Endlessly Rolling Waves

Series on “I am Joe’s Favorite Verses”
James 1:2-4
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
James 1:1-18 

[Many years ago, there used to be articles in the Reader’s Digest titled “I am Joe’s ___” with the blank being filled with a body part or organ. Over the years, I’ve written down verses that are meaningful to me on 3x5 cards. In this series we’ll be looking at some of my favorite verses. In other words, “I am Joe’s Favorite Verses”.]

 

 

In 2016, my family met in Wrightsville Beach, NC to celebrate my oldest sister’s 50^th wedding anniversary. One morning, some of us got up early to go deep sea fishing. As we left the docking area the sun began to rise. It was a beautiful day; so calm and peaceful. But that would soon change.

 

The captain picked up speed as we headed into the open sea. He kept going and going until we couldn’t see any land. Then he maintained a high speed in the open sea even when we kept crashing into the endlessly rolling waves. After about thirty minutes of that, I lost my breakfast and anything else that was in my stomach.

 

Life can be like those endlessly rolling waves. You feel like things are out of control. You’re tossed from one wave to another. And with no land in sight, there’s nothing firm for you to hold onto. So, you just hang on for dear life.

 

Following the stoning of Stephen, “a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem”. People were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. No doubt, they may have felt like they were being tossed around by endlessly rolling waves.

Many years later, James wrote his letter to those Jewish Christians.

 

² Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, ³ for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. ⁴ And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.   ESV

 

In other words, instead of avoiding trials and testing of your faith, James said to embrace them. For him, it was a matter of perspective. That is, taking a vertical perspective on life, not a horizontal one. Try to look up to see what God is doing.

 

Paul, who originally was a primary cause of the persecution against the church in Jerusalem, after his conversion, put it like this in his letter to the church in Rome.

 

³ We can rejoice, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. ⁴ And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. ⁵ And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.    NLT

 

The ESV translates the last phrase of verse 5 as “God's love has been poured into our hearts”. I like the visual of that. The picture of God opening my heart to pour his love into it, is beyond my comprehension.

 

During those times when the Jewish Christians felt like they were being tossed about by the endlessly rolling waves, James advised them to simply pray. That they ask God, not just for knowledge, but for wisdom. Wisdom that would be proven “by living an honorable life, doing good works with humility”.

 

Faith works! It works when we’re tested. It works when we pray. It works when our lives reflect His hope, love and wisdom.

 

Copyright 2025 Joseph B Williams

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Murphy's Law

Romans 5:1-5

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%205%3A1-5&version=NIV;NLT

  

When I was first married, we had a small leak in our half bath downstairs. When I tried to repair it, instead of tightening the pipes, I disconnected them. Do you know how small those pipes are? And do you know what small pipes do to water pressure? Water shot out of there so hard and fast that pieces of toilet paper were blasted onto the ceiling.

 

That was a perfect example of Murphy’s Law which is, “Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong”. Yup! Been there, done that!

 

My co-worker recently had a streak of bad luck. First her stove died and they went for weeks before the replacement arrived. Then one of their cars was making some weird noises. Several hundred dollars later, the noise was gone. Finally, the dish washer started leaking and had to be replaced. Have you ever heard of the saying, “If it weren’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have any luck at all”? Been there, done that!

 

Adversity, affliction, problems, struggles, suffering, issues, trials, temptations, testing, or troubles - whatever you want to call them; we’ve all experienced them. But Paul and James suggest dealing with them in a highly unusual way.

 

³ We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. ⁴ And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.    NLT

 

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.      James 1 NIV

 

To respond to adversity with rejoicing or pure joy seems not only counterintuitive, but ridiculous. Why would you do such a thing? I’m glad you asked.

 

⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.   NIV

 

³⁸ And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. ³⁹ No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.         Romans 8 NLT

This is not to say that adversity isn’t hard, because it is. But even in adversity, we can know that God is with us; He is working in our life to draw us closer to Him; and that He loves us no matter what happens.

 

 

That, my friend, is cause to rejoice.