An Opportunity For Great JOY
In James 1:2 (NLT) it says, “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.”
Isn’t that the way you feel when troubles come your way? Me either. I’m not a verbal processor, so usually when I get bad news I find a quiet place and think about it for a while. The Prophet Jeremiah said joy comes in the morning. Maybe for him it did, but when I get bad news it might take a couple of mornings or more to find some joy. Of course, James follows up on his statement about why we should get happy by talking about the benefits. V3, “For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.”
Before I make my next statement, let me say I am a blessed man. I could write many paragraphs about the way God has blessed me throughout my life. But even the blessed have to endure seasons of trouble. So let me cut to the chase.
For the better part of two years, the school we meet at has been under construction. We have been moved all over the campus. Not only that, but we have been pretty much hidden from our community with all the construction going on. It’s kind of hard to grow a church under those conditions — but we have been doing our best. Just before last Christmas, we got to move back into our auditorium. It took a while to figure out all the new lights, the new sound system, the visual effects, and setting up the room so that it had a good feel to it.
Now that we have comfortably settled back into our newly renovated auditorium, we were informed last week that we must be out of the auditorium for a couple of months. Our last service in the auditorium will be on June 1st and the first service back in the auditorium will be on August 3rd.
Oh, and the parking lot is closed. All parking will have to be on the streets around the school. Man, a guy can only take so much joy, right?
I’m being a little facetious, but it’s how I deal with discouraging news. If you know my wife Karen, she is an optimist on steroids. She can find the silver lining in almost any situation. If I told her we were getting kicked out of our house she would probably say, "Wonderful, I love camping!” Karen is taking this much better than I am — but as usual, she’s modeling joy for me.
So let's get back to what our friend James has to say. V4, “So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” (Side note — perfect in this context means mature.)
It’s definitely been a season of testing for me, but the good news is I’m developing endurance, and I’m learning how to enjoy my life even when things are not going my way. Our enduring season at Pacific Life Church will last two months. After that, not only do we get our auditorium back — we get our parking lot back, twice the size that it formerly was! We have all been through a lot, but in two months it will be a new day for us.
Please pray with us that despite the inconveniences, our church will have a great summer.
This is indeed a great opportunity for joy!
Stay close to Jesus,
Steve
P.S. Stand by concerning the parking situation — we are working on providing a shuttle service.