James

Each Friday of January I am going to be taking a look at the book of James. It is a book I have read several times, yet each time I read through it something new stands out. If you’ve never read this book I highly recommend you go give it a read. It might only be five chapters long, but it is packed full of wisdom.

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.  James 1:2

That line, “When troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.” sure packs a punch. I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t naturally look at the trouble I’m facing as an opportunity. Let alone an opportunity for joy! Looking at trouble like that is a shift. It makes us look at the hard situations we’re in through a different lens. How will my troubles look when I view it that way instead? Will they be easier to face? Will I be encouraged the next time one presents itself? How do I train my brain to view it that way?

For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

James 1: 3 - 4

When I faced troubles in the past I always felt like my faith was harder to maintain during that time, but I never thought of it as a testing. That those troubles were actually testing my faith to see where I stood. Or that by facing those troubles my endurance would strengthen and my faith grow stronger. I guess I would like to believe that my faith could grow strong without the troubles. However, if there isn’t any troubles to face, would faith really be needed? Would we be able to understand the importance of trusting that God is in control and not us?

I realize I’m posing a lot of questions and not really giving you any answers. But I think sometimes there are not answers to give right away. Sometimes you have to live through it first.

We all face troubles - some big, some small, but each plays a part in our faith journey. Each one gives us the choice to either stand firm in our beliefs or a convenient excuse to walk away from them. It’s hard friends. No one wants to face hard times, but when I think about looking at them this way; that it’s a chance to see joy, a chance to grow my endurance and faith, that eventually I will be perfect and complete, well - it makes me slightly more hopeful about whatever troubles lay ahead. That maybe I don’t need to be so fearful of the troubles when they arrive. Instead, I should embrace them.

May you find joy in your troubles and a renewed endurance on the other side.

To Everything There Is A Season…

Kiley Ann