Consider Your Trials…Joy?
June 25, 2025
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James 1:2-4
What hardships are you facing today? Perhaps you’re navigating heartache, divorce, sickness, loss, financial strain, or any other of the many difficulties that we encounter in our lives. While challenges of all sorts are unavoidable, the Word of God is rich in wisdom that can guide us every season. So, what should we do during seasons of hardship? In James chapter 1, the Apostle James answered that question when he wrote, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds” (verse 2).
Consider trials a joy—pure joy? James didn’t supply a mere coping strategy to deploy in adverse circumstances; he expressed that we can, and should, find joy in them. You may be wondering how that could even be possible, and thankfully, James also offered an illuminating explanation: “Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance” (verse 3). He continued, “Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (verse 4).
Take a moment to reflect on the rigorous training programs endured by the most elite athletes. High-level athletes subject themselves to—and even learn to enjoy—levels of physical stress that most people wouldn’t dream of taking on. But why? The answer is simple: they know what their training produces—strength, stamina, and, most importantly, a chance at victory.
What if we, like world-class athletes in training, learned to embrace difficulties because we valued what they produced in our lives? Friends, the Lord works masterfully through our trials and uses them to develop perseverance in us. Perseverance is invaluable; it enables us to mature and, ultimately, reach a state of spiritual completion in which we lack nothing. While this wonderful spiritual reality doesn’t eliminate the presence of pain in our lives, it does allow us to discover purpose within it—and that is something to be considered a joy!
Read, Reflect, Write:
Have you ever had a difficult experience (such as training for an athletic event) that produced something valuable in your life? If so, what was it?
Read James 1:2-4. What hardships are you currently facing? How might the Lord use that situation to strengthen you?
Read 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. According to this passage, what are your current troubles achieving for you?
What are some simple habits that might help you to fix your eyes on the unseen? How
would these habits better equip you to endure trials?