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
Dungy comments in today’s devotion, “Consider that you may be planted exactly where God intended for you to
be in order to grow your faith in Him, even though the rain and wind are
blowing so hard it may have clouded the broader, bigger, better vision He had
set before you earlier. … God never wastes what you are going through
for Him. He will use it to grow you more
into the person He wants you to be. … It’s not about what you can get out of where
you are, but what you can put into and do by enduring right where He has planted
you.”
I really don’t know how to fabricate joy out of a
trial. There is stress, intense emotion,
deep lows, and somehow I’m supposed to consider it joy. This reminds of the verse that says something
about God disciplining those He loves so be happy when disciplined. It is just proof that God loves me. Love hurts sometimes.
In any type of physical training, the effort of push or pull
against weight produces muscle and fitness.
It is the struggle against the object that produces results. Similarly, the testing of faith in trials
produces perseverance, a characteristic of God.
My Bible says that God is long-suffering, a quality that I am so glad is
His, for my sake!
James says in the verse that if we allow the testing to
produce perseverance, the finished work helps us to be mature. I’m not sure what is meant by not lacking,
maybe being a full person, well put together in our emotional and spiritual
condition? Maybe perseverance is such a
character builder, that it completes character. I need to research that verse I think.
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