I have several friends who are going through some pretty difficult trials right now – marriages falling apart, families being destroyed, life-threatening illnesses, betrayal and heartache. Some Christians want to believe that those who truly love Jesus won’t have to suffer. But reality – and Jesus Himself – tells us otherwise.
Trials, James tell us, mature us. We need them. We’d remain immature Christians if life was always easy. Think back on the times in your life that were especially difficult. Think about what you learned from those trials, how different you are now.
Maybe you’re in the middle of a trial right now, and you don’t see any good coming from it. It’s just hard or unfair or incredibly difficult. It’s SO easy to focus on the trial or the hurt. Believe me, I know. But God is asking us to be like Jesus. When He was struggling in the Garden of Gethsemene, Jesus looked up. He was honest and asked God to take the trial away: “If it be Your will, take this cup from me.” But He didn’t stop His prayer there. He finished with, “Nevertheless, not my will, but Thine be done.”:quality(75)/curiosity-data.s3.amazonaws.com/images/content/portrait/standard/aae2a29b-0e8c-469c-980d-c2458b5ea448.png)
And God’s will was for Jesus to suffer. For us. For our good. And, sometimes, it is His will for us to suffer. Sometimes the suffering is because of our own sinfulness — ask God if that’s what happening, and confess your sin! Other times, we suffer simply because we live in a sin-cursed world, filled with sinful people (like us!) who do sinful things. And sometimes, God is wanting to grow and mature us, to teach us what we couldn’t learn any other way.
We don’t always know the “why” of trials. But we can choose to trust God in the midst of them, to pray, like Jesus, that God’s will be done. No matter what. We can choose to focus on God, His truth, His goodness, His righteousness, and come out of each trial seeing the rainbows that come after the storm. Or we can keep our eyes on ourselves, downcast, frustrated, and see nothing but the mud puddles left behind.
As someone who, at various times, has chosen both options, let me encourage you – Look up, my friends. The view is SO much better.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4
