Last Sunday we got to hear from our elder Joe Chong. I’ve had the privilege of knowing Joe for a long time and have had many opportunities to work with him in different ministries. I always find that Joe is able to communicate God’s heart in a genuine and unique way, and his message last Sunday was no different. If you didn’t get a chance to hear it I recommend you give it a listen! You can access the service recording here.
The theme of Joe’s message was simple but powerful, “More of God = less of us.” This is such a straightforward but important truth. To have more of God is to grow in our faith. It means that we are hearing God more clearly with the presence of God filling our lives more and more. But, having more of God will naturally mean that our flesh will decrease. We become less self-centered and self-sufficient, learning to lean more on God and less on ourselves.
One of the passages that Joe mentioned is familiar to many of us as it is one of our memory verses. James 1:2-4 says,
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
The verse talks about considering it a joyful thing when we face trials in our lives. How is this possible? Trials and challenges are always painful and difficult. Where is the joy in that?
As Joe said, the reason is because trials in life often lead to less of us. Less of our own selfish nature. Less of our self-protective actions. Less of a need to be right. God wants to give us life, and give it to us to the full. We can have more of God in our lives, our work, our circumstances, and our families. But in order to do that, God will need to take more of us. As we decrease, God increases.
Life can be full of challenges and at times those challenges can feel so overwhelming. But they can also serve as an opportunity for God to purify us. Joe shared some powerful testimonies of that work in his own life. Let’s learn to always pay attention to God’s voice in the midst of our challenges, knowing that God can use them so that we may decrease and He may increase.