Every now and then you drive by a church sign (marquee) and get a good punch line:
Not A Face Lift
But A Faith Lift
But then you get some bad stuff as well. Like this one I saw today:
Count Your Blessings
Not Your Troubles
In fact, according to James 1:2-4, God often brings blessings through our troubles…
I tend to think of these verses, an apostolic prayer:
Act 4:29-30 NET. And now, Lord, pay attention to their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your message with great courage, (30) while you extend your hand to heal, and to bring about miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
Doesn’t say anything about keeping the infant church from harm, does it? Rather that God’s uses their situation to spread His gospel. That’s different from the way most Christians have ever prayed.
That’s James 1:2-4, isn’t it, BTW?
Jas 1:2-4 NET. My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials, (3) because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. (4) And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything.
Counting your troubles could also be a bad thing. Love keeps no record of wrong. We can count it all joy when troubles come, but counting and remembering troubles could easily lead to bitterness. I don’t want to make to big of deal over the sign because it’s to simplistic and can be taken a bad way, but also maybe a good way.
BTW I finally started a blog moreofwe.wordpress.com
Chuck,
Thanks for the correction on the text reference.
You’re correct about that apostolic prayer. The American church, in particular, has bought into its surrounding culture of comfort and easy. That church sign is a simple token of it.
Duane,
Perhaps the sign couldn’t be taken several ways. That’s the trouble with these signs (pardon the pun).
In the end, God is the great designer (Rom. 8:28).
So you’ve taken the plunge into the blogosphere. I shall look forward to your posts.
You should run these as a series. There should be no end to your material.
Peter,
I know you know of what you speak. Ah!
Haha, I get like this sometimes, too, where I look at all the implications of a thought or teaching. I can have it’s merit, but it also can cloud the simplicity of some things.
I can see where you’re going with this, but I think it was meant in the pretty straightforward manner it’s given in. I’m with Duane on this one. And today especially, as I ponder the hard life of some people and it is dragging me down unnecessarily, I can truly appreciate the reminder to count my blessings. Like, the fact that my whole family is healthy and happy. I have a house to care for and Christmas decorations to deck it out in. I have running water, senses to feel and see it with, enough food in my house to feed my family for months. A steady income I can rely on. Praise God.
Because, out of the following problems going on in the world, I only have one on my plate:
Tragic death of a father and breadwinner, leaving a wife and children behind.
Knowing children are in harmful situations and there’s nothing you can do about it.
Not having money to pay my bills.
Marital problems.
Child custody issues.
Etc, etc, etc.
My problems are relatively small. Not non-existent, but small; compared to the rest of the worlds. So I need to not pass over the blessings I’m given because I’m too busy stewing over the rest of the world and it’s problems.
Okay, so sorry I’m cluttering up your comment thread with this pep-talk I’m giving myself when it’s hardly relevant to the subject matter.
But it did get me thinking about it…
Alisa,
What straightforward manner? It’s assumes that my accounting of what is is really what is. Too much for the human mind to grapple with.
Instead, we should leave the reckoning up to the Grand Weaver.
I’m not at all saying that God doesn’t work in our troubles, if that is what you’re getting at.
But honestly, I’m confused now. I’m not sure what isn’t straightforward about an exhortation to ruminate on your blessings instead of your misfortunes. Counting your blessings seems like the way to get the “faith lift” that the punch line you did enjoy referred to. So
But then human tendency of only dwelling on the fortunes and complaining of the misfortunes – that’s the real issue here (Job’s wife serves as a good example of this bad theology; 2:10).
Okay, I get what you’re saying now and absolutely agree. I love the Book of Job and it’s message. And I’m 100% for NOT downplaying the negative and unpleasant events going on in our lives. And I pray all the time that should tragedy be dropped in my lap that I would be able to say, “the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord”.
But I’ve also become acutely familiar with the effects of looking at these issues WITHOUT the lens of remembering that our God is might to save (of course, whether He CHOOSES to save is another issue). It came produce a hopeless and faithless perspective, not at all Scriptural.
Job’s sorrow was in proportion to the catastrophe’s he was enduring. Perhaps it would read better saying “Count you blessings BEFORE your troubles”??
Yes, I believe we also need to be grateful for the blessings, the fortunes, for lack of a better term.
“Count Your blessings Before Your Troubles” is much better, though not free of its inherent problems.
“The whole gospel for the whole world.”
That is the best theology I’ve ever seen on a church sign. I saw that sign about 2 years ago. It was on a Lutheran church if memory serves. I wanted to pull over and shake the pastor’s hand.
Worst church sign I’ve ever seen: “Oil: The Hook for Armageddon.” That was on a charismatic church’s sign near our home.
“Oil: The Hook for Armageddon” is right up. That church has to be Dispensational.