Latest / Coffee and Bible Time Podcast / Joy in Suffering: James 1:2-4 | Taylor Krause

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Joy in Suffering: James 1:2-4 | Taylor Krause · Coffee and Bible Time Podcast

• 1:01
  Ellen Krause: At the Coffee and Bible Time podcast.
• 1:03
  Ellen Krause: Our goal is to help you delight in God's Word and thrive in Christian living.
• 1:07
  Ellen Krause: Each week, we talk to subject matter experts who broaden your biblical understanding, encourage you in hard times and provide life-building tips to enhance your Christian walk.
• 1:18
  Ellen Krause: We are so glad you have joined us.
• 1:21
  Ellen Krause: Welcome back to the Coffee and Bible Time podcast.
• 1:28
  Ellen Krause: This is Ellen, your host.
• 1:30
  Ellen Krause: Today we are going to be talking about how God uses pain in our lives.
• 1:37
  Ellen Krause: That's something that can come with a lot of big emotions and bad memories, but as believers, it's not a question we need to be afraid of or avoid.
• 1:50
  Ellen Krause: Today, taylor is joining us for a chat about James, chapter one, verses two through four, which is a passage that challenges us to build endurance and count it all joy even in the most painful parts of life.
• 2:09
  Taylor Krause: Welcome, taylor.
• 2:10
  Taylor Krause: Thank you so much for having me.
• 2:12
  Taylor Krause: I've just really looked forward to this.
• 2:15
  Taylor Krause: I love every time that I'm able to do a podcast with you and just talk, maybe ramble a little bit, and especially on today's topic, I'm very excited because we've been studying it a lot in our online community and every week we've been meeting in a small group, talking, going in depth, actually attempting to memorize James 1, which is not as hard as you'd think.
• 2:42
  Taylor Krause: If you go really slow, I'm behind.
• 2:45
  Taylor Krause: I'm not going to lie, but I still love doing it.
• 2:49
  Ellen Krause: Well, I'm thrilled to have you with us, and why don't we start out today by reading the passage aloud?
• 2:59
  Ellen Krause: So, taylor, I'm going to be using the ESV translation.
• 3:03
  Ellen Krause: What about you?
• 3:06
  Taylor Krause: I'm going to use the CSB Christian Standard Bible Translation, and actually a Bible that I've been really using a lot more lately is the Spurgeon Study Bible.
• 3:17
  Taylor Krause: We'll have it linked in the show notes if anybody's curious, but it has notes written throughout the Bible from Spurgeon Study Bible.
• 3:21
  Taylor Krause: We'll have it linked in the show notes if anybody's curious, but it has notes written throughout the Bible from Spurgeon, I think from his sermons, and there's a lot of interesting insight in there.
• 3:29
  Taylor Krause: I would not say, though, that it's a traditional study Bible, so for those of you that are looking for like context on every single verse, it's not that, but it's kind of nice little supplemental tidbits from Spurgeon.
• 3:42
  Ellen Krause: I can only imagine how rich.
• 3:44
  Ellen Krause: That is Okay, and I'm going to be using the ESV.
• 3:49
  Ellen Krause: It's the Key Word Study Bible, which is really awesome because it has all of the original language, hebrew and Greek.
• 3:59
  Ellen Krause: So specific verses that are marked in the back that you can go look at and see what the original language, hebrew and Greek.
• 4:02
  Ellen Krause: So specific verses that are marked in the back that you can go look at and see what the original meaning of those words were.
• 4:06
  Ellen Krause: So I'll start with the ESV, verses two through four of James.
• 4:11
  Ellen Krause: Chapter one says count it all.
• 4:13
  Ellen Krause: Joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, and let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
• 4:32
  Taylor Krause: And I'm going to go ahead and read from CSB.
• 4:34
  Taylor Krause: Consider it great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces Okay.
• 4:44
  Taylor Krause: I like that we're able to contrast both of those translations and actually that's a good tip for any of you that are reading a certain passage of the Bible.
• 5:06
  Taylor Krause: Sometimes, if you don't get it fully or if you want an even potentially fuller picture of it, look at several different translations, and that is always really helpful.
