How does the messages of the letter of James connect to suffering? The “consider it all joy” message which we sometimes have thrown out to us when we are in the middle of a journey of suffering?
What I share with you is a presentation which I was asked to present to a group of folks from my congregation, Trinity Presbyterian Church, Valparaiso, Florida, at the end of a Sunday school series on the letter of James. Since this presentation, I have some further thoughts which I would have included, had I to do this same presentation today. For instance, while on my cancer journey, I encountered the messages which—bottom line—were the “Prosperity Gospel” applied to physical health, given by well-meaning sisters in Christ. I also had someone “pray” over me, speaking words which turned out to be “manifesting,” rather than appealing to our loving, sovereign Shepherd for His healing providence.
Hello, fellow sufferers, sinners, and saints!
Let me first thank you for both Michael and me for your faithful prayers, cards, texts, words of encouragement, act of service, as we launch on this marathon called breast cancer.
I can’t help but think of Hebrews 12: 1-2 “Therefore, since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily tangles us, let us also run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God!
At the right hand of the throne of God, where he is my advocate, my intercessor!
You are part of that cloud of witnesses and, as James 5:16 says, “the prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much.” Your prayers have certainly sustained us and will continue sustain us on this journey.
Some weeks ago, Mike Ruff asked me to map my cancer journey using the letter of James, sharing this with you from the perspective of a biblical counselor. It’s really interesting how the 15 months or so prior to my diagnosis was something like a pressure cooker! Prior to Ben series on Mark and Mike‘s series on James, I was spending time in those passages meditating. I was also working through a number of other resources.
For many years now, I have suffered from various ailments. My husband has been so faithful in praying daily for me for them to be removed. As I was going through Mark and read of the woman who had bent over for 18 years.
“Well, I’ve waited for more than 18 years for one of my issues to be removed…”
Then the woman who had the fistula, the issue of blood for 12 years….
“ And I’ve waited over 12 years for something else to be removed”
Then there’s a man born blind, and we don’t know how old he was, we just know that he was blind for the glory of God….
You get the picture!
I found myself needing to learn the language of lament! As the Lord was leading me while being discipled by a chaplain/counselor with Fallen Soldiers March.
You see, I had been silent in my prayers regarding my pain, unwilling to be honest with myself, with God. I would hear the words “Considerate all joy, my brothers, when you meet various trials” – – I wasn’t willing to be honest and acknowledge my trial. My stoicism was almost unbelief. There’s no place for the “happy clappy” mindset, either.
January 2024 comes and I go to my third ultrasound and my second mammogram.
Meanwhile, I have been crying out to the Lord for wisdom! You are familiar with James 1: 5-8 — And I certainly didn’t want to be the double minded. I was also regularly praying Psalm 139: 23-24.
Search me, O God, and know my heart
Try me and know my anxious thoughts
And see if there be any hurtful way in me
And lead me in the everlasting way!
“Try me” oh, my! “Test me” and reveal my anxious thoughts!
I was seeking to be well equipped to minister the word of God to suffering women.
Another passage which caught my attention as I was going through James was 1: 19. I realized that “quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger“ doesn’t just apply to our relationships with other people, but that the context here has to do with the word of God– with receiving the word of God. That I needed to be quick to be hearing His word, slow in being resistant to Him, and certainly being slow to anger – – that is, to not be angry in judging God for what He was doing in my life!
Meanwhile, I was involved with multiple medical appointments related to my underlying issues and I was learning the language of lament. I had been seeking the Lord, but I needed to learn the language in order to do so more clearly.
Mark Vroegop defines a lament as, “A prayer in pain that leads to trust. “ He also has said that “Lament is the bridge between the hard life and trusting in God sovereignty.”
When we look at those who received this letter from James, we see those who are in the context of Jewish believers– People who grew up hearing from the book of Job, who were familiar with the laments of Job and David and Jeremiah and from the psalms. Lament was not unfamiliar to them!
But lament led me to James 4:5-10 which I invite you to read. Submit, therefore, to God!
Submission led to a heart, which wanted to be a heart after God’s heart which then led to a vision of being sent to these medical facilities to be the presence of Christ, rather than be like Jonah. What happened when I went with that attitude of being an ambassador for Christ? To be a sweet smelling incense of His presence? Each time I saw God, glorified!
Submission then led to James 5:13 And I became convinced of the necessity of going to the elders and asking them to pray over me. I was then convicted that I had not done so already. What a blessing it was to that experience.
I will spare you details about the cancer journey, so let me move along….
How did God answer a prayer for healing when the elders prayed over me? (One of them said to me, “We’re still praying, because it’s not over yet!) Did God give physical healing? The cancer is simply something more and for that I have lamented, and the cancer has taken away more and for that I continue to lament.
By the way, the cancer cells looked so much like healthy tissue that the doctor was having trouble separating them. I am not afraid of cancer killing me. What is more deadly is when sin in our lives looks so much like righteous living that we fail to deal with it and not recognize that the sin as something destructive
So, how does one consider it all joy? How does one esteem, consider, deem it all joy? And, by the way, the word “joy” here is the same word used in Hebrews regarding Jesus: for the joy set before Him he entered into the suffering.
But joy comes through the language of lament prayer.
Joy is found in the gift of his presence and through His word and prayer and meditation. His word is treasure– a rich feast.
I prayed for wisdom, and He gave me more of Himself.
I can’t help but think of the picture we have in the narrative of Jacob wrestling with the angel of the Lord.
“I will not let you go until you bless me!”
The angel blesses Jacob, and he then dislocate his hip. Jacob for the rest of his life, then walks with a limp. Afterwards, Jacob exclaims, “How is it that I have seen the face of God?”
If you would like a copy of my bibliography of the resources that I worked through, send me an email to teawithmusic@gmail.com and put the word “list” in the subject box.