3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. James 1:3–4
Every one of us, at some point in our life, has experienced challenges, hardships, or sufferings. When people experience these they think, “God must have given them to me because He knows I can handle them.” Sadly, many Christians also think the same way. Others think God gives them the trials because they committed a mistake. Others think it was randomly given from above, therefore they view challenges as bane that God sent them.
We should remember that God never wants to curse us. God is the One who holds the solutions to all our problems. He is not the one devising and formulating trials and throws it or gives it to us. God allows things to happen in our life, that is the case.
God shows no favoritism. Everyone will experience, at some point in our life, trials, and challenges — even the believers before us had crossed that river of trials before but Jesus was always on the same boat as them, and He is on the same boat as us, just as He was with them. So, one sure thing is we always have someone to lean on regardless of how high the tide is or how strong the seas rage.
Challenges does not mean God has forsaken you. Matthew 10:31 says that we are way more valuable to God than a whole sparrow, He gave his life for us, so how can He abandon us? God told us beforehand that we will experience hardships so that we won’t abandon our faith in Him. So that we won’t abandon Him, rather leverage trial to produce endurance (James 1:3). Endurance that is fully developed later brings fort perfection and holiness. Isn’t that what we want?
When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. (Isaiah 43:2)
He doesn’t promise to take out suffering out of this world nor does he promise to remove you right away from the earth so that you won’t experience suffering any longer, but he promises to lead us through it. Isn’t that an amazing blessing?
Because of this we can change our perception on how we look on trials as a boon in our lives rather than a bane. A blessing rather than a curse. These challenges allow us to see and experience the God who is the GREAT I AM — Jehovah Jireh (the God who provides), Jehovah Rapha (the God who heals),Jehovah Shalom (the God who gives us peace), and a whole lot more .
I am leaving you with a gift — peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. (John 14:27)
How blessed are we to be given a gift of peace of mind and heart? This is the kind of gift that no amount of wealth can buy. You will really appreciate the beauty of having this peace after facing a moment of chaos in your life. What’s more is that Jesus has already overcome the world and all the ugly and bad things that is associated to it (John 16:33), that means as a believer, we have also overcome the world.
We are chosen to be God’s very possession, to be His holy nation (1 Peter 1:2, 1 Peter 2:9). We are hand-picked by God, and we are always on His heart and mind. So, when life becomes hard sometimes, we can draw strength, courage, and empowerment from our Father who holds us dear to His heart; and after overcoming the hardship, we will come out stronger – having an improved endurance. One that is fit for heaven!
Let ask the Holy Spirit to help us see things through God’s eyes so that in Him we will be able to understand that He always mean well for us and His heart is kind. He intends to bless us in many ways rather than to curse us.
-Precious Barrera