Has God Failed Us?: Reflections on James 1, Part 1
Do you ever feel like a Debbie Downer because you never have any good news when people ask you how you’re doing? Yeah, me too. I’ve been wanting to make a happy blog post. But I want it to be honest, and I don’t have anything happy to say. Despite all my talk about the invitation of the Psalms to be honest about the hard and the ugly, issuing post after post of lament and very little “praise”, makes me feel like I’m failing God. Even worse, feeling as though I have little circumstantial reason topraise, I am tempted to believe the lie that God is failing me.
Maybe God Has Failed to Meet Your Expectations, but He Hasn’t Failed You
To fail means to fall short of an expectation. Have I failed to meet Biblical expectations in how I view my circumstances and the emotions I feel in response to them? Has God fallen short of who He has said He is and what He has said He would do? Not at all. In fact, this would be impossible because God, being Truth Himself, cannot lie. Hebrews 6:18 says that there are “two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.” In other words, the inability for God to lie offers us the certainty that God has not failed to uphold His promises, but rather we have failed to truly understand them. The Bible doesn’t expect me to make three happy posts for every sad one, nor does it offer us the expectation that God will even out what we consider to be the “good” and what we consider to be the “bad” in this life. The Bible puts this reality on center stage in the lives of Job, Habbakuk, Daniel, Paul, and the disciples after Jesus’ ascension.
Consider Habakkuk. After crying out to God for help, God responds that He is in fact going to bring help, but it will come in the form of a wrecking ball- The vile, violent, and destructive Babylonians.
Consider the Words of Jesus, God Himself, declaring that “in this world you will have trouble”. He didn’t say “but don’t worry because I’ll make you happy”. He said “but take heart, I have overcome the world”. Stick with it, your ultimate restoration is coming even if the scales are tipping toward trial and suffering now.
Consider the book of James, which opens up with the inevitability of a vast array of trials:
Count it all joy, my brothers, when [not if] you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have it’s full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (1:2-4).
The Bible Sees, Understands, and Anticiptes Your Hardship
As a brief aside, after doing a little bit of study on the original Greek of this text, I felt particularly “seen” by this verse. The phrase “when you meet”— περιπέσητε (peripipto)— can also be translated “when you fall into”. It means to be encompassed or surrounded, as if by robbers. It is the same word used in the parable of Good Samaritan in Luke 10:30 — A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. The Message version paraphrases this verse well: Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. And the trials? They are ποικίλος (poikilos)— meaning that they are multi-colored, diverse, complex, and intricate. So taken as a whole, this phrase means that you can expect to be surrounded by complex trouble. This is certainly something that parents of children with developmental and/or psychiatric disabilities can certainly relate to. On one side you are facing the onslaught of difficult behaviors, while on the other you are buckling under the weight of guilt and shame over feeling disappointed in your child. From another angle the financial burden of caring for the needs of your child weighs heavy, while from yet another the insurance companies bombard you with busy work for reimbursement for care. Yet another attacker comes in the form of loneliness, as you lift your proverbial shield to protect yourself from comments, advice, and criticism that simply doesn’t understand the life that you live. Loneliness turns out to be a multiheaded beast as another of its nasty heads creeps into your marriage, where you likely feel disconnected due to the demands of daily life. Sleepless nights turn into relentless days… over and over and over again. Blow after blow. One complexity after another. Ad nauseam.
Coming back to the main point: The Bible in general, and James in specific sees, understands, and anticipates the suffering you find yourself in. It also sees (even when you can’t), understands (even when it seems paradoxical) and anticipates the relief and reward that comes at the end of the journey.
God Doesn’t Sugarcoat This Life, and Neither Should You
If you’ll indulge me for a paragraph, a slice of World War II history paints a picture of the sober-minded confidence I believe the Bible has to offer. In The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance during the Blitz, Erik Larson explains the candor and confidence with which Winston Churchill addressed the people of London during the blitz, a period of time during which night after night brought devastation and destruction from German bombing. Churchill won the hearts of the people by admitting to the darkness of the hour, while maintaining authentic grit and courage to fight. As France weakened under the onslaught of the German forces and withdrawal of British troops was inevitable, Churchill gave a speech on the eve of the infamous battle of Dunkirk. He began by saying “I speak to you for the first time as Prime Minister in a solemn hour for the life of our country” (35). Larson points out that he continued his speech with a “pattern that he would follow throughout the war, offering a sober appraisal of facts, tempered with reason for optimism.” Churchill went on: “It would be foolish to disguise the gravity of the hour. It would be still more foolish to lose heart and courage” (35). His honesty gave weight to his strength, and the people followed suit. Churchill didn’t sugarcoat the situation. He gave it to the people straight. So much so that when he asked for courage, determination, and practical service, the people trusted him enough to give it.
God isn’t in the business of sugar coating this life, and neither should we. He is in the business of telling the truth, and we should be in the business of believing Him. It isn’t enough to believe in God, we must also believe Him. Since He says trials willcome, we should not be shaken when they do, as if something unexpected is happening, as if God isn’t keeping His end of the bargain. And when we are in the midst of those trials and He promises a crown to those who remain steadfast through them instead of succumbing to the lures of the world, we should believe Him for that too. Did you notice how Hebrews 6:18, mentioned above ends? After offering the doctrinal truth that God cannot lie, the author tells us why this truth is so incredibly practical: God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. Our confidence in His Word assures us that we (and He!) are not failing when we suffer, and that our steadfastness through trial will not be put to shame, our hope is secure.
Read the opening verses of James again: Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have it’s full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (1:2-4). This reward reaches its pinnacle in verse 12: Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
Let the Scriptures sober you and sustain you. Let God’s honesty adjust your expectations for this life and let His promises elevate them for the next. Hold onto His Words through the the trials which consistently remind you that your hardship will produce steadfastness, perfection, and completion. And as you hold on for dear life, I am sure that you will find that His Words are actually holding you, carrying you, one day at a time, to your crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him.