Adversity is good

Instead of the usual Verse of the Day, the blog entry for December 22, 2018 takes a close look at the benefits of the adverse situations we face each day with an original Quote of the Day:

“Adversity is good. It may not seem to be good to us at the moment, but ultimately it will be good for us if we wait and see what God had in mind.”

In thinking about the topic, James 1:2-4 came to mind, rendered this way in The Voice translation:

Don’t run from tests and hardships, brothers and sisters. As difficult as they are, you will ultimately find joy in them; if you embrace them, your faith will blossom under pressure and teach you true patience as you endure. And true patience brought on by endurance will equip you to complete the long journey and cross the finish line—mature, complete, and wanting nothing.

I also recall a previous post discussing this same passage where Bishop Charles Mellette of Christian Provision Ministries in Sanford, NC explained that as we face trials on every hand, we are “Coming through Stronger.” He reminded us that we will encounter various trials; however, “The problem is not the problem but our perception of the problem.”

He went on to explain what he meant by trials: the “trying, testing, the putting to the proof of something.” They are experimental actions applied in order to obtain results. Trials involve being subjected to intense and challenging times that test our motives and values. In the same way that God sent the Children of Israel through the wilderness for an extended period of time in order to test or to prove what was in their hearts, the trials we face prepare us for the next level of service to God. He went on to say, “You will shorten your season of testing or trials if you will only allow your trials to make you stronger.”

The message concluded with a reminder of the blessings and benefits of trials which are a way of life for every believer. Trials forge humility and give birth to perseverance. Indeed, we have the capacity to persevere to see God’s promises come to pass in our lives.
Hebrews 10:36 also offers this reminder in the New Living Translation:

Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.

Knowing this, we can count it all joy when we encounter various fiery trials that test our faith and build patient endurance.

Reflecting on the Quote of the Day and the related verses inspired this response:

Advancing in Adversity

Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
But the LORD delivers him out of them all.
Psalm 34:19

Advancing in adversity is not easy.
As we fight the good fight and patiently endure,
We learn to discern the source of adversity.

We face the common foe of all of humanity.
Like Abraham, we walk by faith, strengthened and secure.
Advancing in adversity is not easy.

No longer in bondage, for we have been set free
And stand in His presence with a heart that is pure.
We learn to discern the kind of adversity.

Judge the source, whether of God or the enemy;
Recall we live in a fallen world—that’s for sure.
Advancing in adversity is not easy.

Does a predicament or problem confront us?
In every test and trial God reveals His purpose.
We learn to discern the kind of adversity.

Each day we design and refine our strategy,
Following in the steps of Christ as we mature.
Advancing in adversity is not easy.
We learn to discern the kind of adversity.

We close with this scripture memory song based on James 1:2-4:

Coming through stronger

In a challenging message delivered during a midweek Bible study called “Hour of Power,” Bishop Charles Mellette encouraged the congregation at Christian Provision Ministries in Sanford, NC that as we face trials on every hand, we are “Coming through Stronger.” In unfolding the opening verses of James 1:2-4, he reminded us that we will encounter various trials; however, “The problem is not the problem but our perception of the problem.”

He went on to explain what he meant by trials which are the “trying, testing, the putting to the proof of something.” They are experimental actions applied in order to obtain results. Trials involve being subjected to intense and challenging times that test our motives and values. In the same way that God sent the Children of Israel through the wilderness for an extended period of time in order to test or to prove what was in their hearts, the trials we face prepare us for the next level of service to God. He went on to say, “You will shorten your season of testing or trials if you will only allow your trials to make you stronger.”

The time of ministry in the Word of God brought to mind a previous blog post based on a similar teaching by Bishop Mellette discussing the same passage from James 1:2-4, rendered here in the New Living Translation:

Faith and Endurance

² Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. ³ For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. ⁴ So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

Included in that teaching was the whole idea of trials as tests, the inspiration behind this poem written from the perspective of a “student/teacher”

All Tests

“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and

Challenges come at you from all sides.” [The Message]

 James 1:2

 

With zeal we make our calling and election sure,

As we attempt to complete yet another test.

As ever eager students, we will do our best.

You promised good to us, your Word our hope secure.

Search us and know us—discern that our motives are pure.

Our souls now anchored in hope; in You we find rest.

You are our light, even when times seem their darkest.

Just as a patient father seeks to reassure

Children, so the Master Teacher shows His design:

All tests are formed not to punish but to refine.

