A Word from the WORD: "FACING LIFE’S BATTLES" (Article 221)

[Life Fellowship]

FACING LIFE’S BATTLES

 

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4)

 

At first reading, it may seem that the apostle James is making an absolutely strange opening statement in his letter. For while we would tend to see ‘trials’ as a ‘painful scenario’ or a ‘tragic surprise’, he considers them as ‘pure joy’, as occasions for ‘celebration’ because of what they will finally bring about in our lives.

 

The Christian life is a ‘surprise’ for many new believers. They surrender their lives to the Lord expecting that this path would help them ‘escape’ all troubles. But sooner rather than later, they discover that the new way has its own share of trials and difficulties, with even perhaps an ‘expansion’ of troubles!

 

When adversity arises, a lot of introspection takes place. Questions rage in the mind- “Have I gone wrong somewhere?” “Don’t I have enough faith?” “Is God angry with me?” “Is the devil blocking my blessing?”

 

A few of these questions may require genuine consideration.  But one needs to understand nevertheless that there will always be challenges and trials of various kinds during one’s life here on earth. No matter how mature or spiritual a believer, there is no stage we arrive at from whence forth we will have an entirely trouble-free life!

 

The Bible is very clear on this matter. Jesus spoke of a scenario where the rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against the houses of both the wise man and the foolish man (Matthew 7:24-27). In this illustration, both the godly and the ungodly had the same ‘experience’; the difference was in the ‘ending’. While both had the same set of ‘circumstances’, the ‘culmination’ was poles apart.

 

Hardships are described as commonplace for the believer. They are part of the privilege of being a child of God (Hebrews 12:5-11). Even Jesus had to go through suffering (Hebrews 5:8). And because the Father wants to make us like Jesus, He will take us along that same path. As someone has remarked, “God has only one Son without sin but He has no son without scars!”

 

To be full of faith does not mean that we will have no problems. On the other hand, it means that we will be able to ‘overcome’ any problem. This is what Jesus meant when He spoke of the mountains being moved in response to the ‘prayer of faith’ (Mark 11:22-25). Again, we must note that having the ‘shield of faith’ does not stop the Enemy from shooting his flaming arrows at us; instead it stops those attacks from harming us (Ephesians 6:16).

 

As long as we live on this earth, we are under the “old order”. When the new Heaven and new Earth is finally established, this present order with its experience of pain, tears, sorrow, evil, suffering, curse and death will forever be replaced by a new order that is full of joy, goodness and blessing of every kind (Revelation 21:3-4).

 

Given that challenges and difficulties are inevitable, how do we overcome them? How do we face life’s battles? We will look at this question from three angles- our Approach, our Attitude and our Action.

 

1. Our Approach

 

a) Consider

 

When adversity strikes, it is good to be still and examine oneself. Problems can be a wake-up call warning us of our spiritual, physical or emotional deterioration (Haggai 1:3-11; Luke 13:1-5; Revelation 9:20-21; 16:8-9). There may be careless words we have spoken or steps we have taken which have brought about the crisis. Perhaps we have failed to pay heed to the direction and guidance of the Spirit. It is always helpful then to pause and ponder.

 

One can come before God sincerely and boldly asking Him to reveal anything that needs to be rectified. Having examined one’s life before God, it is important to go on. Should there be no indication from the Lord of any failure on our part, we need not press on with the matter and indulge in self-condemnation or wallow in false guilt.

 

b) Confront

 

No victory can be won without the willingness to confront the issues in our life. We must not try to hide from them or avoid them.   Another term synonymous for a believer is ‘overcomer’ (1 John 5:4-5; Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26). This means that we are called to face our challenges and triumph over them! While there are many athletes enrolled in Christendom, the tragedy is that instead of running the course set for them with endurance, they are busy running away from their difficult circumstances.

 

When Goliath challenged the Israelites, it is interesting that King Saul and his choicest warriors were running for cover while a little shepherd boy by the name of David was found running towards the giant ready to fight him (1 Samuel 17:24, 48).

 

2. Our Attitude

 

a) Courage

 

We come across several characters in the Bible who faced manifold challenges. Each one of them was encouraged and exhorted to be full of courage.

 

Joshua was appointed as leader to take the people of Israel into the Promised Land. It was a huge assignment. And before he embarked on his task, the Lord repeatedly told him to be strong and courageous, without allowing fear or discouragement to rule his life (Joshua 1:6-7, 9).

 

Timothy was another young leader who had multiple challenges both from within his circle and without. What’s worse, he was timid by nature. The apostle Paul urged him to not be ashamed of suffering for the Gospel or afraid of the responsibilities entrusted to him. He was told to be strong in the grace of God (2 Timothy 1:8; 2:1).

 

b) Confidence

 

While the storms rage and the pain in the heart intensifies, it is important to keep one’s confidence in the Lord. It is amazing how a woman who suffered from a serious illness of blood loss for 12 long years was still able to think to herself, “If I just touch His (Jesus) clothes, I will be healed” (Mark 5:27-28).

