Why do you go through trials? If God really loves you, wouldn't he protect you from the bad things that everyone else goes through? We have many blessings because of our faith in Jesus Christ. Because of your faith in Christ, you know that your sins are forgiven. Your faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ gives you the assurance that you will have eternal life when your days here are over. But did you notice that you are not blessed with having to never go through the same difficulties that unbelievers face? Christians still have bad marriages. Have you ever gone through financial difficulties? Have you ever lost a job? And there is still physical suffering. Christians get sick and have accidents just like everyone else.
If you go through just as much adversity as an unbeliever, should your attitude toward trials be any different? How will your faith in Christ make a difference in the way you handle the trials you face every day of your life?
We get a sense that the original readers of James' letter struggled with the same questions about trials that we often ask. James addresses his readers in verse 1 as belonging to the "the twelve tribes scattered among the nations", and then as "my brothers" in verse 2. James wrote this letter to Jewish Christians, that is, people who were Jews by birth who upon hearing the gospel message of Jesus Christ became converts to Christianity. Because they were believers in Christ, these people were being driven from their homeland by the emperor of Rome. Eventually, the constant persecution they suffered led to an attitude of discouragement as they realized that they were actually worse off physically and materially since they became Christians. Before they became believers in Christ they at least had a place they could call home. Perhaps they wondered, "If God really loves me, why do I have to suffer?"
James writes to assure these people that God has a purpose for trials. The point that we are to understand from this passage is that if you have faith in Christ, and if that faith is real, it will be seen in the way you handle the trials of life.
Before we consider the attitude that God wants us to have toward trials, we need to clarify an important underlying truth that James reminds us of in verse 2. James writes, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kind." Notice that James did not write "consider it pure joy...if you face trials." Perhaps the original readers of this letter were under the impression that since they were now Christians they would be excluded from the trials of life, or at least they would have fewer trials now then they had before. Certainly, false teachers would have come into their midst to suggest that, "If this Jesus Christ is really who he said he was then why aren't your lives any better? If the God you worship is the true and living God, then why has he left you to suffer?"
James wanted to make it clear to his readers that trials are inevitable, even for Christians. Becoming a Christian does not mean that you will never lose your job. Becoming a Christian does not make you immune to cancer, or tornadoes, or financial failure. James reminds us to expect trials. Expect that you are going to face just as much adversity as everyone else.
Why is it important to know this truth? Isn't it obvious that we suffer the trials of life whether or not we're Christians? We need to understand this truth, that the trials of life are inevitable even for believers in Christ, because there are people who would have you believe that there is something wrong with you if you are a Christian who is going through trials. There are people who want you to believe that God is using trials to punish you for the way you lived your life in the past, that God is evening up the score by making you go through trials today because of the way you lived your life yesterday. And there are others who suggest that once you attain a certain level of maturity, trials will disappear. They claim that poor health and poverty and every other misfortune of life occurs because you don't have enough faith, and that God will continue to bring trials into your life until you straighten up your act and grow up spiritually. The fact is everyone will go through trials, it doesn't matter who you are. And James calls us to consider it pure joy, which means, have a positive attitude while you are going through trials.
How can we respond to trials with a positive attitude? What does James tell us that will help us to respond to trials with the kind of attitude God wants us to have? First of all, we need to understand that, through trials, God is working out his eternal plan in your life. You can have a positive attitude while you go through trials when you recognize that God can use even your disappointments and disasters in his eternal plan. Let's go back to verse 2.
God has a plan for your life, and that plan is to develop perseverance and spiritual maturity in you. According to James, God uses the trials of life to test your faith, and the end result of that testing is perseverance and spiritual maturity.
Now, wait a minute. Isn't it enough for me to claim that I have faith in Christ without having it be tested? What if I don't want my faith to be tested, especially when I have to go through the misery of trials? The reason why God uses the trials of life to test your faith is to prove that your faith is real. Let me give you an illustration. In football, we have a drill called "eye-openers." In eye-openers, two boys stand 3 yards apart. On command, they run into each other at full speed and collide, then they back away and run into each other again and again and again. The purpose of eye-openers is for them to prove that they can play football, because in a football game they have to hit and be hit. The point is they look like football players, they call themselves football players, but until they prove that they will hit they really aren't football players.