• 5:18
  Ellen Krause: So helpful In fact, biblehubcom is always really helpful.
• 5:23
  Ellen Krause: So helpful, in fact, biblehubcom.
• 5:24
  Ellen Krause: If you go there and you put in a verse, it'll give you like I don't know, 15 translations.
• 5:27
  Ellen Krause: It's a lot, but it's really helpful.
• 5:30
  Ellen Krause: Well, before we dive into these verses, let's spend a few minutes setting the groundwork for what we need to know about the book of James.
• 5:39
  Ellen Krause: We've been going through this first chapter in our community and doing a lot of research on the context of this book, so why don't you start out with telling us some of the things that you've learned about the context of James?
• 5:54
  Taylor Krause: Yeah, absolutely so.
• 5:55
  Taylor Krause: Just to begin, who wrote the letter?
• 5:58
  Taylor Krause: Some scholars debate this and I will say to you right now that this is not the most important thing to know about the context of the book, but we do believe that james, the brother, half brother, of jesus, wrote this book.
• 6:13
  Taylor Krause: He did grow up with jesus and initially he didn't believe in jesus um, that he was son of God, but he saw him after the resurrection and he then became a believer.
• 6:27
  Taylor Krause: He also became the leader of believers in Jerusalem.
• 6:32
  Taylor Krause: That is who we believe wrote the letter.
• 6:36
  Taylor Krause: We believe that he was writing to the 12 tribes that were scattered, the Jewish people that were scattered out of Jerusalem.
• 6:46
  Taylor Krause: They're living outside of Palestine and they're also experiencing a lot of persecution.
• 6:54
  Taylor Krause: A lot of them are in poverty.
• 6:56
  Taylor Krause: You could probably say most of them are social outcasts where they're at.
• 7:03
  Taylor Krause: So you can say without a shadow of a doubt that they are going through a very difficult trial.
• 7:09
  Taylor Krause: This is not an easy thing and, as James is writing this letter to them, he's really wanting to press in on the fact that they should endure through this trial and they should also be living out their faith.
• 7:25
  Taylor Krause: That's a really big theme.
• 7:27
  Taylor Krause: You see, throughout the book of James is that faith is accompanied by works.
• 7:32
  Taylor Krause: Works don't get you into heaven, but if you have true and saving faith, you should see that fruit in your life evidenced by works.
• 7:42
  Taylor Krause: We shouldn't live like the world does.
• 7:44
  Taylor Krause: Our works will show the world that we are different.
• 7:48
  Taylor Krause: We're transformed.
• 7:50
  Taylor Krause: Our faith transforms our everyday life and dictates how we live.
• 7:56
  Ellen Krause: Absolutely, and that transformation process so much of it does come as a result of trials.
• 8:03
  Ellen Krause: We don't like to think about that too much because it's very hard to go through.
• 8:09
  Ellen Krause: James jumps right into his letter by talking about joy in trials.
• 8:15
  Ellen Krause: So first tell us, between joy and happiness, I think it's important to just make sure people realize there's a difference between being happy about a trial or finding joy in trials.
• 8:30
  Taylor Krause: Yeah, that is a really good point.
• 8:32
  Taylor Krause: Joy is not circumstantial, Happiness is circumstantial, is circumstantial.
• 8:46
  Taylor Krause: Happiness isn't bad, but it is often fleeting.
• 8:47
  Taylor Krause: It's really hit or miss.
• 8:48
  Taylor Krause: Some days you're happy, some days you're sad.
• 8:49
  Taylor Krause: I mean heck.
• 8:49
  Taylor Krause: Some minutes you're happy and some minutes you're sad.
• 8:51
  Taylor Krause: It is a roller coaster and joy is really different, especially joy as a believer.
• 8:58
  Taylor Krause: Especially joy as a believer and joy as a believer is not circumstantial.
• 9:04
  Taylor Krause: When you have faith in Christ, he becomes your all, your everything, your security, your significance, your satisfaction.
• 9:14
  Taylor Krause: And when you truly understand the depth of the gospel, how far Christ has gone to save you, how much he loves you, how he sees you robed in white, this produces in you this sort of joy, happiness in Christ, who he's made you to be, who he is, how he has a plan for you in your life that isn't rocked or moved by circumstances or by trials.
