Draw Near – 365 Guides to Greater Intimacy with GodSample

THE PEBBLE "A small trouble is like a pebble," Celia Luce said. "Hold it too close to your eye and it fills the whole world and puts everything out of focus. Hold it at the proper viewing distance, and it can be examined and properly classified. Throw it at your feet, and it can be seen in its true setting, just one more tiny bump on the pathway to eternity." Wise words from a wise woman. James encourages us to keep trouble, and even temptation, in their proper perspective. In the sadness or passion of the moment, we can see nothing else. They are constantly in our thoughts and overwhelm us. We need to cast them at our feet remembering God can and will use them to make us better believers. The trying of our faith does, as James said, produce patience. Most of us are like the kindergartner who planted a tiny seed in a small flower pot and dug it up every day to see how it was doing. All must learn to let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing (James 1:4). One believer joked, "I want patience, and I want it right now." Too often, we think like that. May we relax and put the pebbles of tribulation and temptation in their proper place. We need not be dominated by them, and through Christ, we can conquer them.