The same is true for us. The trials of life are spiritual eye-openers. You can say that you're a Christian. You can claim to have faith in Jesus Christ. But until that faith is proven to be real, it is meaningless. You prove that your faith is real when you trust God in the face of trials, when you recognize that God is the ultimate authority for your life and that you're going to rely on his wisdom, and the truth of his Word to get you through. And God will honor your faithfulness by giving you a sense of security, and peace of mind, and the knowledge that he will be with you every step of the way.
We see an excellent example of what happens when we are faithful to God through trials in the life of Abraham. God tested Abraham's faith by commanding him to leave his home and his relatives so that he could go to a land where God would lean him. What was Abraham's response? He packed up and left. He obeyed God immediately. And the God honored Abraham's faithfulness by promising him that his descendants would inherit the land of Canaan. And just as God honored Abraham's faithfulness, he will honor your faithfulness as
well by giving you perseverance, the ability to endure the trials of life, and as well as spiritual maturity.
James also tells us in verse 4 that the end result of the testing of your faith is to make you "...complete, not lacking in anything." As God tests your faith through trials, God equips you to minister to people who are themselves going through trials. As you persevere through trials, God uses you as living proof to people who are themselves going through trials that nothing, not even the trials of life, can ever separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. As you mature spiritually, God's plan is to bring people into your life, people who are going through the same trials you have endured, so that you can assure them that all things work €together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.
If God really loves you, then why doesn't he protect you from sickness and disappointments and broken relationships? Because God has a purpose for trials. God wants to use the trials of your life to prove to you that he loves you so much that he can take even the bad things that happen to you and €use them for not only your benefit because you know your faith in Christ helps you to endure the trials of life, but also for the benefit of others when you encourage other people who are going through life's problems. And you can approach someone who is going through a difficult time and tell them, "I went through the same thing your going through today. It was the worst experience of my life, and I hurt inside for a long time. But let me tell you how my faith in Jesus Christ helped me get through." If you have faith in €Christ, and if that faith is real, you will have a positive attitude even in the face of trials, because you know that God is working out his eternal plan in your life.
The second principle James gives us regarding trials is that we need to have an eternal perspective toward life as we face trials. You can have a positive attitude while you are going through trials when your focus is on God, and on what he is doing in your life as a result of the trial.
James begins by giving us two reasons why we fail to see trials from God's perspective. The first reason is in verse 5. According to James we may lack wisdom. The kind of wisdom James is referring to is the ability to see trials from God's perspective. When you lack wisdom you fail keep your f cus on God, and on his eternal plan for your life.
We find the second reason why trials knock the wind out of our sails in verse 6. When James writes, "...he must believe," he is not referring to saving faith, the kind of faith that we confess in Christ to save us from sin. The people James wrote to were already believers, he wasn't concerned about their salvation. The faith James is advocating is a sustaining kind of faith that helps us to endure trials. It is a faith that involves a complete abandonment to God and his purposes for the trial. It is a faith that recognizes God is in control. When you lack faith you fail to see trials from God's perspective.
James then gives us an illustration of a double-minded man beginning in verse 6. As we read, see if you find out what made the man double-minded. The double-minded man has reservations about being completely yielded to God. You are double-minded when you want your own will and God's will at the same time. God wants you to trust him completely and allow him to take care of you throughout difficulties.
To further expand on his point, James makes reference to the poor and the rich in verses 9 through 11. Just as the double-minded man needed to be completely yielded to God and his purposes, so do the poor and the rich. James is telling us that just because a man is rich does not mean that he is better off spiritually than a poor man. We all need to have an eternal perspective toward life no matter what our social or economic position if life.
Why do you go through trials? If God really loves you, wouldn't he spare you the misery of life's burdens? Would you believe that God has a purpose for trials? God uses the trials of life to prove to you that he loves you so much that he can take the bad things that happen to you and use them for not only your benefit, because you know that your faith in Christ allows you to endure the trials of life, but also for the benefit of others, as God equips you to be an effective witness for Jesus Christ. God's plan is to bring people into your life, people who themselves are going through trials who do not know that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. When you see the trials of life from God's perspective, God gives you opportunities to be a witness for Christ, and you can approach someone who is going through trials, and tell them, "I understand your pain and grief. I went through the same situation and I didn't think I would ever make it through. But through that situation God showed me that he that my real hope for the future lies with him. Would you let me tell you about Jesus Christ and what he has done for me?"
If you have faith in Christ, and if that faith is real, it will be seen in the way you handle the trials of life.
