Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing…Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:2-4, 17
Our care group leader, Gary, told us he wanted his son to play football, not because he wanted him to become a great football player, but he wanted his son to experience some measure of difficulty growing up. In the area they live, Gary couldn’t think of many hardships his son would face, so at least in playing high school football, he would learn discipline the hard and rigorous way. That really resonated with me because when he shared that, I felt like I grew up very cushioned. My understanding of hardship was not getting 8 hours of sleep one night because of school work, or not making it to UCLA, my dream school.
But in the experience Cathie and I had to go through, I see God’s grace in refining my heart in this particular way. There’s so much good that comes from trials. He certainly uses the darkness of our trials to draw our eyes to the shining light of his cross. Only because he chose to save us and fill us with the Spirit can we experience comfort and hope in these times. And it’s only because of the Spirit within us that we could see God pouring out his grace so abundantly in our lives.
I can begin to see how it’s possible that we could possibly count it all joy in the midst of trials. It’s a privilege that God would choose to sanctify us, because we’re confident that’s his will in all trials for his children (1 Thessalonians 4:3). So either in blessings or in trials, we trust that they are both good gifts from God, the Father of lights.
