Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
I can’t speak for you, but my natural reaction when encountering a difficulty in life is not to “consider it an opportunity for great joy”. However, Tony Evans, author of “Raising Kingdom Kids”, makes a few great points about this. First, he points out that we’re not told to FEEL joyful, but to CONSIDER it joy. We’re not going to feel good about trials, but we can take the time to consider and remember that God is doing something in us through this trial. Challenges are how we grow. If we never faced any difficulty, we would never learn, and be weak and ineffective in all we do. It’s because God loves us and wants us to grow that He allows us to face hard times without immediately rescuing us.
Secondly, what’s the alternative? If we only wallow in the misery of a challenging situation, we are likely to become bitter. Bitterness doesn’t believe God is working. Bitterness doesn’t present a good testimony to our kids and to unbelievers around us. Showing a genuine trust in Christ and maintaining our joy through it all exhibits a faith that can transform lives. It’s something that we cannot do on our own. It’s something that our families and community need to see.
I’m gonna work on being more intentional about considering what God is doing when things don’t go my way or when problems arise. Won’t you join me in this? I look forward to what God can do with a changed perspective!