Despite shortcomings and failures that we have made,

You are gracious and generous each time You grade.

Knowing this, trials we face we resist no longer.

This too shall pass, as we are coming through stronger.

The message concluded with a reminder of the blessings and benefits of trials which are a way of life for every believer. Trials forge humility and give birth to perseverance. Indeed, we have the capacity to persevere to see God’s promises come to pass in our lives.

Hebrews 10:36 also offers this reminder in the New Living Translation:

Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.

Knowing this, we can count it all joy when we encounter various fiery trials that test our faith and build patient endurance.

We close with this scripture memory song based on James 1:2-4:

Come forth as gold

 

The Verse of the Day for March 2, 2018 is found in Job 23:10-11 (NIV):

But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside.

A previous blog entry made reference to a life-changing teaching from Dr. David Jeremiah, who taught on the refining fire of God more than ten years ago. Here are comments from an excerpt from a journal entry made following the teaching:

It is one of the most moving tapes I have heard, as he relates how God puts us through the process of refining in order to extract the precious metal from within us.  In the same way that a refiner breaks the stones and sends them through the fire over and over again, so God sends us through the fires of life in order to extract and purify the gold within our souls.  God removes our need to feel secure, to be in control, and to survive by putting in situations that try us, “fiery temptations” that prove who we really are.  God controls the entire process, determining the timing, the temperature, the target, and the terms of the fire. Our tendency is respond with a series of questions as to “why?”: “why me?”, “why now?”, and “why not someone else?”  Like children, we continually ask why when God, as a good parent, is not obligated to explain that which children cannot understand at the time they ask “why.”  The only questions we should be asking are “What are you trying to teach me?” and “What are you trying to change in me?”

In reflecting upon the passage from Job, my mind is flooded with an understanding of what is transpiring when like Job, we are tested on every hand. Another related passage also comes to mind from James 1:2-4 (NLT):

[Faith and Endurance] Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.⁴ So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

This particular passage also reminds us that as we wait on the Lord, we are not to waiting in a state of anxiety, not in a state of doubt or fear, as we encounter fiery trials.  Instead, the state in which we wait is the state of patience—we are patiently waiting.

In reflecting upon these passages, the whole idea of trials or troubles as tests comes to mind, as I recall a poem written from the perspective of a “student/teacher”:

All Tests

“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and

Challenges come at you from all sides.” [The Message]

 James 1:2

 

With zeal we make our calling and election sure,

As we attempt to complete yet another test.

As ever eager students, we will do our best.

God promised good to us; His Word our hope secure.

Lord, search us and know us—discern our motives are pure.

Our souls now anchored in hope; in you we find rest.

You are our light, even when times seem their darkest.

As a patient father who seeks to reassure

Children, so the Master Teacher shows His design:

All tests are formed not to punish but to refine.

Despite shortcomings and failures we all have made,

You are gracious and generous each time You grade.

With each assignment, we seek to excel, not just pass,

But graduate with honors, at the top of our class.

Hebrews 10:36 also offers this reminder in the New Living Translation:

Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.

Knowing this, we can count it all joy when we encounter various fiery trials that test our faith and build patient endurance. Like Job, we, too, shall “come forth as gold,” as Harvest Worship Band reminds us:

The patience of Job

On May 17, 2017 let us take a look at the one of the “longest words in the dictionary”: “patience.” Although it has only eight letters, this enduring virtue has a familiar synonym “longsuffering.” In teaching children a Scripture Memory Song of the fruit of the spirit in the King James Version, the first syllable of “l-o-n-n-n-n-g-g-g-g-g-g-suffering” was sung strongly for several seconds in an exaggerated way to emphasize the meaning of the term. In looking at patience in the Bible, we can learn much about this essential component of life.

Recently the Verse of the Day looked at James 1: 2-4, a passage that ends with a reference to patience:

“But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”

That blog entry also brought to mind a more extensive discussion of patience from which the following excerpt is taken:

The passage pinpoints the importance of the character trait of patience or endurance or perseverance, steadfastly bearing up under and remaining faithful while waiting. Patience is a fruit of the Spirit that should be evident in our lives, as we wait on the Lord. One of the words related to “patience”  or being patient as a verb means “to stay, remain, abide”, literally abiding under; figuratively, to undergo, i.e. bear (trials), have fortitude, to persevere — abide, endure.  The word translated patience as a noun is also translated: endurance, patient enduring, perseverance, and steadfastness.

