daily java

Daily Java:

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.  (James 1:12)

As any bodybuilder. He will say, “No pain, no gain.”

You cannot build muscles with out resistance and suffering. It is impossible to build muscles from a distance with no problems.

The same goes for anything worth having. To get it, you have to work at it. A good marriage is only gained by people who are willing to have the arguments and disagreements, work through them and love each other anyway.

Knowledge is only gained through arduous study, learning, sometimes to the point of headaches and lack of sleep. Without it, you only gain a surface knowledge that is soon lost.

There was a scene on the old Waltons’ television series that I always remember. I didn’t watch the show that much, but I happened to tune in to this episode. The old man and old woman are sitting on the porch. She is griping about something, as she usually did. He mentions another woman, which irritates her more. She says something to the order of, I guess I am just not pretty.

His response: no, old woman, you are like that walnut tree in the yard. You have gone through the storms of life and have taken everything life has had to throw at you and you still stand tall and majestic. You are beautiful like that tree. That shuts her up.

Suffering produces perseverance, Romans 5 says. We know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (5:3-5)

Without the suffering, our faith is shallow, untried, untested. And that makes us shallow also. The one whose faith has been tested is the one who is truly strong.

It is through that testing that strength comes, that depth comes. Just as love is stronger when it is tested, so is faith.

Faith is a muscle. Unless it is exercised, it is small. It is like the plant Jesus spoke of in Matthew 13:5-6: It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. When there is no root, there can be no nourishment.

There is no room for water or anything else where there is no depth.

You see people like that occasionally. They look so strong and spiritual, but one day, they quit it all, leave their families and totally turn their backs on God and goodness. They just had no real depth. And when a real problem came along, they folded.

That is why the plant in Psalm 1 is no strong and vital: planted by streams of water,  which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. With a good water supply and roots going deep into the ground, that plant is going to strong and healthy even in times of difficulty.

When trials and problems come, and they will, know that it is giving you strength. You are becoming a spiritual bodybuilder, able to leap tall buildings at a single bound, more powerful than a locomotive – or something like that.

Anyway, you are going to be a lot better off when a bad thing happens to you than the one who never has had any real problems.

Suffering is never fun, and that is one reason why I have never been that good a bodybuilder. I never enjoyed the suffering needed to get there. But it does make us strong in Jesus and in his grace, that is for sure.