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Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. James 1:2-3

     Heavenly Father, I was supposed to wake up in Hamilton, Ontario, today to teach at the awesome Muskoka Bible Centre. Before that, this summer, Darlene and I were to have been in Northern Ireland, Spain, Montana, and Alaska—each trip a COVID-cancelation.

After whining a bit, I repented. Your mercy and grace trumped my “poor-me” moment. In this passage, James wasn’t prophetically writing about my 2020 summer of disruption. He was writing to help fellow believers prepare for Roman imprisonments, confiscation of property, and the real prospect of martyrdom.

That doesn’t minimize the applicability of this Scripture to any and all “troubles,” that come our way. It just puts them in a proper context, offering a healthier perspective.

Thank you, Father, for convicting us without condemning us. Such is the wonder of the Gospel. You’re always at work in our lives to make us more like Jesus—to mature our faith, grow our endurance, and intensify our joy.

You are at work in all the “raptures and ruptures” of life—in our heartaches and hiccups, in our windfalls, and life’s curve balls; in our most painful suffering, and our most unexpected blessings. May we want to be like Jesus more than we want 2021 not to be like 2020. So very Amen we pray, in his kind and Kingly name

 

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