“JAMES, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, sends greeting to the twelve dispersed tribes. When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives, my brothers, don’t resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends! Realize that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance. But let the process go on until that endurance is fully developed, and you will find you have become men of mature character, men of integrity with no weak spots. And if, in the process, any of you does not know how to meet any particular problem he has only to ask God–who gives generously to all men without making them feel guilty–and he may he quite sure that the necessary wisdom will be given him. But he must ask in sincere faith without secret doubts. For the man who doubts is like a wave of the sea, carried forward by the wind one moment and driven back the next. That sort of man cannot hope to receive anything from the Lord, and the life of a man of divided loyalty will reveal instability at every turn.”

James 1:1-8, Phil.

The Christian life centers upon faith. We are saved by God’s grace through faith. We believe in what Christ did for us on the cross and trust Him for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. But beyond that, our faith should grow and progress from belief in what happened at the cross and move us to action in the way we live our lives from day to day. And how does our faith grow? Through trials and temptations. So, James explains and encourages us in the above text.

Paul said the same thing in his letter to the Romans…

“This doesn’t mean, of course, that we have only a hope of future joys–we can be full of joy here and now even in our trials and troubles. These very things will give us patient endurance; this in turn will develop a mature character, and a character of this sort produces a steady hope, a hope that will never disappoint us. Already we have the love of God flooding through our hearts by theHoly Spirit given to us.” Romans 5:3-5, Phil.

So, if you are facing a trial today don’t complain or try to pray it away. Pray for wisdom. Pray that God will use this current trial to grow your faith and to build your character.

This is the Christian way

Pastor Mike