Faith tested in trials

I was taking time for my daily time of meditation on the word of God, and I believe that God gave me some thoughts that pertain to suffering, trials, tests, and how we can deal with them. my text that I was reading was  Jam 1:1-27

When the trial comes upon us, our immediate attitude of heart, and mind should be that of joy. We are able to have this joy, only because God is with us in the midst of the trial; and because we know that there is a purpose in going through the trial.

God is allowing the trial to be a test of our faith. The purpose of the trial, is for us as believers to both exercise faith ie. (complete trust and confidence in God) and to exercise endurance ie. (a patient cheerful and hopeful expectation) of God to move on our behalf. Endurance is to be a work of God in us, in order to produce the fruit of the spirit, or maturity in godly character. Vs 4

The result of the trial, is the fulfillment of the work of God in our lives. The word result in verse 4, is defined as (work, toil, effort, that comes by, deeds, doing, labor, work). God does a work in us through the use of the test, or trial that we experience.

The goal of God, is to bring about maturity in us, through the use of the character trait of endurance. We learn how to exercise faith in the midst of the trial, which produces the ability to endure, which produces a maturing believer in Christ and his work.

So how does this apply to us in our daily living?

Well, in my own life I have for the past year been dealing with a physical disorder that took a year to diagnose. I have been experiencing different physical limitations that I didn’t have to deal with just a year ago. I now lose my balance frequently, I have lost considerable muscle function and strength, I take many naps during the day, due to loss of energy, my hands have lost considerable motor skill function and I had to leave work that I’ve enjoyed due to physical incapacitation. (Well that was a mouth full wasn’t it) !!!

I said all that to say this, we don’t know what our future holds for us, and unexpected things can happen that can really change the fabric of our lives and how we live them. Suffering can either take us out of our walk with Christ, due to bitterness, anger, doubt, unbelief and a multitude of other emotional responses to our crisis, or the suffering can cause us to depend more on him, and to seek him more. Our attitude is paramount in how we deal with the trials of life.

I am daily having to make the decision how I would respond to my own trials. Will I abandon my daily walk with Christ, because things aren’t working out as I planned? Will I pull away from the body and become self focused? Will I curse God because he allowed this to happen to me? Will I abandon my trust in Christ because I think that he abandoned me? I believe that God is using this time in my life to draw me closer to him. He wants me to learn how to trust him in the midst of my uncertainty and to find him faithful to provide what I need. I will continue to stand in faith believing that he is my healer, and will heal me. I purpose to seek him about how I can serve him in the body and the world, with the additional time that I’ve been given due to being out of work. Most importantly I purpose to see this as an opportunity to seek him to become more intimate with him.

He promises us that he will never leave us nor forsake us. Deut. 31:6, Heb. 13:5. If we endure we will be able to see what Christ can do in our times of testing!