"When you meet trials"

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-5 ESV)

In a previous devotional, we dealt with Temptations and found that they are from the devil, and he always uses sin to tempt us to break our fellowship with God. If you recall, the Greek word that we translate as “temptation” can also be translated as “trial,” and literally means “to put to the proof” or “to put to the test.” How we translate the Greek word depends on how it is used within the passage. For example, we saw that in James 1:13, “Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God,' for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.” So, we see that our English translation of “temptation” is associated with evil and sin. God cannot be part of that.

But what about “trials”? What are they exactly, and what is their purpose? A trial is from God and is designed to interrupt our everyday activities, allowing us to grow in our fellowship with and confidence in God. Trials from God never involve sin or the temptation to sin. Trials can take many forms, such as the loss of a job, difficulties paying our bills, or even a flat tire. I’ve used the phrase “Show me, grow me, because He knows me” to understand God's trials. Sometimes, trials interrupt my usual activities because God is trying to “Show Me” something I am doing that goes against His Word, or to prevent me from doing something that does.

Sometimes God needs to slow me down with a trial and say, “Stop that! You know it is wrong; I’ve given you clear Biblical teaching about it, so stop doing it.” Sometimes God needs to slow all of us down with a trial and get our attention to help get us back on the right path so that we may “grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,” (Eph. 4:15).

Then sometimes God intends to use a trial “To Grow me”. By that I mean, I’m not doing something wrong, I’m not heading down a path that leads to sin, but God wants to mature me in my walk with Him. You see, maturing in Christ is a process; it takes time for us to build up our confidence in God’s provisions. If we don’t see God working through a particular trial, we would never see Him keep His promise. For example, when we lose a job through no fault of our own, we need to trust God to keep His promise that “… that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”  (Romans 8:28). If we don’t see God “working all things for good” then we will never grow in our faith and confidence to trust Him more.

Often God allows trials to occur because “He knows Me”. Sometimes God is not trying to “Show Me” that I need to correct my attitude or action, sometimes God is not trying to “Grow Me” and help me increase my faith, but sometimes God is allowing this trial to come into my life because “He Knows Me”, and knows that he will use my reaction to this trial to be a blessing to me or to someone else. So often, when a brother or sister “endures” a trial, the faithfulness of God in their life shows others that our God is indeed a promise-keeper.

When we see God working behind the scenes in the circumstances, a believer becomes a powerful testimony to others. For example, when we read biographies of missionaries or men and women of great faith, we see how God sustained them when they had no hope, how God used their faithfulness to bring others to Christ. We begin to see that this same God will also be faithful to us, and He can and will use our faithfulness to Christ to bless someone else.

So that’s why James could say to these first-century Jewish Christians, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, ….” James knew that God uses trials in the believer's life, in my life, to “Show Me, to Grow Me, or because He knows Me”.

So, the next time a trial interrupts your routine, don’t ask “God, Why Me?” and accuse God of being unfair, but ask God, “Is this trial to Show Me, to Grow Me, or Because you Know Me?”

Remember, Temptations are from the evil one and always try to cause us to sin and to break our sweet fellowship with God. Trials are from God and are designed to increase our fellowship with and confidence in Him.

Every believer will face both, and how we respond will either grow or decrease our fellowship with God.

"Living in Grace is not about what I can do, but about what Jesus has already done!"