Like Jesus | In Trials
About this series:
Jesus calls each of us to become more like him - by being with him, learning from him and imitating him. This is sometimes known as the process of spiritual formation or the process of sanctification, where we progressively leave a self-focussed life and adopt a Jesus-focussed lifestyle. That’s because, just as he called his first disciples, he calls us to “Come, follow me” (Matthew 4:19), a journey John Mark Comer describes as being with Jesus, becoming like him and doing as he did (see Practicing The Way).
And deep within every true Christian is a desire, put there by God, to change in a Christ-like direction. In the new covenant we are transformed into people who want to be with him and want to become like him - “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33); “I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws” (Ezekiel 36:27).
But this process of transformation is not only the work of the Holy Spirit within us. In partnership with God, it is the fruit of us aligning ourselves with his plan to transform us to be like Jesus. How this all works and how we are changed to become more like Jesus will be explored through this series.
About this talk:
‘The most difficult moments in our lives - the ones we fear and avoid at all costs - are our crucibles. They have the most potential to form our souls into the shape of Jesus’ (John Mark Comer). Suffering is universal and varied; but such is God’s ability to transform us that every episode of suffering contains within it the potential for him to use it for his glory and our good. What matters in spiritual formation is 1) the foundation we’ve built on the words of Jesus in calmer times and 2) our response to Jesus when suffering comes.
James writes many challenging words in his letter, none more so than 1:2: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds.” It seems almost ridiculous to connect ‘trials’ with ‘joy.’ Modern Christians, particularly those in affluent nations, have largely lost the expectation that suffering is to be embraced in any shape or form. Many parts of Christian teaching train us to expect to be free of suffering, believing that a God of love would naturally want us to be happy and at ease. Such ideas would be completely foreign to any Christian in the first century.
So James anticipates “trials of many kinds.” And most people can identify with that as their own experience. This at least teaches us, as does the rest of the New Testament, that suffering is a normal part of Christian living. But what James then says is hugely significant because he gives a reason for being joyful in trials - “because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (vs 3-4). Trials, which he sees as “testing...your faith” (cf. 1 Peter 1:6-7) are the means, under God’s hand and with a Godward response on our part, of producing perseverance and maturity.
The sense of “Let perseverance finish its work,” is of not rushing a process that requires time for it to be effective - for example, the healing of a broken bone or the forming of precious stones under long-term pressure. While we naturally want trials to be over as soon as possible, God has a plan to work through our trials for his glory and for our good. Trials thus help us become like Jesus, who was himself severely tried and tested in his life on earth and in whom God worked for his glory and for our good. We become more like Jesus, in part, through the trials that he allows us to experience.
Some trials may be self-inflicted, some may be the result of the Fall, some may be demonically inspired, but “we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). It is interesting that the very next thing Paul says is that God has planned that we should be “conformed to the image of his Son.”
In what ways can bad things be turned by God for our good? What does that mean; and not mean? What habits can we develop to ensure that when suffering strikes we run towards Jesus rather than away from him?
Audio only