• 9:42
  Taylor Krause: And I believe that when James is writing this letter and he's telling believers, consider it joy when you experience trials and you have all of these difficult circumstances, he's not telling them be happy, Be really happy that you're going through a difficult time.
• 10:00
  Taylor Krause: He's telling them think about this on a deeper level Does God move in the midst of trials, Is he still working?
• 10:11
  Taylor Krause: Does he have a plan that surpasses these individual difficult moments, that he works together for his glory and your good?
• 10:19
  Taylor Krause: Yes, Because of that you can have joy.
• 10:23
  Taylor Krause: And it is a challenge.
• 10:25
  Taylor Krause: I think that he is challenging them not just in this beginning section, but all throughout the book of James.
• 10:31
  Taylor Krause: He constantly challenges them to refine their thinking, to live differently, live in their faith, and having joy is a part of that.
• 10:40
  Taylor Krause: It is a choice to choose joy in your circumstances, because our emotions are very, very powerful circumstances, because our emotions are very, very powerful.
• 10:52
  Taylor Krause: And if you latch on to sadness and to bitterness and anger and resentment, then are you really making room for a deeper root to grow in joy.
• 11:02
  Taylor Krause: And joy is one of the fruits of the spirit, which means that if you want to truly experience joy, you got to have that relationship with Christ and abiding with him.
• 11:15
  Taylor Krause: That doesn't mean you're striving and grasping at straws to find in yourself some type of joy apart from Christ.
• 11:22
  Taylor Krause: The joy will really come when you take time to be with him and to pray and to ask him to renew your mind.
• 11:31
  Taylor Krause: Later he says if you need wisdom in your trial, ask God.
• 11:35
  Taylor Krause: That's another thing.
• 11:36
  Taylor Krause: It comes right after this.
• 11:37
  Taylor Krause: We're not going to touch on it today, but if you're like man, I'm really struggling to find joy in this difficult circumstance.
• 11:44
  Taylor Krause: James tells you swing the door wide open and God will open it and give you the wisdom that you need.
• 11:55
  Ellen Krause: So true, and I love how you brought up that sort of.
• 11:59
  Ellen Krause: The opposite of joy is this bitterness, and I kind of see it as like weeds, but maybe that's because I'm in the gardening mode right now.
• 12:11
  Ellen Krause: But you said for the joy to take root and the icy bitterness is just this invasive weed like the ones that have tendrils that even like bend the plant over and want to crush it, and I think that that's we don't want to get to that place.
• 12:27
  Ellen Krause: I think that we don't want to get to that place.
• 12:29
  Ellen Krause: Right, and having joy will prevent us from pushing back on that.
• 12:37
  Ellen Krause: Mm-hmm, what sort of trials were the churches going through during this time?
• 12:45
  Ellen Krause: James wrote this letter.
• 12:48
  Taylor Krause: Yeah, that's a good question.
• 12:49
  Taylor Krause: I touched briefly on it earlier and I'll kind of just reiterate what I was saying before.
• 12:54
  Taylor Krause: But James's readers were suffering persecution and many of them were living in poverty.
• 13:02
  Taylor Krause: They didn't have enough to meet their needs like they used to back when they were living at home.
• 13:09
  Taylor Krause: They're not at home, right, that's another trial that they're going through.
• 13:14
  Taylor Krause: They're not around the familiar places, people that they were with before, places that made them feel at peace.
• 13:21
  Taylor Krause: They're also social outcasts.
• 13:24
  Taylor Krause: They're experiencing a lot of political I mean spiritual conflict.
• 13:27
  Taylor Krause: They're not respected for what they believe in.
• 13:31
  Taylor Krause: Everywhere they go they're probably looked at as being weird outsiders, not wanted.
• 13:37
  Taylor Krause: But also, we see, james calls out that a lot of them are living worldly.
• 13:42
  Taylor Krause: Maybe they believe in God, but if you looked at them on the outside you wouldn't know that because they're living like everyone else.
