Altar Call – Opelika-Auburn News
Walter Albritton
July 20, 2014
You have got to be kidding!
Life
is difficult. One trial after another seems to be the norm. And how do we react
to trouble? You know the answer. We ask the question, “Why did God allow this
to happen to me?” Or we blame someone else for our troubles.
Christians
tell us we can find help for our trials in the Bible. So we turn to the New
Testament. We learn that Jesus says, “In this world you will have trouble, but
be of good cheer.” It’s the “good cheer” part that causes us difficulty. How do
you manage to be cheerful when your world is falling apart?
James, the brother of
Jesus, should be able to help us. He was close to Jesus. So we turn to James’
New Testament letter and finding him saying we should welcome our troubles with
joy! To which I must say, “You have got to be kidding!”
James,
however, is not kidding. He says joy and he means joy. And his advice carries a
lot of weight. After all, his teaching comes from the Bible, the greatest book
ever written. So let’s wrestle with what he says and try to make sense of this
business of being joyful in the midst of stress.
James
puts a lot of stock in faith. But faith does not prevent trouble. James tells
us that God tests our faith with trials. He allows trouble to test our faith.
But during these tests God is with us; James is confident that in the midst of
our trials, God is with us!
That makes sense. And
that is a comforting thought. After all, God’s name is Immanuel, the beautiful
name that means “God with us.” As long
as we can believe God is with us we can handle most any trial that comes up.
James teaches that God
uses our testing times to make us stronger. And he uses our trials to teach us
patience. This is similar to Saint Paul’s teaching that “tribulation produces
patience.”
Sometimes
we jokingly say, “Lord, I believe I am patient enough; please do not send me
any more tribulation!” Even so, we have to admit that we learn more, and grow
more, from difficult times than we do when life is easy.
Recognizing this we gradually learn that what we really need is not
an easy life but a life filled with God working in us – to make us what we
ought to be. That brings to mind that wonderful Gaither song for children:
“He’s still working on me, to make me what I ought to be.” That is a marvelous
idea: that the God who made me, who loves me, is forever working on me! And
often he uses sand paper to rub off our rough edges!
Questions
arise in times of testing. But instead of asking why God allowed our troubles
to happen, we might more wisely ask, “What does God want me to learn from this
test of my faith? Perhaps that is why James urges us to ask God for
wisdom. God alone can help us understand why certain trials come. Human wisdom
is not enough.
Godly
wisdom helps us better understand the true meaning of patience. To be patient
is not simply to take things in stride, stoically. The patience James speaks
about involves strength of character and the faith to persevere rather than surrender.
Thomas
Samford, legal counsel for Auburn University for 30
years, demonstrated to his family and friends that one can welcome trials with
joy. Diagnosed with terminal cancer, and advised he had about a year to live,
Thomas refused to think of himself as a victim; he welcomed his affliction with
joyous faith. Remarkably, he lived a dozen more years though in a continual
struggle with cancer.
I
was one of Thomas’ pastors. He and I began to meet with a few other men
at 6:30 on Wednesday mornings. This time of sharing and prayer became
one of the great blessings of my life and the other men shared this
conviction. I never had any difficulty getting up early on Wednesday
mornings, knowing that a man who was struggling with cancer and chemotherapy
would be waiting for me to pick him up. His remarkable courage inspired all who
knew Thomas.
We will never forget Thomas saying, “I thank God for my cancer. My
cancer led me to know God. Except for my cancer, I would have missed meeting
the Master. I am not fighting cancer,” he would tell us. “I am simply asking
for grace and strength to teach His Word until He is ready for me to come home.
Whatever time and energy He gives me, I will use to please Him.” And he did!
When Thomas died I
realized that as much as anyone I have ever known he had lived out the wisdom
of James: “Consider it pure joy, my
brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the
testing of your faith develops perseverance.”
At
Thomas’ funeral I quoted these words from James: “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.”
Thomas had “stood the
test” and I believe he received from God the promised “crown of life.” Ever
since Thomas departed this life I have been asking God to help me welcome my trials
with joy so that one day it can be said of me, “He stood the test – and he
stood it with joy.” + + +