Two-minute read.
Today, people rarely send handwritten notes, a change that began with the rise of cell phones. As children, we sent cards and letters to keep in touch. Nothing brought more excitement than receiving an envelope from the mailman, your name scrawled in pen across the front.
Never one to wait, I would rip open the envelope to read a loved one’s words. Opening James letter may have surprised me. As Jesus’ half-brother and a major leader in the early church, he begins his correspondence by addressing something we all endure: trials.
James wants us to put on divine glasses.
Instead of looking at our trials from a human perspective, he wants us to use God’s lens. When we change our perspective, we’ll stop seeing our suffering and start seeing what the Lord can produce from it. James doesn’t want us to feel joyful in difficult circumstances, but to recognize how our Creator can use the experience for spiritual growth.
James knows we will face trials. Everyone does, and they come in many forms: disappointment, uncertainty, conflict, loss, waiting, financial pressure, relational struggles, or seasons when life doesn’t make sense. Trials come in all kinds of hardships.
We can trust the Lord easily when things go well, but difficulties reveal the areas where we place our trust: in ourselves or the Savior. If we choose God, perseverance develops. Perseverance doesn’t just help us survive; it helps us keep following the Lord when circumstances make it easy to quit.
Trust that God doesn’t waste your trials.
Whatever circumstances you find yourself in today, know the Lord’s developing something in you that He can’t develop any other way. Instead of just getting through the trial, make it your goal to grow in it. Difficult circumstances allow us to trust God, deepen our faith, strengthen our perseverance, and mature spiritually.
Joy comes from the Lord. We can’t manufacture it, but we can discover divine joy by keeping our eyes on Jesus. As we discover His joy amidst our trials, we will also find His strength. The problems don’t disappear, but divine peace settles in, replacing fear and anxiety with confidence in the Savior. Our trials will end one day, but our life with Jesus never does. In Him, we have eternal life.
Journal Questions:
- · What trial are you facing right now, and how might God be using it to strengthen your faith?
- · Where are you tempted to give up, and what would it look like to let perseverance “finish its work” in you?
- · How might your current struggle be developing a quality in you that God wants to use in the future?
Application:
Whatever trial you face today, look for ways God has grown you in it.