 

We must neither worry nor grumble in the midst of the fiery furnace. One of the worst things we could do to break the heart of the Lord during a difficult time is to ask “Don’t You care?” This is what the disciples did when they found their boat being tossed about by the stormy seas and raging waves. They ran to Jesus who was asleep in the stern and woke Him up with this heart-breaking question “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” (Mark 4:38)

 

Knowledge that there is a Heavenly Father who cares for us right down to counting every single strand of hair on our head must fill our hearts with hope and rest in the midst of the most intense conflict (Psalm 147:10-11; Luke 12:6-7). Nothing will happen in our lives without His knowledge. And even if we are ultimately to blame for our crisis, He is still willing to forgive us and work out everything together for good.

 

3. Our Action

 

a) Commit

 

The first thing we are to do is to call upon the Lord and cast all our cares upon Him (Psalm 91:15; James 5:13). The Scriptures teach us to not be anxious about ‘anything’ but to present ‘everything’ that troubles us in prayer to God (Philippians 4:6). We must pray as individuals and can then request the prayers of the elders and fellow-believers (James 5:13-16).

 

We must pray for ‘wisdom’ to handle the situation (James 1:5) and for ‘victory’ over the situation (James 5:14-16). Our victory may come in either one of two ways. Either God will grant us victory ‘from’ the problem or ‘in’ the problem. In the first scenario, the problem is removed; in the second scenario, the problem remains but the person is given grace to endure it.

 

Both these kinds of victory are demonstrated in the Bible. The apostle Paul is an example for both and talks about his experience in his second letter to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 1:8-11; 12:7-10). There he describes the multiple hardships experienced by his team, which brought them under great pressure, far beyond their ability to endure. God in response to their prayers granted them full-fledged deliverance.

 

In the same letter, he speaks of another crisis- this time a messenger of Satan to torment him in the body. This prayer for victory was answered by the Lord giving him grace to ‘endure’ the problem and not freedom from the problem.

 

We mistakenly assume that victory is established only if problems are fully removed. But we must note that even where the Spirit of God is powerfully at work, God may allow certain situations to remain the same. When the prophet Ezekiel saw a vision of the River of God flowing and bringing life everywhere it went, he also noticed how God deliberately left some things untouched (Ezekiel 47:6-11).  

 

He saw, for instance, that the swamps and marshes were left as they were because they were needed for salt.  He understood that if everything became fresh, then this vital, useful ingredient could never be produced! So similarly, God leaves some issues or aspects of our lives untouched because He knows that it will do us much good.

 

There arises a question in the mind regarding what step must be taken when we know that it is Satan himself who is directly causing the problem in our lives. Well, for an answer to this predicament, let us study what the apostles did. We have two clear-cut incidents recorded in Scripture in line with this issue (2 Corinthians 12:7-8; 1 Thessalonians 2:17-18; 3:10).

 

In the first case, a messenger of Satan was tormenting Paul. His response was to ‘plead with the Lord’. He prayed for ‘three seasons’ (the literal meaning of ‘three times’) until the Lord gave him an answer. A second incident is where Satan stopped the attempts of the apostolic team to visit the believers at Thessalonica. Again the response was to ‘pray earnestly’ and ‘wait for the Father and the Lord Jesus to clear the way’.

 

Now it is very important to stop and consider what they ‘did not do’. They did not fight with the evil powers or attack the devil. They did not speak to the devil- they pleaded with the Lord. They did not attempt to rebuke the devil or bind him- they waited for God to intervene.

 

This kind of response is very interesting and revealing given that we often tend to use the tiniest problem to launch an all-out offensive against the devil. The smallest hardship or obstacle is enough for many believers to start addressing and rebuking the devil.

 

In a trial, we can declare our faith in God’s promises and proclaim His victory over the Enemy. But we must not unnecessarily keep rebuking the devil and speaking to him. This is both physically tiring and spiritually dangerous for we are over-stepping the boundary that God has kept for us.

 

Instances in the Bible where the devil was directly rebuked are few. Whenever it was done, it had to do with the healing of a few sick people (not ‘all’) and the commanding of demons to leave certain possessed individuals. Nowhere, however, do we see believers dealing with personal trials by addressing the devil and commanding him to let go.

 

b) Continue

 

We entrust our matters to the Lord and then continue to follow Him. We must continue to ‘worship’ the Lord. This is what Job did when wave after wave of tribulation crashed upon him. He refused to blame God and instead fell to the ground in worship. He proclaimed (what some today ignorantly claim is a negative confession), “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised” (Job 1:20-22). The storm must not take away our song; instead, it must birth a new song within us. Our God is One who gives us songs in the night (Psalm 42:8).

 

We must continue to ‘fellowship’ with the saints (Hebrews 10:24-25). In tough times, we must not cut ourselves off from other believers but must continue to connect with them. Strong believers must make it their priority to help those who are suffering carry their burdens and to identify with them in their pain (1 Corinthians 12:26; Galatians 6:2).

 

It is also important to continue to ‘do good’ (Psalm 37:3; Galatians 6:9-10). We must always remember that there is someone else out there who is having more trouble than us and who needs greater help than we do (1 Peter 5:9). The best way to overcome our own troubles is by reaching out to others in their problems. Our circumstances may be difficult but that does not mean we need to become closed or irritable. So let involvement in ministry continue. Jesus, while suffering unbelievable agony on the Cross, had the mind and the heart to care for a dying thief and a lonely mother.

 

No matter what finally happens, let us join with the three friends of Daniel and proclaim: “Our God is able to deliver us but even if He does not, we will not leave Him or stop serving Him” (Daniel 3:17-18).

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you!

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