• 13:49
  Taylor Krause: So he's really going to challenge them in this book to seek God's wisdom, to live differently.
• 13:58
  Taylor Krause: Just because they're going through a trial or going through a hard time doesn't give them a hall pass to act however they want and maybe give up on taking up their cross daily.
• 14:12
  Taylor Krause: Going through a trial, maybe even more so, is a challenge and necessity to lean into your relationship with Christ rather than to walk away and give yourself a break from living like how Christ wants you to, and give yourself a break from living like how Christ wants you to.
• 14:39
  Ellen Krause: Yes, you know our pastor.
• 14:40
  Ellen Krause: Coincidentally, after we started our James study, he started James at our church and he brought up such an incredible point when looking up the original language for the word count at all joy.
• 14:50
  Ellen Krause: So count because there's people that are listening that might even just like say forget about this podcast because it's just not possible.
• 14:59
  Taylor Krause: Right.
• 14:59
  Ellen Krause: This really brings it into reality, because the original language for count was think, reflect, consider, and it's you know and recognizing that our joy is not for the trial but in how God will use the trial to produce spiritual endurance in us.
• 15:21
  Ellen Krause: We can have joy because God is with us in the trial, he's growing us, he's shaping us through the trial and the important thing here is that this joy is not instant right.
• 15:40
  Ellen Krause: It may take months, it may take years, it may take counseling to bring us to a point where we can find joy in the work that God has done through the trial and that, I think, is so joyful.
• 15:59
  Ellen Krause: To look back when you have gone through a trial and seeing how God has worked in that is absolutely incredible.
• 16:08
  Ellen Krause: Well, in verse three in the ESV it says for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, and in some versions steadfastness is translated as endurance.
• 16:23
  Ellen Krause: Taylor, why don't you read the definition of endurance, and I'll talk about the definition of steadfast.
• 16:32
  Taylor Krause: Absolutely.
• 16:33
  Taylor Krause: I'm going to the dictionary website and it says that to have endurance is when you have the ability or strength to continue to last, especially despite fatigue, stress, adverse conditions.
• 16:53
  Taylor Krause: It means you have stamina, it means that you can endure the pain of hardships, et cetera.
• 17:01
  Taylor Krause: Yeah, it mentions the word hardship trial, fatigue, stress, adverse conditions.
• 17:10
  Taylor Krause: So we're not talking a fun time over here.
• 17:13
  Taylor Krause: What about you, mom?
• 17:15
  Taylor Krause: What's your definition?
• 17:16
  Ellen Krause: Yes, so steadfast and, looking back at the Greek interpretation of this word, says that steadfast is holding fast to one's faith.
• 17:28
  Ellen Krause: It's abiding, not fleeing, to endure.
• 17:33
  Ellen Krause: And what I loved is it says it's said to bear bravely and calmly Wow.
• 17:39
  Taylor Krause: I like that.
• 17:40
  Ellen Krause: Okay.
• 17:41
  Ellen Krause: That's good Now that's something like steadfast is not like a word that we use commonly in today's language.
• 17:50
  Ellen Krause: So this really brings it to life to help us understand that holding fast to one's faith Right.
• 18:00
  Ellen Krause: So what was James encouraging believers to stay steadfast in?
• 18:07
  Taylor Krause: Yeah, I think that it's pretty simple.
• 18:11
  Taylor Krause: Yeah, I think that it's pretty simple.
• 18:18
  Taylor Krause: Stay steadfast in the trial of the persecution, of being social outcasts, being far from home For a lot of them, enduring through poverty, not having the money that they need in this time.
• 18:29
  Taylor Krause: Is James telling them be happy about those things?
• 18:33
  Taylor Krause: No, god is a God of justice.
• 18:36
  Taylor Krause: James isn't saying just pretend like nobody's ever hurt you and you know, hopefully you'll live in poverty forever.
• 18:46
  Taylor Krause: Just be happy.
• 18:47
  Taylor Krause: No, that is not at all the point of what James is trying to say.
• 18:52
  Taylor Krause: We shouldn't assume that God is never going to work or change our circumstances.
• 18:58
  Taylor Krause: Bring justice when there needs to be justice.
