The Sift before the Shift

 

What can we learn from trials? There are three important lessons we can pick from James 1:1-4.

Character development, we will agree, is a difficult act to follow compared to salvation and/or deliverance. We as God’s people are invited to walk with Him in a place we never new before. So many times we stumble along the way, not only because the devil tripped us up, but because our character hasn’t matured and matched up to who we are in Christ.

For this reason, God allows us to be sifted before He can shift us to another level in our walk with Him. Tests are necessary for promotion. Joseph had Potiphar’s house before he had Egypt. Moses herded sheep before he led Israel. David faced a bear and a lion before he met Goliath.

The Lord takes us through a sifting before a shifting.

First, He aligns events we must go through so that our faith is tried.

In James 1, verse 2 speaks of various trials. Apostle Peter and the Psalmist agree (1 Peter 1:7 and Psalm 34:19) that our faith will be tried. Like gold, many afflictions will come but our Lord will always deliver pass us from them all. This brings us to our first lesson: We must learn to recognize our defining moments.

Secondly, the Lord has designed trials to prepare us. The next verse 3 says trials worketh patience. Faith, a fruit of the Spirit, according to Galatians 5:22, is developed through patient endurance. God uses trials to develop resistance in us. There are areas in our lives that we have designated as no-go zones. Yet these are the exact points the enemy attacks and causes damage in our lives. Tests expose weak points. God wants all areas tested so that you know your limits and this helps you to surrender to His will.

I recently build a polythene cover to protect my tomato seedlings from pests. But strong winds threatened to blow down my makeshift structure. I took a knife and began to slash wildly at the sheets. My daughter asked me what was wrong. I explained to her that the sheet resisted the wind, but the lacerations gave the wind a space to go through. Lesson two: True strength comes from total surrender.

 Thirdly, the Lord allows your sifting which actually prepares you for ministry and heaven. Verse 4 speaks of completion. We all must attain the state of being blameless, the bishop-like character that Daniel exhibited. This is the state the church must attain before we get to Revelation 21:27. Lesson three: Allow God to sift you and shift you to where you should be.

And that is the value of trials. They sift our faith.

2015

12/11

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Life's Lessons

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