Spiritual Cartography (Ja 1:2-4)

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

Imagine a battalion of soldiers commissioned by the king to go map uncharted territory of a newly conquered land. In order to create a detailed map, these soldiers would need to familiarize themselves with every part of the territory.

If there were certain parts they were afraid to explore, these sections of the map would be left unknown, and the land would remain unclaimed for the king - even though it had already been conquered by him. If the battalion only went places where the king's rule and reign had already been established, they would surely feel comfortable and safe, but they would not be making any new progress on their mission.

In the same way, our King has conquered the principalities and dominions of this fallen world. He has conquered darkness, suffering, sin, and death. And He has commissioned us to map out the territory and to claim it for His Kingdom.

Though we must remember that, unlike our analogy, this is primarily a spiritual process. If we do not lift our minds above the realm of the flesh to the realm of the spirit, we are likely to remain oblivious that any of this is even happening.

When we notice ourselves feeling fearful, resentful, doubtful, or anxious, these are signals that we have entered into unclaimed (though not unconquered) spiritual territory. Our job is simply to claim this space for Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God. Remember: it is already His; we simply need to become consciously aware of it.

So instead of panicking when we find ourselves in a stressful situation - we should rather rejoice! We have discovered an area of our soul that has not been fully submitted to God. And it is only when we find ourselves in these moments that we have the opportunity to claim them for the Kingdom.

When we do surrender these "areas of our soul" to God and experience His divine presence in the midst of the trials associated with them, we will have made progress in what the Eastern Christians call divinization. Or if you'd rather use a term Western Christians are more comfortable with: sanctification.

Each of these moments allows our souls to be ever so slightly more conformed to Him after whom we are imaged. And as our souls are molded more into the image of Jesus Christ, we will find ourselves stepping more fully into our true identities as sons and daughters of God upon the earth.

We destroy arguments

and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God,

and take every thought captive to obey Christ

2 Cor 10:5