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.
~James 1:2-4
I don’t think it is a bold statement to say that many of us, if not all of us hate tests. Whether we are in school and knowing a test is coming up, or worse it’s an unannounced test; or as an adult we find ourself going through a difficult season of life. Tests make us uncomfortable, stress us out, and no matter how well we may have prepared beforehand they tend to make us a little uneasy and nervous. But how often do we think of the purpose of the test, that the test is doing something; a quick google search showed that test:
- Identify What the Tester Has Learned
- Identify the Testers Weaknesses and Strentghs
The Test Is Doing Something
Yes, tests in life make us uneasy, are difficult, but there is a purpose in them, and it isn’t that God is mean and finds joy in watching us suffer or be stressed out but that He is growing and sanctifying us in the process. This passage in James tells us that trials produce steadfastness, these trials in our life help us remain steadfast in our faith. Or as Paul says in Romans:
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
~ Romans 5:1-5
Suffering produces endurance, which produces character that produces hope! How?
One thing I have been learning recently is that it is easy to say, “Yes Lord I fully trust You” and harder to live it out. But you see in the moments when we face those tests that require us to trust on Him and lean into Him, we now have evidence of not only His provision but also our trust and faith in Him. Which can also reveal those weaknesses in our life and areas where we don’t fully trust Him. Until this is reveled to us, and we remain blind to it, He is unable to go to work in the area of doubt or unbelief.
David was able to go out against Goliath, because in his life he had seen the Lord provide and move time and time again, whether it was a bear or a lion that came after his sheep; the Lord had delivered him. He had hope that Lord who had protected him many times in the past and delivered him was able to do so again. Without facing tests prior to this, David never would have had any hope, but would have gone out there feeling nervous, uneasy and stressed.
Not saying that tests in life should be easy and stressless, but that there is a purpose in them, and that when we grasp this it allows is to breathe a little easier knowing that He is working in us and hasn’t forgotten us. That purpose is that we will know Him and trust Him more, not simply with our words but with our lives.
“Let your cares drive you to God. I shall not mind if you have many of them if each one leads you to prayer. If every fret makes you lean more on the Beloved, it will be a benefit.” ~ Charles Spurgeon
And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. ~
~James 1:4
Nick Elizondo 