Consent

 ome things do what they’re supposed to do if you let them be. A preheated oven at 400 degrees will make perfectly edible chicken drumsticks in about forty-five minutes every time. The only thing you need to concern yourself with is whether you marinate them, dry rub them, get fancy and buy a shake-n-bake kit, or stay simple and use a bit of salt and pepper.

My girls like the crispy skin, so I’ll brush some avocado oil on them, not because I’m fancy but because avocado oil has a high smoke point, then use my ultra-secret combination of herbs and spices I bought in a giant tub at Costco that will last me well into the apocalypse. They’re exclusively for poultry; it says so on the tub, and it’s not like the fine folks at Kirkland Brand have any reason to lie.

For anyone not an avid Costco customer, the previous paragraph made no sense whatsoever, but you can’t please everyone all the time, and that’s just the reality of it all. Pro tip: if you consume more than a pound of baked beans in one sitting, or you have a family with which to share the bounty, Costco is a legit money saver.

The secret to crispy, well-done chicken drumsticks is once you put them in the oven, leave them alone. Let the oven do its thing, set a timer or an alarm, and go about making the mashed potatoes, sweet potato wedges, steamed broccoli if you’ve lost your taste buds in a horrible mouth-related accident, or whatever you serve as a side. If you keep opening the oven to check and see if it’s doing what it’s always done, your forty-five minutes are likely to turn into an hour-plus.

I know what you’re thinking: Use the oven light! That burned out a couple of years back. I just haven’t made the time to replace it. The point I’m trying to make is twofold. First, some things just can’t be rushed unless you’re willing to roll the dice on salmonella. Second, let the mechanism you’ve employed carry out whatever task it needs to do so without intervening or trying to sneak a peek every thirty seconds.

James 1:4, “But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

If the goal you have in mind is to be perfect, complete, and lacking nothing, then you have no choice but to let patience have its perfect work. When James says we must let patience do its thing, it implies both consent and acquiescence to what it needs to do in you. Letting patience have its perfect work in you is a choice you must make once you’ve attained it via the testing of your faith.

Yes, some people stop halfway to the finish line. They get distracted, tired, and disillusioned that it’s taking longer than they thought it would. They go through the trial and the testing, and they obtain patience, then they refuse to let it have its perfect work, never attaining wholeness.

It’s akin to purchasing a gym membership, buying workout clothing, setting your alarm for five a.m., waking up, and deciding not to go after all. You wasted the money, lost the sleep, and have nothing to show for it when all is said and done.

The purpose of obtaining patience is not just bragging about possessing it but also what it does in us once we’ve obtained it. The goal is for you to be perfect and complete, lacking nothing, not just to have it for the sake of having it. For this to occur, it requires time, and given what the outcome will be, it is well worth the wait.

As is always the case, there is a difference between theory and practice. Between reading the words and following through, acting on them, and coming to the place where we count it all joy. What if we can’t make the leap? What if we can’t bring ourselves to see it the way James says we should? Unsurprisingly, the Bible has the answer.

James 1:5, “If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”

There is no judgment in James’s counsel. He doesn’t belittle anyone, nor does he come off as superior to those to whom he is writing. In the manner of one who, perhaps, lacked wisdom at some point in his life, he encourages those who lack wisdom to ask God for it, and He will give it liberally and without reproach.

He doesn’t say we should ask God for confirmation of whether or not we should count it all joy when we go through various trials, but rather for wisdom so that we can see the reality of the good God is working in us as we go through them. It is an important distinction because many today have the tendency to wander into the territory of tempting God, repeatedly asking for clarification for something they already know the answer to, just hoping they get a different one in the end.

You’re not going to get God to change His mind on the issues He’s already established in His Word. He won’t suddenly go back on His word and edit His commands just because we ask Him to clarify over and over again. Those who willfully tempt God fail to understand that He knows the innermost heart of man, and nothing is hidden from His sight. You’re not that good an actor, and he’s not impressed nor impressionable.

As Paul reminds the Hebrews, all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. For some, that’s a scary proposition, even if they don’t yet know it.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.