Consider it a sheer gift (emphasis mine) friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.
James 1:2-4
I read this passage in March of this year while on a trip to Tahoe with our family. I felt like God was speaking to me through it, but I didn’t understand as everything seemed to be going pretty well at the time. Three days later Bob and I were served with papers of the first-ever lawsuit against our architectural firm.
It was a project we had worked on 10 years ago, and on which we only had a minor role. We knew the clients had a lot of trouble with the contractor and that a suit had been going on for four years, but we had so far been in the clear. The owners had settled with the contractor and some of the other parties for their maximum insurance amounts, but they were still looking for more money to pay their rebuilding costs and we were now being dragged in.
We have had many agonizing days trying to determine if we had done anything wrong (we still don’t think we have), many sleepless nights worrying about whether they could take our house (we had no insurance at the time and architects are personally liable beyond their business liability), and many moments of questioning our career path, our current projects, and our future in light of this suit.
I thank God for that passage as I really believe it was His gift to me in preparation for what was to come. I have come back to it again and again – to reread, to remember, and to claim His promise that there is some greater purpose in all of this – to give me hope.
Last Friday, after our first conference in front of the judge, it became apparent that, after nine months of legal wrangling, we are still nowhere near a resolution. They were setting conference dates in March of next year. I got very depressed as I was really hopeful that it might all go away soon and life could return to “normal”. On Sunday morning before church I remembered a lesson I had recently taught the kids – the story of Abraham and Sarah, and God’s clear-as-day promise to give them a son and to bless the world through their generations. Abraham, already an old man of 85, had to wait another 15 years for God to fulfill His promise. Fifteen years! OK, maybe the nine long months I’ve waited are not enough. I still have more to learn, more to be reminded of, and more to grow.
The verse above continues:
If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help and won’t be condescend to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, beliveingly, without a second thought.
James 1:5,6
Our hope is based on God’s unfailing faithfulness, on His goodness, and on His promises to answer our prayers. We must continue to trust Him, even if the wait is long, even if the answers are uncertain. There is purpose behind everything He does and His Word is truly a gift to us.
today's meditation was written by Christine Boles.
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