James 1:2-3 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
Most of us just want to return to our previous comfortable way of life. This is certainly true during this COVID year. We all want to stop having to run back into the house to retrieve a forgotten mask prior to our outing. What is the furthest you have had to U-turn in order to retrieve the forgotten object?
But this is just an inconvenience not a trial. So how do we know we are facing a trial rather than just an inconvenience? James tells us that God-given wisdom is needed in order to discern not only the source of the trial, but even the ability to stay true in the middle of the trial.
Trials can get us to question things. We might even question the foundations of our faith when the trial gets too difficult. That is why we need wisdom to survive the trial. It can give us the ability to stick to our faith course of action. When we have heard from the LORD and received wisdom, then it is much easier to endure the trial.
For most of us the most difficult part of going through a trial is feeling alone in the trial. And when we know that God is goin to use the trial to grow us in our faith, then the end-game of spiritual maturity comes into view. We can see the trial’s benefits even though we don’t like the process. As Viktor Fankl wrote (I am paraphrasing here), knowing the why for the trial makes it easy to put up with almost any how.
If we can see the endgame, then we can do the play by play maneuvers. But if we lack knowledge of the end game, then we are left to flail in the wind, directionless and hopeless. That is why knowing the meaning for the trial takes all the difference.
God is in the middle of our trials, if we invite Him to be. And where God is, there is purpose and direction. We won’t be snowflakes that melt with the slightest heat. Instead we will be like continental glaciers, able to withstand the heat without disappearing.
Often the meaning for the trail isn’t evident for years. Becoming mature in your faith takes time, time in the furnace of trial. And the promise is that He will never leave us or forsake us. We won’t be alone!
The Arnold Journey 