2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 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 1:2-4 NLT
I can remember first reading this text in Scripture and scratching my head thinking, “Are you serious?! Who in their right mind is going to jump for joy when they are suddenly blindsided by tragedy or trauma?”
And then my rationalizing side of me said, “Oh, well of course, the half-brother of Jesus can say that ~ his circumstances were probably wildly different from mine (or yours).”
But if you’ve been in the Word for any amount of time, you also know that the key to beginning to understand the Word is to keep reading. And that’s where the truth of the matter fully lays it all out in front of us.
“When your faith is tested …” there’s that word that makes us all shudder: tested. Believers know that’s where the hard stuff is experienced. That’s when we’re on our knees begging and crying through our prayers.
” … endurance has a chance to grow …” Staying in the tension of the trial has the great possibility to yield phenomenal reward: personal and spiritual maturity ~ to tackle harder seasons and to live through them to tell others and give GOD the glory.
I’ll be the first to raise my hand to say I was hesitant to listen to this message. Because I knew there was something in there that was going to challenge me to respond. That there was the possibility for me to learn a lesson if I surrendered by refusal to look my fears in the face and do as Jim Cress says, “Face Everything And Rise!”
I listened twice in one sitting. And it will be on replay in the days to come. This down-to-earth roundtable discussion brings to the forefront what GOD has for us to receive from Him if we will only trust Him with the process. He will remain faithful to be with us in it.
I love you to Heaven and Back, Girlfriend ~
LindaRJohnson, TitusTwo Visionary
*Thank you to Lysa TerKeurst, Joel Muddamalle, and Jim Cress | Therapy & Theology for this.
Titus Two 