Trials, According to James
"My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." (James 1:2-4)
One thing we can be sure about trials is they are always working something in us. What that something is, though, is entirely up to us. We can allow the trial to let anger, fear, frustration, bitterness, and resentment become a part of our lives, or we can allow God to use the trial to instill in us a depth of character and godliness through patience as we endure.
When I am faced with difficulty, it sometimes takes me a while to come around to the right way of thinking. At first, I am more concerned with worrying about how things are going to work out so that I get my way in the end than with what God is trying to do with my life through the trial. When I look back on specific hardships in my life, I can see that every time I was faced with a trial and put God first I walked away from it with more depth of character and a deeper love for God.
I don't think any one of us would say we love trials, but I know that we can love what they produce in us!
As James talks about patience, we are reminded that trials are a part of life, and they can either make or break us. They can defeat or define us.
"Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." (Job 13:15a)
Even though we, like Job, may feel like we will crack under the pressure of life, we can rest assured that we are kept by God as He is our foundation. You will not break because you are held with the utmost care. God is not trying to break us, but to mold us. So, be moldable! Allow the trials you are faced with to let patience work in you so that you can be victorious through Christ.
When we let patience work in us, we will be complete and whole in Christ. We won't lack anything. Do you feel an empty hole inside that is lacking something? Is there an anxious corner of your mind that doesn't seem to ever find rest? If so, take inventory and see if the root of the problem is in a lack of submission to God. Give it to Him and find rest as you patiently wait for Him to work in your life.
One of the greatest joys we can have as Christians is in knowing that our trials have a purpose. The unsaved have no hope when they are faced with despair and emptiness, because without Christ there is nothing solid for them to turn to as they stand on the shifting sands of circumstances.
We can rest in knowing that our hardships are seen and known of God. Our pain has purpose, our hurts can be healed, our defeats can have victory, and our worries can have rest.
James goes on to instruct us to go to God for wisdom.
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." (James 1:5)
During trials, we need wisdom in:
Our thoughts- To be able to discern truth from lies. We can be bombarded with doubts and lies at a time of testing as Satan attempts to keep our eyes on our problems and off of the One who can help us.
Our actions- We will be faced with choices that come as a part of the specific trial we are in. We will need wisdom in our reactions as well, so that we don't make decisions based on frustration, fear, or anger.
Our waiting- Testings come with waiting periods. As we wait, we can be tempted to doubt, fear, and become bitter. We need wisdom to counteract these feelings with truth and wisdom in knowing what to do as we wait.
Our prayers- We will need wisdom in knowing how to pray for ourselves and for others.
In short, we desperately need wisdom. But there's good news! God delights in giving His children wisdom when they ask for it. As we pray, we need to make sure that we are not uncommited in our faith by doubting God's goodness to us. James says that we are to "ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed." (vs 6)
I for one, don't want to be someone who is tossed around at the whim of my own thoughts and perceptions, because I've been there and that is a scary place to be. I need to make it a choice that I will let Christ be my solid foundation and a firm resting place for my mind. I need to remember that God's way is the best way, even if it doesn't involve any of the blueprints I have drawn up for my life.
Remember that God's answer will complete you because He will fill you. Trust Him even if His answer is something that you don't want or are afraid of, because He will help you through it and He will change you for the better.
I have been guilty of wavering in my prayers and walk with God because I doubted that I would be okay if His answer was something I didn't want. But do you know what I learned? Even though His answer to a specific trial seemed to tilt my world, I knew I stood complete in Him! At the end of a waiting period and testing, I was able to kneel before Him with a song on my lips and His fullness in my heart. The knowledge that I was complete in Him alone was worth far more to me than merely getting what I deemed a happy ending, because He was changing me in the process.
Christ is all we need. His answer is always best even if we don't see the goodness right away. Don't turn your back on the only One who can restore you. Run to God and let Him fill your heart with unexplainable peace and incomprehensible joy!
When you are tested, do you prove your devotion to your God, or do you shame Him? We are tested in different ways and at different stages of life. Enduring testing and affliction is not easy by any means, and sometimes we need to make a mental choice that we will endure for as long as we are faced with a specific trial. The only way we can endure hardship is by God's grace and strength because we cannot be victorious on our own. Our strength is weakness.
"My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9)
God wants to be our strength and He wants us to be victorious and not give up.
Remember that He is our sustainer, and our hope!
"Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him." (James 1:12)
"Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." (II Timothy 2:3)
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called, according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28)
~Tiffany~
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