Count it all 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.
James 1:2-4 (ESV)
I come from several generations of farmers who in addition to growing crops, also raised livestock, including chickens, pigs and cattle. My maternal grandmother told me many colorful stories about how she stewarded everything that was raised on the farm including providing milk and butter for her family.
She described the process of making butter as quite time-consuming as well as demanding a lot of dedication. Butter is made from cream that has been separated from whole milk and then cooled. Churning shakes up the cream—the agitation breaks the membranes of fat molecules, making them clump together. As large clusters of fat collect, they begin forming a network. The clumped fat is butter and the liquid separated from it is called buttermilk. Churning is what does the trick!
I have a friend who says he does a lot of churning because he is a complicated soul—âme compliquée! His definition of churning has evolved. In today’s vernacular churning can also mean heaving, boiling, swirling—perhaps even violently, i.e. like a boat tossed around on the surface of a churning lake.
According to James, we are all complicated souls because at times we are being churned—having our faith tested—by the difficult circumstances of our lives. In essence, we are the “cream” that is being shaken up and our Father is making us into perfect butter. Wouldn’t you say His process is also quite time-consuming as well as demanding a lot of dedication?
We are instructed to rejoice when our faith is tested because we know the outcome. Churning through the events of 2020 is not intended to destroy us, but to strengthen us. As we learn new ways of being still, listening more deeply, and making new choices, we eventually come around to a right attitude. A right attitude results in steadfastness which is not even an end in itself—maturity is the final effect. Isn’t this the ultimate perfection and completeness we seek?
“And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new choices…” –Kathleen O’Meara (1839-1888)