Consider it pure joy, by brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds…
There is a children’s book that tells of a boy that has a “terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day”. It would be silly to ask if you have ever had one, because we all have. Life is full of days like that, where it seems that everything imaginable could go wrong. When you are in the midst of those days, sometimes it seems like the very best you can do is simply to make it through that time. It is something altogether different to think about experiencing pure joy during that time! But God says we can. And his word tells us why.
…because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish the work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Perseverance is defined as “persisting in an undertaking in spite of counter influences, opposition, or discouragement”. What counter influences are you facing right now? Is discouragement whispering in your ear that it is time to give up? We must realize that Satan would like nothing more than for all of us to check out of this walk with Christ because it is simply too hard. Things just don’t go right, and it seems to require more effort than we thought it would, or we are willing to give. Wouldn’t it just be easier to give it up, join with the world in pursuing things that would make us happy, and be done with this struggle? That is exactly what our adversary would want us to do…but we need to remember why we have struggles and hard times in our lives.
These come so that your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
In these verses in James and 1Peter, we see God’s purpose for the trials we face in our lives. James says that it makes us mature and complete. That does not mean that we are perfect. But it means that we are “grown up” in our faith. We are able to know and apply God’s word to our situations and recognize the purposes of God. We are able to walk in the power of his Holy Spirit and experience his peace despite our circumstances. And Peter says that trials prove our faith genuine. Trials show if we have the “real thing” in our lives. And when it is real, it is only refined by the hard times we endure. It is strengthened and made pure. And the very best effect of our hard times is that when we go through them dependent on God and trusting him to change us as a result, it produces praise and glory and honor to Jesus Christ. Isn’t that the goal of our lives? Isn’t that why we are here on earth to begin with? It is all part of God’s plan to show himself to the world. He sustains us in the midst of trials, and we reflect his image to all those around us. He strengthens our faith through suffering, and we are able to trust him with even more, demonstrating his love in our lives to everyone we come in contact with.
So, struggles will come in life. God can get us through them all when we depend on him. And this process reveals God to a lost world that He loves. Our personal benefit is maturity in our Christian lives, stronger faith in God, and eternal rewards in Heaven as a result of it. Trials may be hard, but the benefits and results are all worth it. If they are inevitable in life, shouldn’t we deal with them in a way that produces a positive result? If we walk with Jesus through them, it will.
make it real
- Identify the trials and struggles that you are in right now.
- Are you walking through them in your own power, or are you relying on God to see you through?
- Can you point to positive results of these hard times in our own faith?
- Can you see how God is being glorified to those who do not know him through the way you are handling these struggles?
- Ask God to give you his perspective of trials in your life.
prayer
Heavenly Father, I submit myself to you and acknowledge that you are the one that is in control of all things. I want my life to reflect your greatness to this world, and I know that you often will use the hard times in my life to do that. Help me to keep my eyes on you in the midst of it all, and use these times to bring honor and glory to your name. Strengthen my faith so that I can trust you more, and show me your love and plan for it all. I will walk with you. Amen.