From time to time I encounter people in the church who are very comfortable with their current place on their faith journey. While comfort often seems like a very appealing thing it can also be the very thing that causes us to miss out on seeing God at work in our lives. Comfort often causes us to resist change and refuse to take bold steps of faith. Comfort can cause us to want to stay put instead of continually pursuing God. Comfort can cause us to feel like we have arrived!

The only problem with this concept of arriving in our faith is that it is never associated with followers of Jesus in scripture. Walking with Christ is a journey. Following Christ is a consistent process of growth, renewal, stretching, and steps of faith. We should continue to draw closer to Christ as we journey down the road of faith. There is never a place in scripture that says a follower of Christ should stop growing on this journey because they have arrived! In fact, the way I see it, there are only two things that can happen when we feel like we have “arrived.”

1. We become like the Pharisees.

In case you aren’t aware of this, the Pharisees felt like they had no need for Jesus. They felt like they had “arrived” in their faith and because of this they became the enemies of Jesus who screamed for His death. They loved to look like they had it all together and shouted the loudest criticism at the ministry of Jesus and their cries of criticism ultimately turned to shouting for His death. Yet even as they acted like they had “arrived,” Jesus knew what was taking place in their hearts.

Jesus confronted them on this mentality and said, “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me.” Matthew 15:7-8

Have you “arrived” like the Pharisees or do you realize your need for Christ?

2. Your Life on Earth is Over.

The only other possible result of arrival is that our time in this life is complete. The discussion about arrival in scripture points us to our eternal destination with Christ in heaven. The only time that a follower of Christ truly “arrives” is when this life is over and they step across the line into eternity with Christ. Until that takes place we are told to press on toward the goal of eternal arrival with Christ! As long as we are here on earth our journey of faith is not yet complete and God still has great things He wants to do in us and through us if we live available to Him.

“Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:12-14

According to scripture, if you have “arrived,” you are either like the Pharisees and an enemy of Jesus, or you have completed your time on earth as a follower of Christ and reached the ultimate goal of eternal arrival. My guess is if you are reading this post, the later cannot be true of you!

May you never grow comfortable with your place on the journey of faith! May you press on toward Christ so that He can have His way with you and stretch you and grow you into the person you were created to be in Him as you press on toward the prize! Make yourself available to Him and the journey will be more than you could possibly imagine!

“Consider it all joy, my brothers, 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.”

I don’t know about you, but when I pick up the paper or turn on the news and hear the depressing talk about our current economic situation my first instinct is not to jump for joy. This economy is unlike anything I have ever experienced and it is easy to live in a constant state of frustration and exhaustion as we see the way so many lives have been adversely affected. Yet here in the book of James we are told to “consider it all joy when you encounter various trials!” How can the Bible be so insensitive to the pain and loss people are experiencing? How can we find joy in the midst of this trial?

Here is a thought: Perhaps this current situation in our nation is perfectly in line with the will of God. Perhaps we are supposed to take a step back and re-examine our priorities. Perhaps there are truly more important things in life than material loss or gain.

2 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”

Maybe, just maybe, God is using this difficult situation to remind us of our need for Him. After all, when things are going great and the money is pouring in it is very difficult for us to fully acknowledge our need for God. Several weeks ago I heard a great quote from an influential pastor. He said, “when you pray about a problem, God does not always change the situation because the situation was intended to change your perspective.”

Has your perspective changed due to this economy? Have you found yourself drawing closer to God because you are more aware of your need for Him? Have you gotten to a place where you realize there just might be things more important in life than your stuff?

If you can answer yes to any of these questions than perhaps you can agree with James and “consider it all joy”, because God is bringing you closer to Him and allowing you to see that only through Christ can you truly be “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing!”