Another passage from James stresses the importance of patience, providing an excellent example of both the verb and the noun in a particular individual who embodies the character trait of patient endurance:

James 5:7-11 (AMP):

Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. ⁸You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. ⁹Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be ^condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! ¹⁰My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. ¹¹Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

In discussing Job, whom Chuck Swindoll described as a “man of heroic endurance,” we also note some distinctive features of the Book of Job. Although it is not listed with the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, E.W. Bullinger and other Bible scholars believe that the first book written was the Book of Job, believed to be composed by Moses. Job, was, indeed, a real person, and his account is one of the first demonstrations of many spiritual principles: God is “full of compassion and tender mercy” and that he rewards those who demonstrate “patience.”

Recall Job 42:10:

And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the     LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.

Nate Wolf  in The Gatekeepers: Whatever God Can Get Through You, He Will Get to You further comments about the classic Biblical example of endurance:

Job’s patience was the golden secret that helped him overcome the pain he faced. Patience is more than just having the ability to not become angry in a difficult situation. Patience is the power that will carry you through the painful moments of life into the pleasurable moments of life. . . . The patience of God within you will always outlast the pain that’s trying to come upon you. .  . . Patience is the power that will keep you in the proper place and mindset, during discomfort or pain, until you possess your final promise and reach your ultimate purpose.

This discussion of the importance of patience also brings this to mind:

A Prayer for Patience

“My suggestion for people in a season of birth or 

is to write out a prayer for patience and pray it every day.”  

Graham Cooke

 

For you have need of steadfast patience and endurance,

so that you may perform and fully accomplish the will of God,

and thus receive and carry away [and enjoy to the full] what is promised.

Hebrews 10:36 (Amplified Bible)

 

We look back and pause and then look ahead to see

All that God is and all He plans for us to be.

We still journey down the road less traveled by

And pray that patience may serve as a trusted ally.

We must say “No” to the pressures of this life

And say “Yes” to the rest God gives, despite the strife.

As we stay our minds on Him, we abide in peace.

When we praise God, works of the enemy decrease.

May we remain and not fall by the wayside as some

But like Job wait until at last our change shall come.

Patient endurance seems delayed for some reason,

But fruit abounds to those who wait in this season.

We pray that in this time of transition and shift

That we embrace waiting as a wonderful gift.

We conclude with John Waller offering “While I’m Waiting”:

 

 

 

James 1:2-4: “No want state”

The blog entry for May 10, 2017 is based on the Word or the Phrase  for the Day: “No want state,” a powerful expression used by Bishop Charles Mellette of Christian Provision Ministries in Sanford, NC.  He delivered a life-changing message entitled “A No Want State” based on James 1:2-4:

[Faith and Endurance] Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. ³ For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. ⁴ So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

The New King James Version renders verse 4 this way:

But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

The expression “no-want state” also came to mind, as I recalled a recent conversation with a fellow brother in Christ who shared that he was in the midst of intense spiritual warfare and experiencing challenging circumstances on every hand. In our walk with God, as we press on in our efforts to discover our purpose in the Father  and fulfill our destiny, we encounter all kinds of fiery trials. During these trying times when our faith is being tested, we are building our endurance as we wait on the Lord, who has promised to strengthen us. We, however, are not waiting in a state of anxiety, not in a state of doubt or fear, but we are patiently waiting, as we strive to situate ourselves where we are “perfect and entire, wanting nothing”—in a “no want state,” the title of this poem:

“A No Want State”

 James 1:2-4

 

Right now we are striving to arrive at a “no want state,”

A place of assurance that God alone is in control.

In our zeal to please God, we learn to labor and to wait

While still running to serving the Lord as our life’s highest goal.

Pressed by enemies that seek to steal, kill, and to destroy,

Our ability to trust God is once more put to the test

In every fiery trial we trust God and count it all joy,

Especially in the midst of great turmoil and unrest.

God knows where we are at this time; nothing is by chance.

He has given freely of His spirit that we might know

In Christ we prevail despite any adverse circumstance.

When our faith is tested, our endurance will also grow.

As we yield to patience and allow her to have her way,

We are perfected to stay the course and trust and obey.

Hebrews 10:36 also offers this reminder in the New Living Translation:

Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.

Knowing this, we can count it all joy when we encounter various fiery trials that test our faith and build patient endurance.

The Winans offer this reminder to “Count it all Joy.”

