- James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings. Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
Many of us resist hard times but we can look back on those same hard times and see how we learned and grew through them. Trials in life form us in a significant way, teaching us things that we wouldn’t learn otherwise. Yet, hard times often just feel hard—in the moment we don’t see a purpose or a way out. This passage in James is counter to how we usually interact with pain and trials. We resist, try to put our head down and try to figure a way out as fast as possible. When James calls us to joy, it is not a call to grin and bear it, but an invitation to bring God into your challenges and let Him form and grow you in those times.
On our own, finding meaning in a hard time or a good way to get through can be frustrating and maybe even outright impossible, but when we walk with God through trials there is a way we can grow with Him and endure through the challenges of life. This doesn’t alleviate the difficulty of trials, but God’s presence changes our perspective on the trials we face and gives us hope beyond them. The same God who saved you will walk with you through the challenges you are facing. He is the one who can bring beauty to the broken pieces and redemption to the parts of life that might otherwise feel like a lost cause.
- What are some of the challenges you are facing now? What has been your perspective on them?
- What is your typical reaction when you encounter trials? Where do you turn to for help or escape from the trial? What does it look like to go to God in the trials of life?
- Pray for someone who is facing difficult challenges now. Ask God to draw them toward Him in the trial.
