It is only in our sufferings that we know that God is producing and bringing out the finest qualities from within us. These characteristics are things like our ability to withstand pressure, to endure in spite of being pressed down, it is the ability to have strong integrity of character no matter what.
It was a clear night. I could see the stars. They were magnificent to look at. They were bright even as they shined through the big tree in my backyard. It struck me just how beautiful they were and how long it had been since I had looked up at them. That’s when God said to me, “I just want you to look up my child.”
You see dissonance is when who I am no longer lines up with who I had hoped to be or how I hope others see me. It happens so often and so subtly that most of the time you and I don’t even realize it’s going on. We all know that major dissonance (or compromise) doesn’t crop up overnight. It starts small. So small that we might not recognize it in ourselves or want to acknowledge it. This morning we’re going to open to the Book of James, chapter one.
The more full my suitcase gets the more I question what is already in the suitcase. Do I really need this many pairs of pants? Will I really need or wear this particular shirt? I almost always bring more than I need. I almost always forget to pack something important that I wish I had brought. In the same way some of us have packed things into our lives that are unhelpful, unnecessary and might even weigh us down in our pursuit of Christ.
He could have let Jonah die a slow painful death being digested by a giant fish. Now aren’t you glad that God shows mercy to Jonah? I know I am. Because I need the sort of God who lovingly pursues me. I need the sort of God who will be merciful towards me. In spite of Jonah’s disobedience, God uses this situation to make His name great. God could have used someone else to witness to the Ninevites but God’s actions here would seem to indicate that God desires Jonah. This is good news. Even if we give up on ourselves, God doesn’t give up on us.
While suffering might be the very thing we need to help us grow we must understand that even in the middle of it that it is the thing that when we are faithful in the midst of it, is producing a crown of glory. God promises that my suffering is somehow producing life that I don’t understand.
We have taken our relationships to a much more social-media-infused format and we have traded real-face-to-face relationships that require focus and authenticity for fake-relationships that are based on pretense and social media.
While we might think that God’s grace is super-abundant in that we could have more than we would ever need or want, we act like it will run out, that there won’t be enough. Much like the Christmas cookies or hot water for a shower on a Sunday morning we might think we need to grab what we need/want before someone else takes it all and there’s none left for us. But God’s grace is more than sufficient for your or my every need.
Without the power and leading the Holy Spirit the Gospel is just a bunch of words. It takes the conviction and the invitation from God’s Spirit to lead someone to Christ (whether a first-time believer or a long-time disciple). We rely on God for the ministry of Church.
We talk a lot about grace. We insist on how we need to give each other more grace. We even insist on how people ought to give us more grace. We might even tell ourselves that we ought to give ourselves more grace. But is it possible we missed the point of grace? Maybe we got grace wrong.