• 19:02
  Taylor Krause: But God does work on a different timeline than us and what he asks us to do is to have joy.
• 19:09
  Taylor Krause: That is so hard to do.
• 19:12
  Taylor Krause: Does he tell us to do it?
• 19:15
  Taylor Krause: Yes, does that mean we're striving in and of ourselves to have it?
• 19:17
  Taylor Krause: No, he says here's my invitation Abide in me and I will help you grow the fruit of joy.
• 19:24
  Taylor Krause: You're going to find joy by having a deeper relationship with me.
• 19:28
  Taylor Krause: Don't try to have joy by yourself.
• 19:30
  Taylor Krause: It just isn't going to work because you're going to think that joy is happiness and it's not.
• 19:34
  Taylor Krause: That's what I see there.
• 19:39
  Ellen Krause: So then, what does it mean?
• 19:41
  Ellen Krause: To let that steadfastness then have its full effect, mm-hmm.
• 19:49
  Taylor Krause: Yeah, in my translation, the CSB translation, it says that you should let this steadfastness have its full effect so that you may become mature.
• 19:59
  Taylor Krause: And I like that word mature because when you think about a fruit ripening, that fruit and I can't remember who, if it was a podcast I was listening to, or David, our pastor they said when fruit is ripening, that thing is getting beaten down by the sun.
• 20:18
  Taylor Krause: That fruit isn't having a heyday, okay, drinking a pina colada, getting caught in the rain underneath the shade.
• 20:27
  Taylor Krause: No, that is getting extreme amounts of heat and it's being transformed.
• 20:34
  Taylor Krause: So in this trial that you are in, god wants to grow fruit.
• 20:40
  Taylor Krause: Right, he wants you to abide in him and grow this fruit.
• 20:44
  Taylor Krause: So if you're in a trial and you're asking yourself okay, god, will this trial draw me closer to you?
• 20:51
  Taylor Krause: If the answer is yes, don't try running away from the trial.
• 20:55
  Taylor Krause: If the trial is drawing you to have a deeper relationship with God, let it have its full effect in maturing you, in growing your relationship with God.
• 21:06
  Taylor Krause: When you endure and are under that tension, under the heat, you're going to build strength and resilience.
• 21:13
  Taylor Krause: If you're partnering with Christ, you always have the option in a trial to lean into Christ, lean into that abiding relationship through prayer, through reading scripture, memorizing scripture, leaning on your brothers and sisters in your church, your family, or you have the option to walk away, say this faith is too hard.
• 21:36
  Taylor Krause: But James is telling us actually, if you're a believer, let this endurance have its full effect.
• 21:46
  Taylor Krause: Don't prematurely get out of the race because you're tired.
• 21:51
  Taylor Krause: Lean deeper into Jesus.
• 21:54
  Taylor Krause: Faith is like a marathon.
• 21:56
  Taylor Krause: It's not a sprint.
• 21:57
  Taylor Krause: You're going to be running, with some bruises, some fatigue, rug burn, and in the end, you are running for eternity with Jesus.
• 22:15
  Taylor Krause: That is something to celebrate and that's something to have joy about, which brings us to another question why is this something that we can be joyful about?
• 22:24
  Taylor Krause: Letting steadfastness have its full effect and I believe and, mom, I'd love to hear your opinion on this too is we can have joy because Christ is our ultimate joy and in circumstances that are hard, christ is going to teach you that he's your ultimate joy, that he's your ultimate hope, your salvation, your security, your significance.
• 22:50
  Taylor Krause: What greater joy really is there than knowing God, being known by the God of the universe?
• 22:59
  Taylor Krause: And I do believe that and this is scriptural God has designed you to be in a relationship with him If your trial is bringing you to your knees in prayer, then, hallelujah, have joy that you have an opportunity to have a deeper relationship with Jesus.
• 23:17
  Taylor Krause: That's probably more important than 99% of the things we do on autopilot every day.
• 23:22
  Taylor Krause: James is asking you to consider, to ponder, to reframe your mind in trials, to have joy in what God, what Christ, is doing through this, that you have purpose even in the pain.
