Like Water from a Rock

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:2–8)

Here is another of those paradoxes God seems to throw at us sideways: when trouble comes, count it a joy. How insensitive of Him! Doesn’t He know trouble means sorrow, not joy? God might as well command water from a rock as to command joy in the midst of trials.

Come to think of it, God did command water from a rock. And it was indeed in the midst of a trial. When the children of Israel grew thirsty in the wilderness, their response was to complain, whine, despair, panic, and blame. Surely we cannot blame them—I mean, after all, there were millions of them, livestock as well, in the middle of a desert, hot sun scorching them, Arabic winds blowing sand into their eyes and throat, tongues clinging to the roofs of their mouths. Surely if anyone had excuse to complain, it was these poor, suffering, displaced people.

But the God who brought water from the rock in order to quench their thirst is the God who brings joy in the midst of the worst of troubles. Sound impossible? With man it certainly is—goes directly against his grain and grates against the fabric of his soul—but with God all things are possible. God give us no choice: we must walk through the desert, we must pass through the fire, we must fall into various trials—and we must count it all joy. But wherever God calls us, He also gives the power to follow.

That is why we must ask from God—God, who gives liberally and without reproach. If God is the one who brings water gushing from rocks enough to satisfy millions, turns gallons of water into gallons of wine for the delight of partying wedding guests, and throws open tombs and gives life to the dead, then certainly He can and will grant to us the wisdom and joy and patience and faith we need in the middle of our own trouble, whatever the case may be.

Leave it to God to command the impossible; leave it to God to bring it about. With God, sorrow becomes joy, trouble gives birth to strong faith and patience, and wisdom is poured out from above just for the asking. As for us? We are to believe and obey, trust and follow, ask and receive—and count it all joy!—knowing God is up to something big and good and full of wonder.

“Lord God, we give thanks to You for Your wise use of the trials You have brought into our lives, and we pray You would grant to us joy and patience and wisdom and faith as we encounter each of them. Grant to us grace, dear God, to follow You and trust You through the impossible, looking to You to perform the impossible, looking to You to do all things right according to Your own wisdom and good purpose and glory. Great, benevolent, and liberal God! please hear our prayer and grant these things to us for Your own name’s sake, we pray in Christ’s name. Amen.”

Greater Love Has No Man

“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for His friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.” (John 15:11–14)

These are the words of Jesus to His most intimate disciples on the eve of His death. What was His desire for them in these “final” words? Their joy—that His joy would become their joy, and that their joy would be full to overflowing.

What then is the joy of Christ? Loving His disciples; loving His friends. And not with just any love, but with the greatest love there is, a love that takes a man to the cross for the sake of those he loves.

And this then is our joy too: To love as He has loved. Such a love will take us to the cross as well—and if to the cross, then to every other suffering short of the cross.

Are we willing to die for others? Then we will be willing to learn patience with them as God in Christ has been patient with us. Are we willing to sacrifice our own lives for the sake of the life of others? Then we will be willing to live for others as well, learning what it is to be a servant to all just as our Lord Jesus is a servant to us His friends. Have we taken up our own cross as a disciple of Christ? Then we will give a cup of cool water in His name; we will bless even those who curse us; we will overcome evil with the good we do to others—even when they have done evil to us.

Indeed we serve God best as we learn to love and to serve one another. This is what it is to be the friend of God: to do whatever He commands you. His command? Love sacrificially in everything you do, everything you think, everything you say, everything you feel.

And what again is the outcome of such love? Nothing less than the joy of God—a divine joy we not only can know but that we can have to the full—only as we learn this great love that our loving Savior and Lord has shown to us.

“O Lord, please teach us to love one another. Make Your joy our joy, and make our joy full. We give You thanks for Your taking on the form of a bondservant and for humbling Yourself to the point of death for our sakes. Plant and grow and cause to flourish this great love in our hearts and in every facet of our lives, we pray in Christ’s name. Amen.”