my attitude changed after cross country practice last night. We had had a kinda hard practice. By the time we finished our sprints, I thought I was gonna die. But I persevered through it and by the time we finished our core exercises I felt great. I forgot how hard it was and how much it hurt because the triumph of finishing strong was one of the most amazing feelings in the world. Then I stopped to think. If I can persevere through practice with only my strong will and determination to get me through, then why can't I persevere through these trials when I have God to help me?
So, with God's help, I will be going though this trial with a smile on my face and a determined spirit.
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