• 23:40
  Taylor Krause: And I like to think of it this way as well God likes to redeem broken things.
• 23:47
  Taylor Krause: We see that all throughout the narrative of the Bible.
• 23:50
  Taylor Krause: We see that all throughout the narrative of the Bible, all throughout the Old Testament.
• 23:53
  Taylor Krause: Ever since the first sin of Adam and Eve, god didn't push them away.
• 23:58
  Taylor Krause: He stayed.
• 23:59
  Taylor Krause: He put on his redeeming gloves to start gardening through all the broken people throughout history, and he's been bearing fruit in all of us who choose to abide in him.
• 24:17
  Taylor Krause: That's not our own work.
• 24:18
  Taylor Krause: That's Christ that takes the pressure off of yourself.
• 24:22
  Taylor Krause: It's like, okay, if I know that my heavenly father likes to redeem and he sees my broken situation, likes to redeem and he sees my broken situation, I'm ready, lord, for you to come in and do the work that you need to do.
• 24:39
  Ellen Krause: I am ready for that.
• 24:40
  Ellen Krause: I am ready for that too.
• 24:40
  Ellen Krause: I feel like this is something that is kind of like hindsight is 20-20, where, when we look back, we can see this incredible amount, this gift that God has actually given you as a result of the trial that you went through.
• 25:02
  Ellen Krause: You wouldn't be the person that you are today if God hadn't allowed you to experience that trial and be grown and shaped by that.
• 25:11
  Ellen Krause: I'm going to read Romans 5, 1 through 5, because it also lends some insight into this.
• 25:19
  Ellen Krause: It says, therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
• 25:27
  Ellen Krause: Through him, we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
• 25:38
  Ellen Krause: Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.
• 25:51
  Ellen Krause: Endurance produces character and character produces hope.
• 25:55
  Ellen Krause: And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
• 26:05
  Taylor Krause: Amen, I love that.
• 26:06
  Taylor Krause: I love reading other pieces of scripture that bolster what you're currently reading and studying, and that passage was perfect for that.
• 26:17
  Taylor Krause: I have a question, mom, just to get into some personal things here Is there any trial that you've faced where joy felt out of reach?
• 26:32
  Ellen Krause: You know that's a great question and I will tell you this.
• 26:38
  Ellen Krause: So I started having kids when I was 25.
• 26:43
  Ellen Krause: And my last one you is about to leave the nest and I'm 59.
• 26:49
  Ellen Krause: Leave the nest and I'm 59.
• 26:58
  Ellen Krause: So for the last 34 years I have devoted most of my life or a lot of my life, because I have worked on and off other jobs throughout that time but really devoted is to being a mom who's in the day to day grips of helping a child, whether that's young, and then a child who's growing and ready to leave the nest.
• 27:18
  Ellen Krause: And for me this has been a trial because I've loved those years with my children and I have really recognized that I have a deep sadness for the kind of the loss of this stage of life.
• 27:41
  Ellen Krause: So it does feel like a trial in that sense.
• 27:45
  Ellen Krause: And this passage does give me a lot of encouragement because I know, coming out the other side, that I will find joy through this trial.
• 27:58
  Ellen Krause: I recognize that God gives us different seasons of life growing up, and now that I'm entering this phase I need to ask God what is it?
• 28:06
  Ellen Krause: How do you want to use me in a different way than you have been using me?
• 28:11
  Ellen Krause: Where do you want me to devote the time and energy that was previously applied to mothering, so to speak?
• 28:20
  Ellen Krause: And God has been showing me things and already preparing me in advance.
• 28:28
  Ellen Krause: But it's hard for anyone who might be in the stages of someone getting married, like a child of yours getting married.
• 28:36
  Ellen Krause: It's bittersweet because you are truly happy for them.
• 28:40
  Ellen Krause: I mean, this is what we want.
• 28:42
  Ellen Krause: We want them to become adults, leave the nest be fruitful and multiply.
• 28:50
  Ellen Krause: Hint, hint.
• 28:51
  Ellen Krause: Okay, and multiply Hint hint, taylor, okay, but yeah, that's just an example of something I'm going through right now.
