Introduction:
I slumped on my couch in front of my newly purchased (on installment) LCD TV and watched the news one night, as I munched a paper bag of caramel-coated pop corn, and alternately sipped a large mug of ice-cold cola placed on a coffee table to my right. Not a healthy habit, I know. On my screen was a Cruise Ship that got caught in a fierce storm in the Caribbean. All passengers were successfully airlifted to safety while the luxury ship was being laboriously maneuvered by few experts, obviously the captain and some of his trusted marine engineers. As the ship battles for her survival against nature’s fury, I noticed that on every gigantic wave that pokes her, the captain would maneuver the ship directly engaging the waves. After hours of bobbing on and off against the raging waves, the luxury ship survived with minor damages.
I think that life, even spiritual life, is like that. When fierce storms come crashing on us, it is not the time to retreat, withdraw or escape. We have a better chance to survive, let alone, succeed, if we do not give up. They say, “When the going gets tough, the tough gets going”. But I would rather exclaim, “When the going gets tough, the tough remains intact”.
Shall we read our text:
James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
James 1:3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
James 1:4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
James 1:12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
The word, “Perseverance” that the apostle James used in this passage is made up of two Greek words, “Hupo”, meaning “under or beneath” and “Meno”, meaning “remain or abide”. That would give us a established notion that to persevere in our circumstances is to literally “remain under the brunt of our situations” and learn what God is teaching us experientially. It is not time to reconsider an option, not a time to back away, and not a time to just pretend it is not happening. This is why I would firmly assert, “When the going gets tough, the tough remains intact”.
Proposition:
Nonetheless, we need to realize what lessons God is teaching us whenever we get stuck into difficult situations. During these times of fierce storms of life, I would suggest that:
1. It’s Time to Regroup.
2. It’s Time to Renew, and
3. It’s Time to Reload.
In the Pacific, this season is a season of monsoon rains and typhoons. But all year round, for all Christians, it is time for spiritual storms. When problems come rushing, battering us like a storm, we must realize that:
1. It’s TIME to REGROUP!
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.”
To regroup I would mean that we should calmly and objectively evaluate our situations. God has given us mental faculties. Reason is God’s gift to mankind. We have a reasoning power that far exceeds the reasoning faculties of any other creatures.
a. We must ALIGN our PRIORITIES
Many of the words of the Lord Jesus talk about priorities. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength”. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you”. Read through the gospels, and you’ll discover numbers of verses with similar tone. If you are facing a difficult situation, battered by recurring problems, weighed down by burdens almost impossible to bear… align your priorities with God’s prescribed ones.
b. We must ARRANGE our PERSPECTIVES
Often we view our difficult circumstances as repercussions of our past wrongdoings. Well, unfortunately sometimes they really are. But look a little farther ahead. They are meant to make us a better person, provided that we learn from them. We may not get materially compensated in going through those times, but surely hard times would develop our character. Our text says, “The testing of your faith develops perseverance”.
Illustration:
Years ago, some amateur psychologists interviewed the medalists in any principle of sports. They were surprised, to a point close to confusion, to discover that most of the Bronze medalists are much happier than the Silver medalists. We all know very well that Silver medalists are the Second Placers, whereas, the Bronze medalists are the Third placers, lower than the Silver medalists. But these amateur psychologists can explain their find rationally. The Bronze medalists are happy because they won their last match, while the Silver medalists lost in their last match.
Priority always gives us a time for the things that we put first!
Perspective is not what we see, but it is how we see!
