We all have our share of challenges and struggles, so when we experience troubles, we must endure and reach for the joy of our salvation. I am not talking about being happy for our problems. We reach for joy, because joy gives us a positive outlook. For example, when we endure, we experience growth in our character and we develop spiritual maturity. To not endure is to fail and wander from the Truth. We must endure to successfully overcome.
In our passage from James, today, the apostle writes to the scattered Jewish Christians who have experienced persecution. He wants to encourage them to press on and maintain their service to Christ. James wants the people to know they must put faith into action; genuine faith transforms lives. Wisdom teaches us how to speak and act in a righteous way. Commitment to love and serve others is the evidence of true faith which reflects trust [reliance upon the Lord] and belief [affirmation of truths].
James 1:2-8 NLT Faith and Endurance
2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. 6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for this letter from James and the encouragement it gives your people who have all experienced the troubles of life. Help every believer to endure and press on in faith to live with undivided loyalty to our Christ. In Jesus’ name. Amen.