• 29:08
  Taylor Krause: That totally makes sense, and I haven't even had kids yet.
• 29:10
  Taylor Krause: But I just feel the shift of becoming a mother is a total game changer with identity things.
• 29:13
  Taylor Krause: And when you become a mother it's almost like the part who you were before you had kids kind of takes the back burner for 20, 25, 30 years and then all of a sudden your kids leave and it's like whoa, I am alone and back to discovering who I was before I had kids and God helped me lean into that identity of being just a daughter of Christ and being satisfied in who I am.
• 29:48
  Taylor Krause: And you and being a mother isn't all that you are, even though it's amazing.
• 29:53
  Taylor Krause: And being a mother isn't all that you are, even though it's amazing, um, you're, you're even more than that you know.
• 30:00
  Taylor Krause: So I imagine that that's difficult and I'll say for myself, for you, yeah too.
• 30:04
  Taylor Krause: A trial that I was wrestling with I've talked about this all throughout the past couple years is I've had a phobia of throwing up Not the world's most common phobia, but I have heard of many, many, many people dealing with this phobia.
• 30:23
  Taylor Krause: Basically, two summers ago I re-triggered myself because I had thrown up from a medication that I had taken and man did that send me into a whirlwind of a trial, constant anxiety over the top, irrational stuff.
• 30:43
  Taylor Krause: Phobias are irrational to begin with, let's just say that.
• 30:47
  Taylor Krause: But there's something in there, deep, painful, that needs to be healed by God.
• 30:55
  Taylor Krause: And it's hard to let go of phobias because there's something in you that says, if I just keep holding on, somehow this fear is protecting me from whatever I'm scared of and I need to keep this fear because it's helpful and beneficial and it's keeping me safe.
• 31:10
  Taylor Krause: Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.
• 31:14
  Taylor Krause: If you and this is for any of you that are struggling with a phobia I don't know it's not totally uncommon, honestly, and I'm even talking phobias of spiders here Don't let fear rule your life.
• 31:30
  Taylor Krause: That's what I was learning through my trial.
• 31:32
  Taylor Krause: God showed me fear was ruling my life.
• 31:37
  Taylor Krause: The amount of thoughts that I had every single day that was just surrounded by fear.
• 31:43
  Taylor Krause: God showed me I don't want to live that way and you know what?
• 31:47
  Taylor Krause: Maybe facing my fears is better than living in fear and thinking that it's actually helping me when it's not.
• 31:53
  Taylor Krause: So maybe my encouragement for you today if you're going through a trial that is rooted in fear, ask God for wisdom to show you what it would look like to not live in fear every day.
• 32:14
  Taylor Krause: God wants to give you wisdom generously.
• 32:16
  Taylor Krause: James tells us he wants to do it ungrudgingly or without reproach.
• 32:19
  Taylor Krause: Essentially, god's not saying I'm not going to give you wisdom because you haven't been a good enough Christian for me.
• 32:25
  Taylor Krause: No, god wants to give you wisdom if you come to him in faith and say help me, lord, I want to live like you, I want to abide in you, I want to be set free and transformed.
• 32:36
  Taylor Krause: I want to live into the reality of who I already am, and that is free in Christ.
• 32:42
  Taylor Krause: So that was the season that I was going through.
• 32:46
  Taylor Krause: I'm not completely set, totally free from my phobia, but I have grown immensely.
• 32:54
  Taylor Krause: Yeah, so that's where I'm at there.
• 32:58
  Taylor Krause: And lastly, mom, to just close this podcast out, if someone is listening to this-.
• 33:06
  Ellen Krause: Hold on one second, go ahead.
• 33:07
  Ellen Krause: You know what.
• 33:07
  Ellen Krause: I actually have a verse here for people who might be struggling with any kind of fear, and this is a verse that I had taped on my computer for years 2 Timothy 1, 7.
• 33:21
  Ellen Krause: It says for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and of sound mind.
• 33:29
  Ellen Krause: So I would encourage you to write that out on a card or something and have it, have it handy, and when that comes up for me, it was when I was in a time with my work and I just would keep it handy, you know, whenever I had something scary that I was facing absolutely um.
