Humbled
and thankful to share that a revised version of my script, Brave Girl, has made the list of semi-finalists for the 2013 Kairos Prize for Spiritually Uplifting Screenplays. I appreciate all the folks
at the Kairos Prize, Movie Guide, and the John Templeton Foundation who work so
hard to promote Christian Filmmaking.
One
of the options in the Beth Moore Bible study I’m participating in, Mercy
Triumphs, is to memorize the book of James. I thought I might give it a shot
and see how far I can go. I’ve been repeating the first few verses over and
over, but my thoughts seemed to have kept hanging on verse 2, “Consider it pure joy, my
brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds…” (James 1:2).
As I mentioned above, a
few days ago, I learned my script, Brave Girl, made the semi-finalists for the Kairos Prize again this
year. I’d worked hard to revise this script, which made the list the year
before, but sometimes revisions don’t always go the way you hope, so I was
glad to receive the news. As far as my work goes, it’s an
accomplishment for which I am especially thankful.
Less
than two hours later, I received a piece of news in another important arena—and
it wasn’t good. In fact, the report seared through me like a hot knife in
butter. Instead, of shifting my focus to gratitude for what happened earlier, I let the joy drain out of me. For almost a whole day, I just tried to keep breathing.
“Consider
it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds…”
(James 1:2) began rolling in my mind, again.
My
thoughts seemed to lock on the word, “Consider.”
I
turned to the Greek Lexicon in the Strong’s Concordance and the accompanying
notes.
The
Greek word for consider in James 1:2 according
to this source denotes “ a belief
resting not on one's inner feeling or sentiment, but on the due consideration
of external grounds, and the weighing and comparing of facts.”
Consider
here is the same word used twice in Philippians 3:8, “What is more, I consider
everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my
Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things, I consider them garbage that I may
gain Christ.”
I
must confess that my “inner feeling or sentiment” controlled my response to the
bad news I received. I didn’t consider it joy, because I let my feelings rule
me. My feelings said consider it heartache, consider it disappointment, and
consider it discouragement. God says, “Consider it pure joy…”
None
of this is news to me. I know not to let my feelings rule me. However, sadly,
sometimes, I do. As I memorize God's word through James, I want these words to go deep inside of me, so that
all God wants to do in me might become a reality.
When
I face “trials of many kinds,” I pray my first response might be that of joy in
God’s presence, because I know He holds all things in His hands, and He can use
every circumstance in the lives of those who love Him for good. When I consider the truth of God's faithfulness and the power of His word and allow these things to govern me, how can I help but have joy? When I choose to offer up a heart of gratitude for the blessings of even this one day, I can only dance in His presence.
So,
here I am facing 2013 with something else to add to my focus of living this
moment, now, instead of a future one, which I wrote about earlier in the month.
As James states later in Chapter 1, I want to be “mature and
complete, not lacking anything,” so I ask God’s help no matter the circumstance
to “Consider it pure joy…”
I
imagine I am not alone in this struggle. Let me know how, you, too, friends, are
allowing this word in James to become part of you.