Trials
James 1:2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
Consider Jesus’ teaching in John 16:16-33 which ends with “33 These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
In suffering, we learn humility.
In suffering, we learn compassion.
Through suffering, our faith becomes real, it becomes OUR OWN faith, not just a meaningless mantra.
I believe that one reason Jesus left Heaven and came to earth was so that we would know that He knows our suffering. There’s a hint of this in the John passage above.
Here’s a verse to chew on. In Ecclesiastes 7:14 The Preacher writes:
In the day of prosperity be happy,
But in the day of adversity consider—
God has made the one as well as the other
So that man will not discover anything that will be after him.
The Amplified version renders the last line “So that man will not find out anything that will be after him.” What this means to me is that prosperity and adversity are not outward indicators of a person’s faith walk. There is no way I can judge your relationship with your Creator by looking at your prosperity/adversity score. (See Job)
In my faith walk, I’ve experienced pain in spite of good decisions and good intentions. Likewise, I’ve experienced prosperity in spite of bad decisions and bad intentions. Looking back, I’ve learned to trust God more because it is He who remains faithful through it all. (I would not want to see my “bad decisions” score!)
Father, open our eyes to the joy of suffering. Give us the peace to know that You are in control. Give us compassion to help fellow sufferers to find the joy that comes through the suffering. Most of all, thank You for suffering so that we can be with you!