Mims Turley

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings. Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:1-4

‘Trials’ isn’t a word we like to hear. The word paints a picture of pain and suffering and tears. Something that we would all rather do without if we could.

In the passage above, James says something that’s even harder to hear, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds …”

For me, and I’m sure it’s the same for many of you, these are two things that really don’t seem to go together – trials and joy. And yet, James makes it very clear that trials are not things that simply happen without rhyme or reason, “because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” And that is reason to be joyful.

My son recently ran the London Marathon. He trained hard for months, following his training programme in the heat and the cold. He put in hours at the gym. He often had sore muscles, cramps and felt tired. And yet he endured because he knew that if he wanted to finish the marathon he needed to go through the pain and suffering to get stronger. And how great was his joy when he crossed the finish line and sent us a message saying, “I did it!”

We as Christians also have a ‘training programme’; we have the Bible to read and study and to hear what God expects of us, and we have the gift of prayer to communicate directly with God.

We don’t deliberately go looking for trials and difficult situations, but when they come, our ‘training programme’ will have made us strong enough to see us through. We have hope and faith in God and we know he is always with us. “This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.”  Haggai 2:5

Trials make it possible for us to endure. And there is the promise that if we endure to the end we will achieve spiritual maturity. Isn’t that a reason to be glad?

Prayer: Lord, help me to trust you that my faith will stand the test when trials come my way. Give me your joy and peace. Amen