So I have mentioned before that some girls on my hall do a Bible study on Wednesday nights. Last night while we were digging deep into the Word, God revealed Himself to us, in an amazing way. He pointed verses out in the Bible that spoke directly to me about what is going on in and around me right now.
This semester we are studying through the book of James. Now if you don't know about James, he was Jesus's brother and a leader in one of the Jerusalem churches. I have read through James before, and honestly it is tough to read sometimes. It is very blunt, and will certainly catch your attention and step on your toes a little bit. James is all about instruction for living the Christian life.
Last night we studied James 1:1-12. James opens this book up with describing who he is, and he describes himself as "a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ". If you know about the history of James and his other brothers, you know that Jesus' brothers not always believed that He was the Lord and Savior (John 7:5). But as soon as you start to read in James, you see that there was a drastic change of heart in James. Now James was looked to for guidance in this faith that Jesus left them with.
Beginning in verse 2, James doesn't beat around the bush at all. He knows what he wants to say to all believers. Verses 2-4 talk about trials. We each face different trials in our lives. And reading this passage, we are told that each trial is an opportunity to glorify God. That is very weird to think about, because a trial seems like something God would give us as punishment for something we've done, but it is the complete opposite. God doesn't lead us into anything we cannot handle. But trials come in our path because it causes us to become broken, in need of someone who can help us and lead us through the struggle. That person is Jesus Christ.
The purpose for trials is to grow and become sanctified (becoming more like Christ). As we're told in verse 4, the ultimate goal is to be perfected. There is a difference in being perfect and becoming perfected. Perfection is a process. Perfection can be looked at as a constant maturation of becoming more like Christ. That should be our goal. With each trial that we face, we should see it as a chance to learn from it and grow and become more like Christ. It is an opportunity for joy (vs. 2).
In 2 Corinthians 4, we are reminded of the reason that Jesus came and died. "We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies."- 4:8-10
I love these verses. This is saying that even though we face trials, we are still victorious through Christ Jesus. The Bible is alive and completely connects with our feelings as human beings. We do feel these things James is talking about, but it is immediately followed by the truth. We do feel pressed on, but Jesus was crushed. We are perplexed, but Jesus was driven to despair. We do feel hunted down, and Jesus had every sin of man placed upon his shoulders. We do feel knocked down, but Jesus was destroyed. See this is why we are victorious, because Jesus came and took on all of our struggles and sins, and died because of it. But the power of God raised Jesus up from the dead, and He overcame death so we can have a God-breathed life!
God never sends trials that are unnecessary, He never sends trials that we are not meant to learn something from. But God also never holds back any trials that we can learn from. His desire is for us to strive and become more like Jesus. He will send the trials, we make the decision whether or not we will be broken and beaten by them, or if we will have joy in the fact that Jesus has already overcome all of the struggles, and we have Him to lean on.
God's past faithfulness in the Bible and in our lives proves future provision for His continual faithfulness.
I am so excited to study the book of James more and to be broken by God and shown instruction on how to live this Christian life.
So I am faced with this question, and I challenge you to ask yourself, am I wasting the trials God puts before me? Am I really giving the glory to God, or am I letting "self" take over and ruin something God has a bigger plan for.
Here are some more verses we read through last night that just deal with trials and what the Bible says about it:
1 Peter 1:7, 2 Corinthians 4:17, Romans 8:18
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