Last Sunday night in discipleship training, our focus was on verses from the first chapter of James. Here are some of the excerpts from James 1. The entire lesson focused on verses 2-18, but these are the ones that really struck me:
2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
and:
12Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
My first thought was that often it's easy to look back AFTER a trial and see how it all worked out for the good. That can make it easier to look at a trial as a blessing. But that's not what this says. It says to consider it joy to face trials. Joy to face trials... That is a hard one to wrap my mind around. How do you go about doing that? I know it is not a natural reaction, at least not for me. Then I think of my friend who has faced cancer (more than once), fell off of her roof and broke both ankles, is going through a divorce, and multiple other crisis and she has joy and unending faith. And I find myself wondering: How can I get that? There are no answers today, only thoughts and wonderings. If you have any to add, please comment and share them.
Have a good week everyone!
5 comments:
Tracy, Our joy comes from knowing the Lord as our savior and knowing that whatever happens, he is in control. My hope is that when we are going through these trials that others see Christ in us.
Sharon
I like this. I face trials with faith, but I wouldn't necessarily say joy. But seeing how God turned all my trials into something good, maybe I can incorporate joy into them in the future!
BTW, the first comment I removed was a spam.
Sharon, Thank you, you are so right!
Linda, that's very true. It sure can be hard to see while it's happening, but maybe if we make ourselves aware of it.
Tracy, if you haven't read Kay Authur's As Silver Refined, I highly recommend it. It was the last book our Wednsday night women's class went over before we took our summer break. I think you'll really like it, because it goes along with this entire post.
It is hard to see the joy, or the purpose, for our trials sometimes.
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