Consider it pure joy...

Sometimes life is hard. We strive to make our daily efforts serve God and bring glory to Him, but there are times, such as now, when the constant barrage of annoying difficulties or true hardships seem to put everything else on hold. Or at least make the daily ministry feel muddled against trying to get all the side problems sorted out. Since Lincoln and Jenny left, I am carrying the burden for the OVC project in addition to the rest of my responsibilities. Derek is helping where he can, but my load is heavy and I feel distracted from what I'm supposed to be doing. God's been meeting my needs before I can even say the prayers regarding them and I'm so humbled by that, but we've still got to make some decisions on how this will all work out.

This morning the Lord reminded me that these hardships produce perseverance which produces our greatest desire - maturity! Oh, to be truly mature in Christ. As I turned to the source of His word on this, James 1, I couldn't help but laugh. On my lap, underneath my Bible is the Beth Moore Bible study we are currently working through. Can you believe it is the one on James? Of course it is, because that's what God does for me. He doesn't let me wander aimlessly. He doesn't let me feel isolated or unsure. He speaks to me again and again and again until my thick head (which if you know my family, I come by rightly) finally accepts the fullness of what He is saying.

James 1:5 speaks of receiving wisdom from Him. We've prayed for this for years and regarding so much He has given it! But we have to continually apply obedience and action to the wisdom! So that in times of trial we can turn our anxiety into fervent prayers and full expectation of not just how He will solve the problems, but for the maturity He is bringing us.