2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;
8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
It’s hard to think of “trials” and “pure joy” in the same sentence, but James tells us to do just that if we want to become mature and complete. I want to have everything I need to be effective for the Lord.
I want wisdom to deal with situations that arise daily. James tells me to ask for it because God gives without finding fault.
These words were bouncing around in my head today so I had to let them out somewhere! Don’t be surprised if you come back and I’ve added some more thoughts to this post. Thoughts are brewing in my head and they are not completely sorted out yet…Thanks for reading~
EDIT: How is it possible to face a trial and consider it pure joy? I have had to face trials I would have just as soon walked away from. But I decided that to make my life more in line with what God expected from me and what God intended for me, I had to clinch my fist, grit my teeth and face the trial. Did I consider it joyful? Not at the time. But looking back it was such a relief to get that poison out of my life…to make the changes that would ultimately bring peace to my life and to my heart. Now I thank God for my time of trial. I am closer to Him, more in awe of Him and more in love with Him than I could have imagined. I guess I need to learn to look for the God-things during the time of trial. I want to be able to face the trial knowing that God is teaching me something…that God is working something…trusting that He will get me through it and good will come from it. I have seen it over and over in my own life as well as in others. God disciplines those He loves and my hardest times came as consequences for my poor choices. But I think God built my faith in ways that helped me learn about Him…and helped me learn about myself.
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