Building endurance

Our conversation Sunday turned to the topic of health. (It almost always does if those talking are over sixty!) The doctor in the group mentioned the value of vitamin D. I piped up in agreement and boasted I had only one cold in twenty years. Make that two. I came down with a sore throat the next day and am coughing today.

Being a firm believer that nothing happens coincidently or randomly, I’m paying attention to the Holy Spirit even in the midst of my pity-party. He has a few reminders for me.

The first one is don’t boast without giving glory to God. Vitamin D is great stuff, but it is God who sovereignly controls my health. The principle is in these verses:

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. (James 4:13–17)

I should have said, “I take the vitamin every day, but it is God who keeps me healthy” or kept my mouth shut.

The next lesson is about suffering. In our culture, comfort is a high priority, so much so that most Christians ask God to fix anything and everything that makes them uncomfortable, particularly illness. However, James says this about any sort of suffering:

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2–4)

Steadfast endurance is from a Greek word that means the power to withstand hardship or stress; especially the inward fortitude necessary. It is not a normal human trait. Consider a baby with an empty tummy or a full diaper! Consider most people with any sort of hardship or stress. It is usually met with complaining, grumbling or a self-produced grin-and-bear-it resignation. None of these compare with what God can produce if we let steadfastness do its work. He has in mind a calm acceptance and trust something like my mom often said, “We must need it or we wouldn’t be getting it.”

Her words teach me to accept and trust God for most things that come my way. I’ve often prayed, “Lord, if this is from You, I will accept it and learn from it. If not, You know what to do.” Most of the time “this” is quickly gone, but not always. Even an ordinary cold can teach me patience. This lesson is summed up in these words:

Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits (like focusing on comfort rather than obedience), since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. (2 Timothy 2:3–4, addition is mine)

Another lesson is simple: pay attention to what my body is telling me. When I’m tired, don’t stay up late. Eat properly. Drink enough water. Quit trying to be super woman. Just because God promises to take care of me does not mean I can do whatever people half my age and with a normal heart can do. Duh. Taking the love of God for granted is not a bad thing unless it means listening to the enemy . . .

Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” (Matthew 4:5–7)

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Lord Jesus, You are my Savior and Lord. Sometimes my biggest need is being saved from myself. I accept this rather small trial as Your way to build endurance in my life and to reinforce the above lessons. Thank You for making use of even the dumb things I do and say and using ALL things for my good, even a common cold.

Today’s thankful list . . .

Forgiveness for every time I forget or neglect what I already know.

For the hundreds of firefighters and others who were there when the towers came down.

Tests that build endurance.

God’s amazing care for my family.

A nice warm home and a frig full of food.

A nice nap.

Zucchini muffins.

Deception and distanciation

I learned a new word yesterday: distanciation. It is not in the dictionary yet, but is used by theologians to describe the need to distance myself so I can properly interpret Scripture. This means leaving my current needs and issues with God, confessing known sin, abandoning all presuppositions and traditions, and putting mental and emotional distance to anything else that might interfere with seeing the text with clear and unbiased eyes.

Even though 100% objectivity is impossible, by being as objective as possible, as those professors warn, can also create an opening for deception. They say that studying this way leaves out an important question: “What does this text have to do with my life, with my relationship with God?” Reading the Bible was never intended to be a purely academic exercise.

There is only one way to prevent distanciation from putting me in spiritual danger; I must apply the teaching as soon as possible. This is not easy under the pressures of assignment deadlines and the to-do lists of ordinary responsibilities, yet learning the things of God is basically useless if I don’t do what He reveals to me. Otherwise, I’m leaving myself open to deception.

Distanciation is not the only issue. Deception can come from a host of sources. One of those is the lies of Satan. Although the Word of God promises that nothing can separate me from the love of Christ (Romans 8:31-39), this evil liar can work with my situation and emotions to make me feel like God does not love me. I need to be in the Word of God and trusting what He says. I need to remember the Cross and what He has done to prove His love. Staying close to truth keeps me from deception.

Sometimes I’m impatient with God and think I must “do it myself” rather than wait for Him. So in pride, I take life into my own hands and become deceived. The cure is the same — draw near to God, this time humbly confessing my sinful attitudes . . .

“But he gives more grace . . . God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” (James 4:6–10)

Another deception is misuse of the Word of God. When the devil tempted Jesus, he brazenly used Scripture and said, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”

If I come to the Bible filled with insecurities about my identity, or about God’s power, I might be tempted by verses like that and do something foolish to prove who I am or who God is. But Jesus wasn’t deceived; He knew who He was so didn’t even answer that accusation. Instead, He got right to the heart of what His tempter was doing and answered with Scripture, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” (Matthew 4:5–7) For me, this deception might be helped by distanciation in that I must always trust what the Bible says about me and about God, not what I want it to say.

Deception can also happen if I listen to others who are deceived. For this, God says, “My child, if sinners entice you, do not consent.” (Proverbs 1:10) Christians are supposed to be “nice” and “agreeable” but sometimes we must also say “no” and stand firm in our faith.

The last point is that deception will happen because “Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand.” Interpreting Scripture is not easy, but this passage goes on to say that it happens to those who are “ignorant and unstable.” They interpret Paul by twisting his writing “to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.” (2 Peter 3:15–18)

For this, the Bible says to be aware . . . “knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.”

This is the inoculation against deception: Know it can happen; beware of lawless people; remain stable in the truth; grow in grace (freely given from God) and knowledge (study) of Jesus Christ; and glorify Him all the time. God gives me these warnings so that neither distanciation or deception will keep me from knowing and trusting His great love for me.