Today, we're gonna take on a posture of peace
by letting steadfastness have its full effect on us.
Hi, I'm Lindsay Van Zale.
Posture is a podcast that serves a short, audible fist bump
to remind you that God is in everything.
Together, we're gonna be emboldened
to take a daily posture of perfect peace.
James chapter one, verses two through four says this.
Count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds,
for you know that the testing of your faith
produces steadfastness,
and let steadfastness have its full effect,
that you may be perfect and complete,
lacking in nothing.
You know, that word perfect also means whole,
whole and complete.
I don't know about you,
but for me, the biggest test to my faith,
the biggest trials that I have faced
has always been rooted in some form of lack,
whether it's been a lack of finances or resources,
a lack of friendships or community,
a lack of, you know, knowing all the details,
not having all the information,
a lack of certainty in something or someone,
a lack of good health or wellness.
These are the types of things
that are so rooted in the testing of my faith
because lack always threatens my promise of wholeness.
You know, it leaves me asking questions
that are fear-filled like,
will my life ever be normal again?
Will I ever recover from this?
Will I ever regain what's been lost or stolen from me?
And it's in those times of lack
that I find reading the word of God
and embracing his promises are especially difficult.
And I used to think it was because I was being difficult,
but I realized, you know,
lack is offended by the promises of God
because they are rich in abundance,
which is the exact opposite of lack.
So the promises of God by their own abundant nature
are a total threat to the lack in our lives.
So in these times of lack, the word of God,
the promises of God sometimes seem to cut especially deep
and there's this temptation to believe things like,
oh, that's really far-fetched
or that's really hard to believe,
or I don't know, I don't understand this.
This is all so confusing.
I don't think I can understand
what the word of God is trying to tell me.
And I realized that those thoughts
are actually not my thoughts
because the Bible says that
I have been given the mind of Christ,
you have been given the mind of Christ,
and Christ would never think that way
about his own promises.
Those thoughts of doubt and unbelief,
that is the lack in my circumstance,
the lack in me responding.
It's the lack trying to survive and stay alive.
But the word of God, it's cutting it off.
And you know, James 1 used to be one of those offensive,
threatening, confusing chapters for me.
I used to think that when he said,
count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds,
that he was saying, be happy that you're in pain.
And you know, friend,
we don't have to be happy about suffering.
I used to think that that's what this verse was about,
but it's not a command to play some kind of glad game
where we have to pretend to get excited about bad things.
No, that's not kingdom.
That doesn't align with the nature of God.
When pain comes, you don't have to say,
I'm so glad that this pain has come to me.
But what you can say with a full expectation of goodness
is I am so glad for what will become of me.
Because while in the world suffering takes away
and depletes and drains,
for the people of the kingdom, suffering only strengthens us.
If suffering is present in your life today,
upgrade is on the way,
and you will not walk away empty-handed.
You know, I believe right now
what's going on with this global health crisis
is that we are perfectly positioned.
to receive the promise in James 1, a steadfastness, a perseverance that when it
takes full effect will make us whole and will ensure that we are lacking in
nothing. God is offering so many upgrades to his people right now and I'm asking
the Lord, what is my upgrade in all of this? You know, whatever you're lacking
the most of right now, whatever is feeling the most broken or the least
whole, whatever promise is feeling most offensive to you right now, perhaps
that is the very thing that God is wanting to upgrade in you right now.
Isn't that an amazing thought? This is what James 1 is saying. Look, you don't
have to take my word for it, take God's word for it. It's right here. I cannot
find one single scripture that ensures our total destruction or our total
depletion. I can only find promise after promise, guaranteeing our freedom and
guaranteeing our wholeness. We serve a radically kind and good God. So today,
let's not just be hearers of the word as James 1 talks about later in this
chapter, but let's be doers of it by embracing it and putting it into action
in our lives. Let's actually count it all joy. Let's get excited about what God is
up to right now. We don't have to be excited about the virus, about the
crisis going on, but we can be fully expectant that he is turning this crisis
on its head and he is upgrading it to the benefit of those who love him. Let's
actually believe more in God's goodness today than the enemy's garbage. Today, you
are being strengthened. You are being made whole. And when all this suffering
settles, you will be lacking nothing. The promise of perfect peace is found in
Isaiah 26 3. And in Hebrew, it is shalom shalom, meaning complete wholeness.
Nothing missing, nothing broken. This is who you are in Jesus. Let's declare this
together. Today, I am kept in perfect peace. With my whole heart, I trust the
Lord. I am strong. I am victorious. I am whole. Remember, friend, you are a living
testimony of Jesus's ultimate win. Not because of anything you did, but because
of what he did for you. With every step you take today, you're putting Jesus's
victory on display and Satan's defeat on replay.