James 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.”
Trials in life are inevitable. Pastor Todd often says, “You are either coming out of a trial or about to go into a trial.” People in the medical field see this firsthand every day in making needed diagnoses that can be good news or bad news to the recipient. Tests in life are humbling. They test our faith. It is a time to seek God’s wisdom in prayer. If you were writing a letter to your children or grandchildren, leaving them your words of wisdom, what would you write on this theme, on handling the problems they may face? What scripture verses would you include that spoke to you during those opportunities of various trials that encouraged you to keep on keeping on in the marathon of life? Next, think about what blessings did you receive after the problem passed? Are you able to look back and see them as providing opportunities for personal growth that God taught you and brought you through? Food for thought.
The most important lesson I have gained this past year in acquiring perseverance, steadfastness, and patience is the fact that our world is temporary. This problem I am facing is temporary. Our 2022 is about to end, and 2023 will take its place. The occurrence of 1 Thessalonians 4:17 is closer today than yesterday, as it declares, “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” This fact has given me peace in knowing that God is sufficient and that Christ’s return for us is getting closer every day. This problem I am facing today, or this week is temporary. I live at a brief address because this world is not my home. I am just passing through to my eternal home in heaven.
“Patience is the ancient Greek word huponome. This word does not describe a passive waiting but an active endurance. It isn’t so much the quality that helps you sit quietly in the doctor’s waiting room, as it is the quality that helps you finish a marathon . . . Trials don’t produce faith, but when trials are received with faith, it produces patience. Yet patience is not inevitably produced in times of trial. If difficulties are received in unbelief and grumbling, trials can produce bitterness and discouragement. This is why James exhorted us to count it all joy. Counting it all joy is faith’s response to a time of trial.” David Guzik, Commentary, Blue Letter Bible. Notice that James does not say feel it all joy. There is a vast difference.
There is no escaping being distressed when going through an unfortunate predicament, what we refer to as a trial. David in Psalm 116, said in verse one, “I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy.” David’s love for the Lord had grown because he saw his prayers answered when he appealed to the LORD for mercy when his life was threatened and slandered by his enemies. In Ps. 120:1, David declares, “In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me.” Notice the words in Ps. 130:1, “Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!” There are tears of grief and there are tears of thankfulness. I have had both.
God is writing your story of His mighty work in your life. Gene Getz in his Life Essentials Study Bible, HCSG, states on James 1:2-4, A Principle to Live By – Persecution and Trials (See Deut. #14: Wilderness Experiences on page 234) “We are to view difficult experiences in our lives as opportunities to grow and mature in our faith. The Lord had two primary purposes for humbling and testing the children of Israel in their wilderness experience (taken from Deut. 8):
- To discover what was in their hearts. Would they be motivated to obey God’s commands when they faced difficult circumstances (v.2)?
- To discover if they could handle prosperity. Would they honor and glorify God rather than taking credit themselves (vv. 16-17)?
James reminded us in the New Testament that God has special purposes in allowing difficult experiences to come into our own lives.”
The MSG says it this way, James 1:2-4, “Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.” I now realize God has given me gifts I hadn’t realized I had that came through various trials that have produced endurance’s complete work and I sit here in awe.
I wrote most of this right before needing to call 911 for a medical emergency my husband had this week. The ambulance arrived within minutes and took Steve to ER at our hospital which is only about four blocks away. He was kept in isolation within the ambulance due to the high number of very sick people waiting to be seen by the ER medical staff. The EMT person kept him in there and watched over him until an ER bed was available (which took several hours), due to his condition. The staff took excellent care of Steve, once a bed was available. The final diagnosis was eventually reached after seeing the prescribed medicine administered to him was working. We were fortunate to have Steve released to go home to recuperate and instructed to get plenty of rest (sleep) to help heal his body from a very bad case of Vertigo, that thankfully appeared to not lead to anything else. But if he had any reoccurrence in the next few days, to come back to ER immediately. OK, 2023, come what may. God intends them for His divine purpose that we (I) “may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
Listen to King & Country Lyric Video, Cheering You On. March 17, 2022.