The To-Do List in Perspective

Here are some verses for those of us obsessed with “to-do” lists to think about:

Now, listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:13-15

Does this mean I should never plan? (I’ve always found the balance between planning and leaving things up to God a bit hard to strike.) I actually think the point here is not “no planning.” I think the point is “go ahead and plan but keep it in perspective.” And what is the proper perspective? That life on earth is just a mist and that God is ultimately the one in control. He is the creator and sustainer of the universe who works all things according to His will--and me, well after all is said and done, I am only me.

If I could manage to keep this perspective, a lot of seemingly problematic things that God commands me to do would begin to fall into line quite naturally. Like that order not to worry about food and clothes. Or the tendency to boast, thinking myself better than my neighbor. If I could keep this perspective in mind I might just catch a glimpse of what it would mean to love God with all my heart, soul, strength and mind.

The Wow of the Life of Faith

This blog generally focuses on the "how" of living a life of faith, rather than the WOW! of what God has done for me. That's because it's the "how" that's the tough part for me. But every now and then it's good to focus on the wow for a few moments. Check out this devotional from the Purpose Driven Life people that says it all so well.

Perseverance Through Trials #2

So I want to persevere through my little daily trials….But what does “persevering” really mean? I mean, I kind of get it if I happen to be thrown into a lion’s den or am told I must renounce my faith or go to prison. But what does it mean when all I am really dealing with is kids who got up on the wrong side of the bed, too much to do at the office, too much to do at home and a checkbook that won’t balance?

I think James gives us a clue in chapter 1 after he talks about the various kinds of trials we may face. James 1:21-22 says, “Therefore get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you….Do what it says.” James puts the same thought in even more practical terms a few verses later in James 1:27: look after widows and orphans and keep yourself from being polluted by the world.

This is essentially the way a dedicated athlete perseveres, right? He or she gets rid of lazy habits, accepts coaching and keeps on practicing. This is what dieters do too. They stop eating junk food, get on a diet plan and start eating right and exercising. In fact, we really do know what perseverance is all about and most of us have done it many times over in various contexts. As students we turned off the TV, listened to the teacher and hit the books in time for exams. When we became parents, we gave up certain freedoms, read childcare books, asked everyone and anyone for advice and started slogging through the days and nights with our kids. When I discovered I had inherited monstrously high cholesterol I read everything I could and then followed the advice I had read--which of course said to get rid of some old habits and start doing some other better things. I persevered and my cholesterol began to improve.

Perseverance is the same in our spiritual lives as well: to keep on getting rid of junk that we shouldn’t be doing, to absorb all the information we can about what we should be doing, and then to do it. And to keep on doing it no matter what the circumstances that arise that day: whether we feel uncertain about how to face a particular situation (James 1:5), whether we feel rich or poor (James 1:9-10); whether we feel tempted to sin (James 1:13-14), whether we feel angry or annoyed (James 1:19), or any of the other myriad feelings and situations that distract us from the goal of getting rid of the bad stuff in our lives and doing the good stuff.

I can actually move through a typical day in suburbia keeping these two goals in mind: getting rid of the bad stuff and doing the good stuff that I have learned I should do. And I have a feeling it will be good practice for the future and the “larger” trials that also strike typical suburban households: lay-offs and financial set backs, rebellious children, the almost inevitable crises that will come with aging, etc…..

Perseverance Through Trials

This idea of “perseverance” through trials has always sounded sort of scary to me. It congers up images of Job or foreign missionaries or Christians in Buddhist and Muslim countries. Very far from my fairly comfortable life in suburbia where the big concerns are how to get two kids to two different activities on opposite sides of town on Saturday morning and whether or not my son will get placed in an accelerated math class.

But I’ve been reading the first part of James and learning a practical thing or two about perseverance. First of all, James says we will face trials of many kinds. (James 1:2). (Perhaps James had in mind that some of us would face prison and persecution while some of us would just deal with cranky neighbors and broken air conditioners.)

James then goes on to talk about several different sorts of trials and—surprise, surprise—I do deal with these sorts of things in my little life:

• Lack of direction or wisdom (James 1:5-8)
• Feeling poorer than my neighbors (James 1:9-11)
• Temptation (James 1:13-15)
• Things that make me angry (James 1:19-20)

This are the types of things that each day send us spiraling in a different direction than God has in mind for us and these are the things that He wants us to persevere through, promising that perseverance will result in spiritual lives that are mature and complete, not lacking in anything. (James 1:4)

Now that puts a whole new perspective on the little things that go wrong each day in my life. I can actually face them as challenges that will eventually lead to maturity in Christ.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking in anything." James 1:2-4