 

No temptation

Revised and re-posted from a year ago, the Verse of the Day for January 18, 2017 speaks of our response to “life’s temptations,” as mentioned in the Classic Edition of the Amplified Bible:

1 Corinthians 10:13:

For no temptation (no trial regarded as enticing to sin), [no matter how it comes or where it leads] has overtaken you and laid hold on you that is not common to man [that is, no temptation or trial has come to you that is beyond human resistance and that is not adjusted and adapted and belonging to human experience, and such as man can bear]. But God is faithful [to His Word and to His compassionate nature], and He [can be trusted] not to let you be tempted and tried and assayed beyond your ability and strength of resistance and power to endure, but with the temptation He will [always] also provide the way out (the means of escape to a landing place), that you may be capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently.

The New Living Translation put it this way:

The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

Here is the rendering in the New Revised Standard Version:

No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.

Logos Research Systems speak of “temptations” not in the limited sense of allurements to sin, but trials or distresses of any kind which test and purify the Christian character. . . . Every possible trial to the child of God is a masterpiece of strategy of the Captain of his salvation for his good.”

A similar expression is used in James 1:2-4 (KJV):

²My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

³ Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

⁴ But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

The expression “divers temptations” can be translated the testing or proving of your faith, In Romans 5:3 we learn that tribulation, another word for temptation, works patience, and patience experience.

In James 1:12 (NLT) we learn that those who patiently endure trials or “temptations” will be rewarded. A “crown of life” awaits the individual who endures trials while carrying out the purposes of God’s plan:

Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

While reflecting upon “temptations” as trials or tests, this poem written from the perspective of a “student/teacher” came to mind:

All Tests

“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and

challenges come at you from all sides.” [The Message]

 James 1:2

 

With zeal we make our calling and election sure,

As we attempt to complete yet another test.

As ever eager students, we will do our best.

You promised good to us, your Word our hope secure.

Search us and know us—discern that our motives are pure.

Our souls now anchored in hope; in you we find rest.

You are our light, even when times seem their darkest.

As a patient father who seeks to reassure

Children, so the Master Teacher shows His design:

All tests are formed not to punish but to refine.

Despite shortcomings and failures that we have made,

You are gracious and generous each time you grade.

With each assignment, we seek to excel, not just pass,

But graduate with honors, the first in our class.

The temptations or tests or trials that we encounter are common to humanity, as we learn to patiently endure. Hebrews 10:36 also offers this reminder in the New Living Translation:

Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.

Knowing this, we can count it all joy when we encounter various temptations or fiery trials that test our faith and build patient endurance.

From the CD “Thank God for Jazz” Tony Monaco offers a jazz vocal interpretation of 1 Corinthians 10:13

 

Situated in a “no-want state”

The Verse of the Day for January 20, 2016 comes from James 1:2-3 (NLT) to which I add verse 4:

2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

In the New Living Translation the words “Faith and Endurance” serve as a preface to this section of Scripture. The passage also brings to mind that as we wait on the Lord, we are not waiting in a state of anxiety, not in a state of doubt or fear, as we encounter life’s fiery “trials” or “troubles” or “tribulations” or “tests.” Instead, the state in which we wait is the state of patience—we are patiently waiting. Not too long ago, I heard a message entitled “A No Want State,” a life-altering teaching related to James 1:2-4 based on the King James Version:

2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

As believers, we strive to situate ourselves where we are “perfect and entire, wanting nothing—in a ‘no-want state,’ ” the title of this poem that opens with the section of scriptures from James 1:2-4:

“A No-want State”
James 1:2-4

Right now we are striving to arrive at a “no-want state,”
A place of assurance that God alone is in control
In our zeal to please God, we learn to labor and to wait
While still running to serving the Lord as life’s highest goal.
Pressed by enemies that seek to steal, kill, and to destroy,
Our ability to trust God is once more put to the test
In every fiery trial we trust God and count it all joy,
Especially in the midst of great turmoil and unrest.
God knows where we are at this time; nothing is by chance.
He has given freely of His spirit that we might know
That in Christ we prevail despite each adverse circumstance.
When our faith is tested, our endurance will also grow.
As we yield to patience and allow her to have her way,
We are perfected to stay the course and trust and obey.

Hebrews 10:36 also offers this reminder in the New Living Translation:

Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.

Knowing this, we can count it all joy when we encounter various fiery trials that test our faith and build patient endurance.

We close as the Winans offer this musical reminder based on the passage from James: “Count it all Joy.”

