James 1:2-8 NIV
Trials and Temptations
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double- minded and unstable in all they do.
Trials and temptations are good for us in two ways. Looking back to the Garden, God placed the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This was necessary for God's plan in the creation of a people that He would call His own. Those that would choose Him would qualify and be rewarded with God's eternal life.
It is in the fall that we learn of our weakness. In our weakness we come to know our need. In our need we are able to look to the one that can satisfy every need. We find that turning to Him does not happen once, but becomes a way of life, the way of life.
This is what endurance and persevering are all about. We are forged and refined in this furnace of life, so we will be mature and complete. Joy is made possible only when one understands what is going on and what lies ahead. It is there we find rest and peace beyond understanding.
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