Carpe Diem

James 1:1-8 (6/23/14)

    Lately, I've been going through a lot of struggles in my life. I realized that I've been dealing with these struggles for a long time, but I had been hiding them for so long from others that eventually I had started to hide them from myself. I always hid my struggles from everyone by putting on the same  costume everyday; a fun, quirky, eccentric teenager who was always happy 24/7.  After a while I  became so good at hiding behind my costume that I even started to trick myself into believing the lies that I told everyone else. I always told everyone that I was fine, that my life was SO amazing. But the truth is, is that my life is the complete opposite. I struggle with depression, self-appearance, weight, self-worth, friends, family, my relationship with my Dad, and who I really am. I've even thought about cutting myself and killing myself. But, then one day out of the blue everything became so clear. I don't know how I suddenly had a Eureka! moment, but I truly believe that it's all because of the Holy Spirit.  I realized that God puts us through all of these struggles in life so that we can persevere, and grow in our relationship with Him. You're probably wondering, "Why doesn't God just tell us without all of the suffering?" I'll tell you. It's because when we persevere through all of the struggles God puts in our way, we spiritually grow stronger so that after we've been through what seems like a life-time of struggles, we'll be strong enough to do what God has in store for us. So, basically what I'm saying is that everyone struggles. If we didn't struggle, we wouldn't be strong enough spiritually to do what God has in store for us in the future. Without God by your side, your struggling will be useless because you won't be spiritually strong enough to go through it all. James 1:2-4 says this, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." I think that these verses prove my point right here. So, when you're facing your struggles remember that at the end of it all, it's for the Lord's plan He's put down. Just for you. 

    If you keep on reading past those verses you will stumble across James 1:5-8 which says, "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask, 'God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But, when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is the like the wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to recieve anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.'" I believe that those particular verses are simply stating that if you're weak in your relationship with God and need to grow in Him, He will always be there to talk to. But, when you do this, you need to give all your faith in God because He either wants you to give it your all, or He would rather you just not even try. He's like that because God wants disciples that He can count on no matter what trial you have to face. For example, if a "lukewarm" Christian reads the Bible, they will only read through it and not even actually understand any of it. So, it would have been a complete waste. But, a disciple of Christ that is on fire for God reads the Bible they actually study and understand it. Then, they go out and use it to make more disciples who will make more disciples, and so on. See the difference? God wants disciples who are going to do more than just go to church and sit in the pew every Sunday morning. God wants disciples who take what they learn from church and go out into the world and use it to make disciples, who make disciples, who make disciples. So, what are you going to do with God's word? Use it, or just hear it?