Facing Tensions

MEMORY VERSE: “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.” —James 1:12

ROMANS 12:1,2; EPHESIANS 6:10-20; JAMES 1

OUR present society is one of many tensions, and even we, as Bible students, must face the rigors of everyday living. But there is a difference with the Lord’s people, because they have an inner appreciation of the necessity of overcoming the trials and temptations in their lives.

The child of God realizes the full importance of James’s admonition when he says, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations: knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.” (1:2,3) Trials are necessary to prepare and prove the footstep follower of the Lord, and although there are many setbacks or partial victories along the narrow way, the pupil in the school of Christ learns a lesson, the lesson of patience; for, as the apostle continues, “Let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” (1:4) The word perfect as it is used in this verse means “complete,” or “of full age,” and suggests further the growth that may be expected along the lines of a Christlike character and the acceptance of the Lord’s overruling in their lives.

We all wish from time to time, no doubt, that the trials and testings of the new creature were over; however, it is an essential part of our calling to demonstrate our loyalty to the Lord and our worthiness, through his merit, of a share in his millennial kingdom of the future. So let us rejoice if our trials have brought us lessons of any kind that are profitable to us and that have tended to make us stronger in character, more firm in our determination to acquire truth and righteousness, and more aware of our fleshly weaknesses.

Even those conflicts which have resulted in only partial victories have, perhaps, been to our advantage and will serve to bring us closer to the Lord in our Christian walk. Indeed, even experiences which resulted in absolute failure may have been overruled by our loving Heavenly Father for our highest welfare.

If we could keep in mind that every trial, every testing, and every difficulty in life is permitted to come upon the Lord’s people to prove their loyalty and to see whether or not their characters are rooted and grounded in righteousness, it would put all these difficult experiences in a new light before us, and it would go a long way in helping us fight a good fight of faith in the narrow way. If this was the perspective that every child of God had for every trial he came in contact with, it would surely result in a blessing and consequent growth in Christlikeness.

The Apostle Paul in Hebrews 12:5-11 speaks of the chastenings of the Lord. The definition of the word chastenings according to Strong’s Concordance is tutorage, that is, education or training. In the sixth verse of this chapter Paul states, “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” And in verse 11 he continues, “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” If we can keep in our minds that our Lord as our Forerunner, was tested and tried and was made perfect by the things which he suffered, so the servant is not above his Lord and must be willingly submissive to the Lord’s tutorage.

Speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit the Apostle James, in the words of our memory text, holds out the promise that the overcomer will receive the crown of life, which is in accord with a statement from the Revelator (Rev. 2:10), “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” Words cannot convey, neither can we comprehend, the magnitude of this great reward other than to say that if faithful we will receive life on the highest plane, the divine nature.

With this reward before us, let us consider the inspiring thought from the great Apostle Paul who encourages us with the statement that “our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”—II Cor. 4:17,18

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