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| Section: Basic Christian Living:
courses for new Christians |
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Growing in God |
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11. Handling Hassles: |
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The 'Discipline of the Lord' |
James
1:2-4
'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.'
Life's
hassles
Life always has its problems.
We call them 'difficulties', 'hassles', 'trials' 'hardships'
or 'setbacks'. Becoming a Christian doesn't exempt you from them.
God never promised us a hassle-free life this side of Christ's
return—the above verse says 'whenever you face trials',
not 'if you face them'. The same verse says they are 'of
many kinds'. We could mention:
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 | Self-generated
trials. If you don't work for an exam, it's your own fault
when you fail. If you don't fix that loose stair-carpet, you've
only yourself to blame when you fall downstairs.
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| Persecution.
If people mock you or discriminate against you because of your
faith in Jesus, that's the kind of trial that it's a privilege
to endure:
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Matthew
5:11-12 'Blessed
are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say
all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad,
because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they
persecuted the prophets who were before you.'
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'Out of the blue' trials. You trip over the kerb and break
your leg. Someone steals your bike. You're made redundant. The
exhaust drops off your car in the outside lane of the motorway. |
It's this last kind we're talking
about in this lesson, and it's vital that you learn how to handle
them in a Christian way. Approached properly, each one is an
opportunity to grow in character and draw nearer to the Lord.
Fatherly discipline
Scripture calls hassles the
'discipline' of the Lord:
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Hebrews
12:7, 10-11
'Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons….
Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought
best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share
in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but
painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness
and peace for those who have been trained by it.'
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| Life's problems are tailor-made
for you, and God is the Tailor. While in one sense our trials
come from the devil, God filters them so that only those calculated
to do us good actually get through. You can actually benefit
from each one! How? To answer this key question we'll look at
the verses in James quoted at the top of this lesson.
The right attitude
Attitude is everything. An old poem from the days of
sailing ships says:
One ship
sails east and another west
By the selfsame wind that blows.
It's the set of the sails, not the waves and the gales,
That determines the way each goes.
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'The set of the sails' is your
attitude. You can have exactly the same problem as someone else;
the other person can end up in misery and despair while you end
up in greater maturity and Christian wholeness—all because
of the difference in attitude.
James tells us what your attitude
should be when hassles arrive. Instead of grumbling, 'Why did
this have to happen to me?' you should 'consider it pure joy'
(James 1:2)!
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doesn't mean it is pure joy—it's probably pure frustration.
But you must choose to 'consider' it that way, that is, adopt
the right attitude to the problem.
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| Nor does it mean pretending you're
enjoying the problem when in fact you're not. Don't say, 'Oh, glory to
God, I've broken my leg. What a pleasure!' That would be ridiculous
and unreal. |
What 'considering it pure joy'
does mean is:
| Giving thanks to
God in the situation: 'Thank you, Lord, that you're in charge,
with my best interests at heart. I could have done without this,
but you know what you're doing and I don't love you any the less
because of this.'
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| Declaring your intention
to benefit from it: 'Lord, I'm not going to let this get
me down. I'm going to use it as an opportunity to grow in my
faith and become more mature and Christlike.'
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The
test of faith
James says every hassle is
a 'testing of your faith' (James 1:3).
Everything of value gets tested:
new models of car, beds, building materials, new food products
etc.
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| The test leads to strengthening. For instance, if
when the prototype of a new car is being tested the engine works
loose on its mountings, the maker fits new, stronger mountings
that will stand the pressure, and these go into the production
model. God tests your
faith in him in the same way—so that it becomes stronger
through the test:
1 Peter
1:6-7 'For
a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds
of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater
worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may
be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour
when Jesus Christ is revealed.'
So hold on and do what's right,
trusting God to see you through and strengthen your character.
Determine that you'll pass the test and that the trial will be
a stepping-stone to blessing.
Perseverance
James goes on: 'You know that
the testing of your faith produces perseverance' (James
1:3).
That's why, though we pray
for deliverance from the pressure, God sometimes delays it. Anyone
can survive a five-minute hassle. It's when it goes on for days,
weeks or months that we develop perseverance in trusting God
and keeping a thankful attitude to him. So don't complain; instead,
let perseverance 'finish its work' (James 1:4).
Other Bible versions translate
'perseverance' as 'steadfastness' (RSV), 'fortitude' (NEB) or
'endurance' (TCNT). These words remind us that the Christian
life is a marathon, not a quick sprint. It requires stamina.
That's why perseverance is such a highly-praised quality in Scripture
(see Acts 14:22; Colossians 1:22-23; 2 Timothy 4:7-8; Hebrews
12:2-3). Use your hassles to develop it.
The
road to maturity
There's a huge bonus in seeing
your hassles through to the end in an attitude of faith and perseverance.
James says you'll become 'mature and complete, not lacking
anything' (James 1:4). That means:
| Being rounded in character, with all
the sharp edges rubbed off.
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| Being wise, and understanding the
will and ways of God so that you can counsel and encourage others.
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| Being fully confident in God, his
grace and his provision.
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| Loving and appreciating him not just
for what he does for you but for who he is in all his greatness. |
We'd all like to be like that,
of course, though preferably by some other route than hassles!
But in God's purpose it's the hassles, rightly handled, that
are the normal route to such Christian maturity.
Letting yourself
be trained
No-one should pretend that
all we've noted so far is easy; it isn't. But the dividends it
pays are out of all proportion to the hassles.
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Remember, however,
that the maturing process isn't automatic. You have to let yourself
be trained by the problems. The writer to the Hebrews says, 'No
discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on,
however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for
those who have been trained by it' (Hebrews 12:11).
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| It's possible for Christians
to lapse into the world's kind of reaction. By grumbling and
sighing they refuse to be 'trained by it' and forfeit the potential
benefits. What a pity when that happens! It's a
lost opportunity for growth and progress. Make up your mind here and now
that you'll embrace your hassles God's way, seeing them as his loving
discipline to shape your character into his likeness.
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