No temptation

 

The Verse of the Day speaks of our response to “life’s temptations,” as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NLT):

The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

Here is the rendering in the New Revised Standard Version:

No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.

Logos Research Systems speak of “temptations” not in the limited sense of allurements to sin, but trials or distresses of any kind which test and purify the Christian character. . . . Every possible trial to the child of God is a masterpiece of strategy of the Captain of his salvation for his good.”

A similar expression is used in James 1:2-4 (KJV):

2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

The expression “divers temptations” can be translated the testing or proving of your faith, In Romans 5:3 we learn that tribulation, another word for temptation, works patience, and patience experience.

In James 1:12 we learn that those who patiently endure trials or “temptations” will be rewarded. A “crown of life” awaits the individual who endures trials while carrying out the purposes of God’s plan:

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

As I was reflecting upon “temptations” as trials or tests, as I recalled a poem that was written from the perspective of a “student/teacher”

All Tests

“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and
Challenges come at you from all sides.” [The Message]
James 1:2

With zeal we make our calling and election sure,
As we attempt to complete yet another test.
As ever eager students, we will do our best.
You promised good to us, your Word our hope secure.
Search us and know us—discern that our motives are pure.
Our souls now anchored in hope; in you we find rest.
You are our light, even when times seem their darkest.
As a patient father who seeks to reassure
Children, so the Master Teacher shows His design:
All tests are formed not to punish but to refine.
Despite shortcomings and failures that we have made,
You are gracious and generous each time you grade.
With each assignment, we seek to excel, not just pass,
But graduate with honors, the first in our class.

The temptations or tests or trials that we encounter are common to humanity, as we learn to patiently endure. Hebrews 10:36 also offers this reminder in the New Living Translation:

Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.

Knowing this, we can count it all joy when we encounter various temptations or fiery trials that test our faith and build patient endurance.

From the CD “Thank God for Jazz” Tony Monaco offers a jazz vocal interpretation of 1 Corinthians 10:13

A no want state

James 1:2-3 NLT

[Faith and Endurance] Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.

The Verse of the Day for January 20, 2015 brings to mind that as we wait on the Lord, we are not to waiting in a state of anxiety, not in a state of doubt or fear, as we encounter fiery trials. Instead, the state in which we wait is the state of patience—we are patiently waiting. Not too long ago, I heard a message entitled “A No Want State,” a life-altering teaching related to James 1:2-4.

As I was reflecting upon verse 2 I thought of the whole idea of trials as tests, as I recalled a poem that I wrote from the perspective of a “student/teacher”

All Tests

“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and

Challenges come at you from all sides.” [The Message]

James 1:2

 

With zeal I make my calling and election sure,

As I attempt to complete yet another test.

Ever the eager student, I will do my best.

You promised good to me, your Word my hope secure.

Search me and know me—discern that my motives are pure.

My soul now anchored in hope; in you I find rest.

You are my light, even when times seem their darkest.

As a patient father who seeks to reassure

His son, so the Master Teacher shows His design:

All tests are formed not to punish but to refine.

Despite shortcomings and failures that I have made,

You are gracious and generous each time you grade.

With each assignment, I seek to excel, not just pass,

To graduate with honors, the first in my class.

As we encounter all kinds of fiery trials we as we wait on the Lord, we are not to waiting in a state of anxiety, not in a state of doubt or fear, but we strive to situate ourselves where we are perfect and entire, wanting nothing—in a “no want state,” the title of this poem that opens with the section of scriptures from James 1:2-4:

 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

³ Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

⁴ But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

 

“A No Want State”

James 1:2-4

Right now I am striving to arrive at a “no want state,”

A place of assurance that God alone is in control

In my zeal to please God, I learn to labor and to wait

While still running to serving the Lord as my life’s highest goal.

Pressed by enemies that seek to steal, kill, and to destroy,

My ability to trust God is once more put to the test

In every fiery trial I trust God and count it all joy,

Especially in the midst of great turmoil and unrest.

God knows where I am at this time; nothing is by chance.

He has given freely of His spirit that I might know

In Christ I prevail despite any adverse circumstance.

When my faith is tested, my endurance will also grow.

As I yield to patience and allow her to have her way,

I am perfected to stay the course and trust and obey.

 

Hebrews 10:36 also offers this reminder in the New Living Translation:

Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.

Knowing this, we can count it all joy when we encounter various fiery trials that test our faith and build patient endurance.

The Winans offer this reminder to “Count it all Joy.”