Count it Pure Joy?

In his letter, James teaches a hard truth, listen to what he says in James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (NIV) We can only make it through the hard times is to keep our focus on the end results. High School boys focus on the first football game of the season when they are suffering through two-a-days. Backpackers focus on the comfort of the campfire they will have that night as they push on down the trail. As Christians, we focus on Christ and the splendid reward that is waiting for us when we are under attack from the enemy. As I visited with my new doctor this past Monday, she told me about the difficulty I will go through when I have the stem cell procedure. First, they will harvest my bone marrow. Next, Julie and I will spend four weeks in isolation in Dallas. The first 14 days will be in the hospital, and the next 14 days will be spent in the hospital’s apartment. During that time, they will kill my immune system with a harsh chemo drug, and after that, they will put my stem cells, which have been purified, back into my body. I have been told that I will get very sick, but I will be good to go for a few more years when everything is over. Too often, we miss out on the more significant reward by settling for the lesser comfort of the right now. We don’t want to go through the difficult times that bring us to the greater reward. That is true in our physical life and our spiritual life. Trials given to us by God are not meant to defeat us; they are there to strengthen us. They can help us learn to lean on Him more and, in the process, increase our faith. I may not be looking forward to the four weeks of treatment ahead of me, but I am looking forward to week number five. Set your focus on Christ in your Christian walk and start looking forward to week number five. In Him J. Tom Washburn