Skip to main content

Trials

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. (James 1:2-3)

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? (James 2:16)
          Don’t you hate it when people who see that you’re facing a hard time quote verses like these? I especially hate it because it feel to me as though the person is using them as a “Get out of jail free” card. They’ve said the magic words and now they can walk away, not get involved, and pat themselves on the back for having done their good deed of the day.
         We’ve all got busy lives, I know. You may not have the time or the energy to spend the next six days helping this person in front of you with their nine-thousand-four-hundred-and-thirteenth crisis of the month. But to use these verses as the “Christian” equivalent of “Don’t worry, be happy” is unloving and un-Christian, as the passage in James makes clear.
          I know some people who get mad when someone says that their prayers and thoughts are with someone who has gone through something tragic. They are so busy complaining, criticizing, and condemning those who offer platitudes (and patting themselves on the back for their good deed of having corrected that “moron”) that they do nothing to help the victim, either. That makes them twice as bad because they’re exploiting the victim as a means of attacking the platituder. 
          No, “prayers and thoughts” may not provide immediate or complete relief, but I believe God answers prayers, and thoughts sometimes lead to ideas. That’s more than those who spend all their time mocking the prayers and thinkers accomplish. Neither side gets it right. We all need to do more to actually help the person who needs it.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...