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“Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials,knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that person ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. Now the brother or sister of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position;but the rich person is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so also the rich person, in the midst of his pursuits, will die out. Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” – James 1:2-12

Have you ever lived in a two-story house? I did for many years of my life. Upstairs had bedrooms, a bathroom and maybe a sewing room or an office. Access to the attic was also from this space. Downstairs we had our living room, dining room, kitchen, and entryway. Upstairs was intended for sleeping, bathing and getting ready for the day. The downstairs was where daytime living occurred, meals were prepared and served, times of being together as a family took place, and in general “life” happened downstairs. Even though there were two different floors and each had its own set of purposes, it was considered one house and home. What took place upstairs had real impact on what happened downstairs. The same people that spent time upstairs were also the same people who spent time downstairs. They did not think of themselves as living in two different spaces but one home. They were the same upstairs as downstairs. Yet in our everyday lives we often act and live as though we are existing in two different worlds. One is sacred, and the other is secular as our culture often tells us. But the issue we must face is, is it  true? Does this upstairs, downstairs life really exist and work in our everyday existence?

Francis Schaeffer presented this metaphor in his book “Escape From Reason”. In it he shared that in our western worldview, two realms exist. The upper floor is where faith, morality and meaning, or “the sacred”, reside. The lower floor is where we find facts, science, and public life. This division between the two realms creates a life that is fragmented and incoherent. We see this emphasized whenever the view of “separation between church and state” is declared by our culture. We also see it as we go to church on Sunday, hold our faith and life with God as a private affair, and then live the rest of the week with no serious consideration for our life with Christ. 

What happens when we live like this? First, it is not reality as God defines it. It is a falsehood and breeds much confusion. As was stated before, we become fragmented and incoherent. We are unstable in our ways as we attempt to live and conduct ourselves while serving two masters. 

James 1:2-12 teaches us how we are to live in a world that is going to bring suffering and trials. We all go through various trials and difficulties in our lives. Just because we are Christians does not exempt us from suffering. Notice that James says “when you encounter various trials”, rather than if you encounter them. Trials will come. So, what should our attitude be? James says consider it joy. The word, count or consider, is the Greek word Hēgeomai from which we get the English word hegemony. This word carries the idea of rule, leadership, or authority. Here we are to literally “lead before the mind”, to take control of our mindset, for it to be one of total joy. This is the point of view one has when trials or temptations come. Total joy, not a partial joy or temporary joy but total. The kind of joy that Christ looked to while despising the shame He would endure on the cross. Why? Because He saw the glory His Father would receive, the salvation His sacrifice would provide and God’s triumph over sin and death. For the believer, God’s word promises that testing produces endurance or steadfastness which in turn brings us into maturity over time. This is a Biblical worldview and is one seen through the eye of faith. Not a view of a life that “lives upstairs” on Sundays and then is abandoned when one goes “downstairs” and into the world for the rest of the week, but it is consistent no matter when or where one finds themselves.

In this example James writes that there will be times when you will need wisdom when trials come, to understand ‘how’ to count it all joy at such a time. James shares that if any of us lacks wisdom, to ask God for wisdom and He will most certainly give it to you! But and this is key; you must ask trusting in Him alone and not with an eye towards the answers the world wants to give. This creates instability as we are tossed around like waves on the ocean driven by the wind. This is like living with an upstairs and a downstairs mentality. You are double-minded, unstable because you don’t know which way the wind is blowing. But trusting in God alone for wisdom, not with a plan B, provides stability and continuity for your life as you face these trials.

James completes his thoughts with two examples of what this looks like. The man of humble circumstances is to live in light of his high position as God’s son with all the rights and privileges that comes with it. The rich man is to live understanding that what he has will certainly fade away as it belongs to this earth and not to trust in it for security, status, or honor. His position is the same as the poor man before God as a believer: a son. Both examples require faith, and each man can consider or count it all joy when trials come that they are destined for great things and that what they endure will strengthen and mature them. So, to answer our question we asked earlier – does this upstairs, downstairs life really exist and work in our everyday existence? The answer is no. It is unrealistic to believe that the sacred and the secular are separate, it is all sacred. This is living in one home with one mindset, one faith in one Lord who is over all and in all.

Paula had the opportunity a few years ago to take her favorite husband on a trip, just the two of us. We have had an occasional night or two away, but this was the first real vacation we had set out on alone, since the honeymoon 43 years ago.

Part of the tour was planned to introduce her to places in the Upper Peninsula that I considered noteworthy, before we would explore together other areas neither of us had been to before. One region we visited was the Keweenaw Peninsula. We wandered its length, taking in beautiful scenery, lake view vistas, and a few historical spots from the boom days of mining. We enjoyed a picnic at Copper Harbor’s public launch, where we were the only visitors, save for a pair of Loons (Red Throated?) paddling in the cove and calling out between dives with their distinctive lonely wail. It was perfect. 

I was impressed with a repeated sight at several of the mining ruins in the peninsula. This was the immense “poor rock” piles; the detritus left nearby the mine openings, hauled out by the ton in the process of extraction. If you were going for copper, you had to expel a lot of useless material to get to the profitable ore.

