Big challenges lead to big faith
Updated: Mar 6
No one that I know enjoys going through difficult times. However again we find a great lesson in James James 1:2-4. One that we all can and should heed.
James 2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
In an earlier post I talked about Weathering the storms ,in that post I brought this up. I love this teaching, and I teach on it regularly, or at least touch on it. There is a valuable lesson here. Before I get to that let me say that I do not like the word “trials” it has a negative connotation to it. But rather than dwelling on the one word I do not like, lets focus on the lesson that this verse teaches us. That is that those so-called trials, and this explains why I am not found of that word. Trails are bad things that happen to us. That I agree with. Let’s be honest NO ONE ever likes a bad thing happening to them. I know I don’t.
On my way home after work, I called my wife to let her know that I had a couple of errands to run and that I would be home a bit later that I would be otherwise. Then my world stopped. She informed that our house was on fire. By the time I got home the house was gone. All that was left was a pile of burnt wood, ashes, and water. That’s it. Except for what we were wearing all our possessions were lost. I was devastated, as was she and our children. This was one of those trials, and since then there have been others. It was at that moment that I had a choice to make. I could either dwell on the bad thing, or I could focus on the faith I had, and needed. This was not a trail, it was a chance to grow, in faith, steadfastness, and in trust. I choose the latter.
The key is that this bad thing, this trail did not have be a bad thing, sure a bad thing happened, my family had a bad experience. We all experience bad things, circumstances and experiences that do not feel good and that we do not particularly like to go through, it comes down to a choice. When we face these times, our choices are limited to two. Experience the bad thing or experience the growth. These times are simply an opportunity, and the outcome is a larger version of how we react to it.
I am not sure where you are at in your personal life, your professional life, or your spiritual life, but I do that when you face these trails, if you view them as an opportunity to learn, to grow, to trust , to increase faith, you will come out of it quicker, and with a peaceful heart, mind and soul.