Rise Above the Chaos

Jesus promised that "in this world we will have trouble" (John 16:33). The flip-side, however, is that we can take heart- because He has already overcome the world.

In other words, even though we face trials, we know the end of the story. As such, we live FROM victory rather than simply contending FOR victory.

We can gain the most in the hard places

There are some things, some treasures, which require tests and trails in order to receive.

James says to “count it joy” when you face these tests and trials- because you ALREADY know the outcome is a payoff of some sort that works in your favor (James 1:2f.).

I don’t fully understand this. I see a lot happen that seems NOT to have a gain on the other side. Or the price seems so high on the front end that it really makes you wonder...

Hence the tension of having to trust that all things eventually work together for the good (Romans 8:28f.) and that everything is made beautiful in its time (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

James uses a banking term. “Count” is “reckon” or “reconcile.” It’s one way you manage the books. You paid this out and reconcile that thing in. You gave XXXXXX and received XXXXX for it.

It’s like an investment. A purchase. A trade.

Sometimes, as James presents it, something happens in life that you wouldn’t choose— an investment you wouldn’t want. He says to endure, a high yield return is coming. A return so grand that you couldn’t have acquired it any other way.

What if the measure was different?

Many times, it doesn’t make the enduring easier. Still leaves lots of questions, numerous unknowns.

But what if the measure of the test or trial is the true measure of the “gold” that can be obtained?

And what if it truly requires stepping into a place where you have nothing but empty hands and an empty heart so that you can receive the fullness of everything the Creator has for you?

Peter says the place of emptiness is important. It provides a simplicity, a purity, a perspective that only THAT spot that James writes about can provide (1 Peter 1:6-7).

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