I think of that sight, and how it illustrates to me the process of refinement in a believer’s life. The purifying is not a quick and easy experience.

Much debris has to be pulled out of the way in our lives, in order to present that which ultimately will be useful for refinement. For the follower of Christ, spiritually crippling things need to be cast off, as the teaching of the Lord in Mark 9:43-48 declares. Some worthless things just need to be removed, plainly and quickly, even radically. Yet other things, like the ore that holds potential riches, need processing, refining, cleansing and purifying through the application of fire.

Our Lord speaks to this as I continue reading in Mark: “For everyone will be salted with fire.”    Mark 9:49 (NASB)

My view on this teaching from Jesus considers what God shares about “fire” in His Word. Fire can be awful; fearsome. Consider both the unquenchable fire for unbelievers (:43-48) and the burning up of unprofitable works for the believer who lapsed in obedience to His Master (1 Cor. 3:11-15). Yet fire can also be a positive, purifying thing, as the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers (Luke 3:16). See also Prov. 17:3; Psalm 66:10; Job 23:10; Rev. 3:18.

In mining, the ore removed for smelting has no choice in the matter. It receives what man determines to do. But in our lives, the choice of rejection or cooperation with the Spirit of God seems to be the pivot. That is, our continual cleansing (by being salted with purifying fire) must first find our yieldedness to accept the fire. Let me illustrate:

Like many of us, I have an ongoing issue with skin pre-cancers and cancers. Monitoring is frequent. Some treatments I can do at home. With rechecks, the areas that did not respond to rounds of chemo cream (relatively painless) then require a more radical treatment—surgery—to be employed. Depending on the type of cancer, it may well call for biopsy and probable surgery without delay; there is no option for a “home kit” for these.

The common factor in every instance is my willingness to take the “fire” of treatment in order to kill that which could kill me. If I choose to ignore, or postpone, or treat with my own system (no, Windex did not work…) then I have consequences that come from that stance.

In our lives, if we reject the work of the Spirit’s refining, we wallow in sin to our own detriment. The challenge is to receive His fire as good, though it will involve pain. He will reshape our priorities, deepen our love for our gracious Lord, and move us closer to Him. It will be new life for our conscience, new freedom to walk in for witness and proclamation, and a lightness that only comes through the clarity of serving one Master. We will be satisfied in Him as the things of this world “grow strangely dim.”

As we come nearer, we will want nothing but Him, His Word, and His Spirit’s work. We will learn how good it is to embrace His fire, salted on us.

May we run to, and embrace, that purifying flame.

Romans 5:19 “For through the ones man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.”

Hebrews 5:8 “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.”

Matthew 26:39 “He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

I Peter 1:14 “As obedient children do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance.”

There is a scene in a movie that makes one chuckle because it presents a predicament that many of us have faced.  Christmas lights have been carefully placed and checked for functionality, all is prepared and is ready for the big reveal.  But when the moment comes and the connection is made, nothing happens.  The comedic frustration builds in the character until the moment another member of the cast realizes that the power switch has not been turned on.  There is a disconnection, and the electricity will not flow, and no lights will illuminate no matter how hard one wills it to be.

As Christians we desire to experience the power of God in our lives but often we find a disconnection between what we read in God’s Word and the experiences in our daily lives.  Just like the character in the movie we expect the lights to come on, but they don’t.  Wes Chadek shared one Sunday that one reason why we are here is our sanctification (i.e. our spiritual growth) and that it involves more than simply knowing certain facts, though that is important.  What must happen is our obedience that comes from faith. We must put into action what we know and do what our Lord tells us.  Yet often we look to our own strength, we consider ourselves to be self-sufficient, we go our own way and just like in the movie there is a disconnection and no power flows. 

Obedience by definition is submission to another’s authority and Jesus is our great example of one who lived a life of obedience.  It was to the Father’s authority that Jesus submitted when He emptied Himself and took on the form of a bond servant, being made in the likeness of men (Phil. 2:6).  Jesus stated many times that He came not to do His own will but that of the Father.  We even read that just before the cross, Jesus asked that the suffering He was about to endure could be taken away—yet His one desire was not to do His own will but that of God the Father.  As a result of His obedience, we now have been made righteous and can come before a Holy God without fear of judgement!  When Jesus obeyed His Father, the power flowed! 

So it is with us, my responsibility as a child of God is to walk in obedience.  I am not the captain of my ship, He is. 

This is not a legalistic kind of obedience in order to garner favor with our Lord, but rather obedience that flows from a deep relationship with one who loved us so much He would die for us.  It is based on trust and confidence in Him.  Trust that He has only the best in mind for us, and confidence that what He started He will bring to completion.  Paul said in Romans 8:31 & 32 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over fur us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?”  This is the truth that motivates our submission to God and to obey Him in all things.  It is the only rational choice for the believer (Rom. 12:1).  So if you desire to have the power of God in your life, walk as an obedient child.  Even if you don’t understand or can’t see the end result, simply trust and obey for there is no other way….