Have you ever stopped to think about why the enemy is so scared when a Child of God finds themselves in the fire? It’s because he knows something we often forget: the fire doesn't consume us; it refines us. And when we walk through those flames with a smile on our faces and praise on our lips, it absolutely terrifies him. He expects us to break, but instead, we burn brighter.
A passage that I find both comforting and frustrating is James 1:2-4 where James reminds us that perseverance is the product of our faith being tested and that we should consider those tests joy…
Joy? Seriously?
Yes! Joy.
But, how? Why, even?
Well, one thing that is, shamefully, downplayed in today’s church is the true extent of grief and heartache humanity has caused our Father and Creator. I can only imagine that the level of pain He felt over and over and over due to the actions, rebellions, disobedience, disrespect, and flat out disregard for the love He continually showed them, no matter their actions, is not nor can be fully expressed through Scripture. Looking at what we are given I can only ask, is there really too much He can ask of us?
The secret is knowing who is in the fire with you.
Where Joshua encourages us to “be strong and courageous”, 1 John assures us that we can because, “greater is He who is IN US, than he who is in the world.”
No one knows the reasons for or the extent of the trials the Lord will ask us to endure. We can be comforted in knowing that, even though He says in Jeremiah, “I, the Lord, search the heart and test the mind,” He tells us through James that neither can He be tempted by evil, nor will He tempt anyone. So, even though we may “walk through the valley of the shadow of death”, He will never lead us into temptation, but will always be there beside us to deliver us from evil. When we are too weak to walk beside Him, He will be there to carry us.
Why, though, should we consider this joy? Well, when Cain decided to disregard God’s warning of sin crouching at the door, he flung that door wide open and allowed sin to enter the world. Sin then overtook Cain and handed him off to death, who took Cain’s brother, Abel. The first sacrifice, a senseless death brought about purely from the influence of evil. Abel’s blood cried out to God from the earth where he and every human spirit after him would be held. The blow this must have been to God is unimaginable, and from there it just kept escalating. At one point the depravity of the earth reached such a point that God decided it was best to wipe the slate all but clean and attempt to start again. From this new beginning, humanity almost immediately began to disobey and disrespect our God. Chapter after chapter, book after book, we are given examples of the heartache and pain our Father endured at the hands of His creation. A creation that He loved so much He continually forgave and gave another chance. A creation He loved so much that He made a covenant with the one from whom He brought His nation where only God made a covenantal promise. In Genesis 15, after promising, yet again, that Abram will be the father of many nations, “When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.” Why? Because humanity had proven over and over that they would not hold up their side of the covenant. Not that they couldn’t, that they wouldn’t.
After giving opportunity after opportunity to generation after generation, God sent Jesus to put an end to the hold death had on humanity. He sent His Son to walk this earth, in human form, to prove that it IS possible to live as He instructs us to live. Then, He gave His Son, His perfect, sinless Son, in human form as a sacrifice to pay a ransom for each and every human soul that walks this planet. After all humanity had done to destroy our God, He STILL loved us enough to give us the opportunity to spend eternity with Him instead of in the grasp of death.
On top of all this, Peter tells us in his first epistle, 5:10, that God, Himself will restore us and make us steadfast. Through the prophet Jeremiah He tells us that His plans for our lives are plans to prosper, not plans of harm. From the very beginning of Genesis, God says Stand Firm, Overcome, Endure. Through each book of Scripture He not only tells us that He will be here with us, but He shows us that He will guide us, protect us, and strengthen us. The last book gives us Jesus’ words and in every letter to the Churches He says, endure, overcome, stand firm, keep fighting until the fight is over.
The greatest commandment is to love the Lord, our God, with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength. This is followed by the command to love each other as HE loves us. In these commandments, He provides His first offer of strength. Love. The Love of God, poured out into this world provides strength to all who choose to accept it. The love we show one another through forgiveness, compassion, and mercy provides strength to those giving the love and those receiving the love. From there it is passed on person to person, generation to generation, and when done correctly, the Love of God, spread through His people, will overcome the enemy in any situation.
It is only after casting our anxiety on Him and accepting the strength He freely offers, that we are able to break the hold the enemy attempts to gain on us through cowardly low blows, temptation, and lies, and STAND FIRM. It is only as we stand firm on our Rock that we are able to echo Jacob's words from Genesis 50:20, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good…”
God can and will take every tear we cry, every scream of agony, every moment of torment that we endure and use it for good. He will turn the attack of the enemy back on the sender and our perseverance will bring Glory and Honor to His Holy Name.
When we "count it all joy," we aren't happy about the pain. We are finding joy in the fact that our Creator, the one true God above all other Elohim, is a promise-keeper. We have joy because the victory was won long before the fire was ever lit.
So, if you’re in the furnace today, don’t just endure it. Worship through it. Your joy is your greatest weapon, and your praise is a declaration that the enemy has already lost.