• 33:53
  Taylor Krause: And now, if any of you are in the middle of a lot of pain, a difficult trial, I want to encourage you with something James says a little bit later too, which is ask God in faith for wisdom.
• 34:08
  Taylor Krause: Lean into your relationship with God when you are going through a difficult time.
• 34:13
  Taylor Krause: Lean into your relationship with God when you are going through a difficult time, even if you're like I've been praying, I've been asking, god has been silent.
• 34:23
  Taylor Krause: This is how you are building your spiritual muscles.
• 34:26
  Taylor Krause: This is how you're building your endurance.
• 34:27
  Taylor Krause: When you are going through difficulties, lean deeper, lean harder into Christ.
• 34:32
  Taylor Krause: Deeper, lean, harder into Christ.
• 34:38
  Taylor Krause: And James tells us ask in faith for wisdom.
• 34:39
  Taylor Krause: He wants to give it to you and to also be aware that those that don't ask in faith, that don't lean into their faith when you're in a trial, are driven and tossed like the waves of the sea by the wind.
• 34:51
  Taylor Krause: In other words, the sea by the wind.
• 34:51
  Taylor Krause: In other words, if you don't lean into your faith and do a trial, you are going to be back and forth, flopped all over by your circumstances, like the waves of the surging sea.
• 35:07
  Taylor Krause: This is no dignified way for a believer to live because you don't have to, because God extends his hand to you to let your faith be the pathway to strength, to a deeper relationship with him.
• 35:21
  Taylor Krause: Start with prayer.
• 35:22
  Taylor Krause: Prayer on your knees is a really great way to physically humble yourself while you also spiritually humble yourself, and maybe just make it a pattern every night before you go to bed.
• 35:36
  Taylor Krause: If you're going through a difficult circumstance, get on your knee and ask in faith for God to give you wisdom and for God to give you contentment and joy in Him, not your circumstances.
• 35:46
  Taylor Krause: And it is okay to ask and pray for God to provide.
• 35:49
  Taylor Krause: If you're there, it is absolutely okay to do that.
• 35:53
  Taylor Krause: Provide if you're there, it is absolutely okay to do that.
• 35:59
  Taylor Krause: But also make sure your heart's desire is to find your security and your significance and your satisfaction in him, more than anything, more than any worldly, circumstantial thing.
• 36:08
  Taylor Krause: To find your security in him.
• 36:10
  Taylor Krause: That's my encouragement for you all today.
• 36:14
  Ellen Krause: Thank you for that, tay, and just as a reminder, james isn't asking you to feel joy, but to count on what God is doing underneath the surface.
• 36:25
  Ellen Krause: Your endurance is being formed and you are not alone.
• 36:30
  Ellen Krause: You're not forgotten.
• 36:32
  Ellen Krause: Tay, would you mind closing us in prayer for our listeners?
• 36:37
  Taylor Krause: Absolutely.
• 36:37
  Taylor Krause: Dear Lord, thank you for who you are.
• 36:42
  Taylor Krause: Thank you that you are near to us, that you make yourself available to us, that you're so willing to be dependable even when we aren't, even when we do lack faith, even when we do doubt God.
• 36:58
  Taylor Krause: We don't want to be like the waves of the sea that's driven and tossed by our emotions and our circumstances.
• 37:03
  Taylor Krause: We want to be rooted in you and God.
• 37:06
  Taylor Krause: We want you to help us grow close to you in the midst of our trials.
• 37:11
  Taylor Krause: Lord, would you give us joy?
• 37:13
  Taylor Krause: Would you cultivate in us joy?
• 37:15
  Taylor Krause: Father, we need that.
• 37:17
  Taylor Krause: We need that.
• 37:18
  Taylor Krause: We don't want to be shaped by the world.
• 37:20
  Taylor Krause: We want to be different.
• 37:21
  Taylor Krause: We want to have joy in the middle of hard circumstances.
• 37:25
  Taylor Krause: Please, lord, show us how to do that.
• 37:28
  Taylor Krause: We trust in you.
• 37:30
  Taylor Krause: We rely on you.
• 37:31
  Taylor Krause: We love you, amen.