Someone has wisely said that "a faith that can't be tested can't be trusted." It's easy to be joyful and to praise God when things seem to be going our way. But what happens when our faith comes under fire. How do we react when we suffer pain and loss? Trials have a way of revealing what our faith is really made of. Trials have a way of exposing that our faith is often not in the person of God, but in what seems to us to be favorable circumstance. Jesus suffered and died on a cross not to guarantee favorable circumstance here on earth to those who believe, but to pay the price for the sins that separate us from a Holy God. By the blood of Jesus we can draw near to God, we can know him and His life transforming, joy producing, soul satisfying glory. Through the gospel we have everything that we need, namely, God himself.
But although we have everything we need in Christ, sometimes we settle for lesser things. Sometimes we look to the world to find the joy, acceptance and love that we were created to find ultimately in God. Therefore, God will allow trials to reveal to us that we are trusting in and looking to others things to find what we can only find in God.
James writes that we should "count it all joy...when you meet trials of various kinds..." How is this possible and what does this mean? If we lose a love one or find out we have cancer should we be all giddy about it? In other words, should we for example, celebrate gleefully the news that a loved one died in a tragic accident? When we or others we know encounter difficulties we often say, "All things work together for good." It is so very true that God is sovereign over all things and is able to work it all for good. But trusting in God's sovereignty doesn't necessarily eliminate the pain. But what it can do is enables us to persevere despite the pain knowing that God will use it to increase our faith in Him, to deepen our dependence on his sufficient grace.
When James says, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds" he means that although we will experience suffering there can be with that suffering an inner joy that comes from looking unto Jesus in faith and knowing that he is using it to perfect us. And this perfecting that comes through trials is not just about becoming a better you. The perfecting that comes through trials is about more fully depending on all that we are in Christ. In a time of great suffering Job said, "But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold" (Job 23:12). The greatest blessing that Job experienced was not the restoring of what he lost, as many have imagined, but a higher, more glorious view of God.
The greatest value of trials is that they can bring us to more fully experience the glory of God as we look to him and in turn come to more fully express his glory to the world. Because of this glorious outcome we can count it all joy when our faith is put to the test.
But although we have everything we need in Christ, sometimes we settle for lesser things. Sometimes we look to the world to find the joy, acceptance and love that we were created to find ultimately in God. Therefore, God will allow trials to reveal to us that we are trusting in and looking to others things to find what we can only find in God.
James writes that we should "count it all joy...when you meet trials of various kinds..." How is this possible and what does this mean? If we lose a love one or find out we have cancer should we be all giddy about it? In other words, should we for example, celebrate gleefully the news that a loved one died in a tragic accident? When we or others we know encounter difficulties we often say, "All things work together for good." It is so very true that God is sovereign over all things and is able to work it all for good. But trusting in God's sovereignty doesn't necessarily eliminate the pain. But what it can do is enables us to persevere despite the pain knowing that God will use it to increase our faith in Him, to deepen our dependence on his sufficient grace.
When James says, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds" he means that although we will experience suffering there can be with that suffering an inner joy that comes from looking unto Jesus in faith and knowing that he is using it to perfect us. And this perfecting that comes through trials is not just about becoming a better you. The perfecting that comes through trials is about more fully depending on all that we are in Christ. In a time of great suffering Job said, "But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold" (Job 23:12). The greatest blessing that Job experienced was not the restoring of what he lost, as many have imagined, but a higher, more glorious view of God.
The greatest value of trials is that they can bring us to more fully experience the glory of God as we look to him and in turn come to more fully express his glory to the world. Because of this glorious outcome we can count it all joy when our faith is put to the test.
"God On The Mountain"
Life is easy, when your up on the mountain
And you’ve got peace of mind
Like you’ve never known
But then things change and your down in the valley
Don’t lose hope for your never alone
Like you’ve never known
But then things change and your down in the valley
Don’t lose hope for your never alone
[Chorus]
For the God on the mountain is still God in the valley
When things go wrong He’ll make them right
And the God of the good times, is still God of the bad times
And the God of the day is still God of the night
When things go wrong He’ll make them right
And the God of the good times, is still God of the bad times
And the God of the day is still God of the night
V. 2
You talk of faith when your up on the mountain
Oh, but the talk comes so easy
When life’s at its best
But its down in the valley of trials and temptations
That’s where faith is really put to the test
Oh, but the talk comes so easy
When life’s at its best
But its down in the valley of trials and temptations
That’s where faith is really put to the test
Repeat Chorus 2 times and then:
And the God of the day is still God of the night
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