“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 1:2-4
Ask anyone facing a trial how they would describe it
to you and chances are pretty good that one of the descriptors would not be the
word ‘joy’.
Yet that is exactly the connection that James makes in
his epistle.
Perhaps the secret lies in the goal. If you, as a
disciple of Jesus Christ, want to be mature and complete then you will
recognize the value that there is in what trials can bring into your life. The
lukewarm see no value in them.
Not only do they not embrace trials; they run in the
opposite direction. The quickest path to immaturity and an unfinished race is
to duck around trials; by not letting perseverance finish its work in you. That
would be too hard.
To persevere is defined as: to continue to do
something in spite of difficulty, opposition, etc…
Often we are content to be disciples as long as it is
easy. Ask me to sacrifice things in my life and to daily take up my cross and
we transform from
disciples to ‘departers’ (as in: See ya - I’m outta
here!)
The disciple who truly desires to be like the Lord
recognizes that trials are opportunities. They will not be easy.
They will not be a ‘cake-walk’.
They will be valuable.
Count it all joy!
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