2. It’s TIME to RENEW!
“Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
Growth entails change and change, renewal. We must break out from our cocoon of old life in order to inhale the breeze of the present. God’s blessing is new every morning. We cannot win the battles of today with the crowns of yesterday. How many lines of reminders have we heard and read about living life anew, everyday. The bible tells us, “If anyone is in Christ he is new, the old is gone, and the new has come.” But to cooperate with God we need to adhere to some life’s principles.
a. We need to ACCEPT a PAINFUL PROCESS
Perseverance has its work, and its work has a process. It doesn’t happen overnight. A fern grows to its full height in few weeks, but a bamboo takes months, probably years to reach its full height. Yet the bamboo is much more majestic than the fern. Successful professionals went through rigid studies and trainings on their way to the zenith of their career.
b. We will ACQUIRE a PLENTIFUL EXCESS
That is what I wanted to stress. Pain begets gain. After we went through a painful process, we eventually reach maturity and completion – the best part of it “not lacking anything”. We need to renew our minds, that whenever we bear burdens that seem unbearable, when the problems come in bulk quantities; it means there are always corresponding blessings that exceed far and beyond the degree of our sufferings.
Illustration:
One Saturday morning, a seven-year-old boy was playing in their front-yard garden in the middle of flowers in bloom. He was trying to catch butterflies with his torn net. Suddenly a bee flew to his position buzzing straightway landing on the back of his palm. The busy bee stung him, and he lurched crying to his Mom in the kitchen who was cooking pancakes for a morning snack. “I hate bees, Mommy, I hate bees”, the boy angrily muttered. “I wish God never created bees”, he complained furiously. Mommy snobbishly threw a glimpse at her complaining son as she puts four pieces of those freshly cooked pancakes on a plate and pushed the plate toward her son. “Wait, don’t eat it yet; let me pour some of these pure honey that I just bought yesterday”, she said. The boy was feasting on the pancakes, dipping them in the honey that flowed on the plate. Mommy asked her son, “How’s the honey, Johnny?” “Really great Mom”, he said. Mommy lifted Johnny to her lap and started stroking his bee-stung hand. Looking eye-to-eye to her son with a smile, she said, “You know, Johnny, the bee that stung you is the same bee that gave us the honey”. The boy looked to her Mommy’s eyes with a sheepish smile.
Pain is inevitable but misery is optional!
God doesn't always still the storm, but He can calm the sailor!
3. It’s TIME to RELOAD!
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
Times of trials are the most effective acid test for determination and fighting spirit. Man was created with a natural sense of survival. We have an innate capacity to adapt to our environment by employing every resource and measure possible. And even when available resources are exhausted, there is always a natural tendency to replenish them. But we must not forget the biblical truth that all resources spring up from the throne of God. And with these resources we should gear up to reload.
a. We need to FIRE-UP our RESOURCES
Gather up the strength that’s left, and never attempt to wallow over what is lost. Often we lose most of our material resources that we deem necessary to crank-up an engine of inner strength. But nothing can ever take away our more valuable assets - prayer, hope, and faith. These are resources that are neither lost nor devalued as we persevere under trials and remain standing against all the odds.
b. We need to FOCUS on our REWARDS
Frustratingly enough, even our immaterial resources dwindle. Hope can be clouded, prayer can be disturbed, and faith can be tested by unexpected, let alone unwanted circumstances. Consequently, we start to listen to the devil’s lie that our works are unfruitful. We look around us and there’s nowhere to turn; and no one to trust. Look to the promises of God, “your labors are not in vain”. When hope is spent and you feel like you are at the edge of a cliff, then you are about to fly. God has promised us a crown (honor) of life.
Illustration:
A journal about the voyages of Christopher Columbus dated October 10, 1842 reads, “Here the people could stand it no longer and complained of the long voyage; but the Admiral cheered them as best he could, holding out good hope of the advantages they would have. He added that it was useless to complain. He had come to the Indies, and so had to continue until he found them, with the help of our Lord”. Two days later they discovered America.
When we persevere in doing something; it is not because the situation has changed; but because our Determination has increased!
Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time!
Conclusion:
I don’t know about your situation. Maybe you are stuck between a rock and a hard place. You seem to feel that the weight of the world is laid upon your shoulders. Or perhaps, you are watching your world falling apart, hopelessly and helplessly. The going is already tough, and more likely will get tougher. Regroup; align your priorities and arrange your perspectives. Renew; your pains are working at the backstage to produce more gains. Reload; look around for anything and anyone that can help you. And if there is none, look up. Your hard works will be rewarded….. Don’t give up. When the going gets tough, the tough remains intact.
