I want to warn you that this post is pretty long.  I have put a lot of time into writing it and I really hope it will be worth your time reading it!

A few weeks ago I was doing my "breaking free" homework and Beth Moore gave an assignment. She said to search God's Word for Scriptures that speak the mind of God to your specific stronghold and then write these verses on notecards and read them over and over again frequently.  Well, I did that, and ever since then two of the verses have really challenged me.  I keep reading them and asking myself why I didn't find some easier verses!?! But I think I found just the verses God wanted me to find. According to Beth, a Christian is held captive by anything that hinders the abundant and Spirit-filled life God has planned for her. You see, the greatest area of captivity in my life right now is this trial of infertility for many different reasons.  It has been a tool the devil has used to breed bitterness and anger in my heart. Having a baby became an idol in my life without me even knowing it, and removed God from His rightful place as Lord of my life. This quest to have a child has also encouraged me to become very self-centered, has caused difficulty in my marriage and has strained other relationships in my life.  It has also been a financial and physical burden.  I could go on and on. No area of my life has been untouched by this trial.  

Because I have been thinking about these verses so much lately, I decided over the past week or so to do some research on what some of my favorite Bible teachers had to say about them in the commentaries. Please know that most of this wisdom is not mine, but that of John McArthur, J. Vernon McGee and Beth Moore.  I hope you will find the following information as helpful as I have.  I wanted to share it with you because I am realizing that this topic of "rejoicing in trials" is something I so desperately needed to learn about and I think this information can benefit all of us. The Bible pretty much guarantees that we will all face trials of some kind at some point in our lives.  It's not "if" but "when."  

Here is the first verse I would like to break down and study. "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat that it withers the grass; its flower falls and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade in his pursuits.  Blessed is the man who endures trials; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” James 1:2-12

So we start off with the phrase, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials." The natural human response to trials is not to rejoice; therefore the believer must make a conscious commitment to face them with joy. The Bible teaches that happiness is fleeting because it depends on things outside of ourselves, such as circumstances or people, but true joy is eternal because it is based on our faith in Jesus Christ, which is itself an everlasting source of joy. Happiness is an emotion, joy is an attitude of the heart.  When happiness fades,  joy remains.  The enemy tries to steal our joy and replace it with temporary happiness.  Philippians 3:1 says "Rejoice in the Lord" and signifies the sphere in which the believer’s joy exists—a sphere unrelated to the circumstances of life, but related to an unchanging relationship to the Sovereign Lord.  The word trial means “a person, thing or situation that tests a person’s endurance or forbearance."  God brings such tests to prove— and increase— the strength and quality of one’s faith and demonstrate its validity.  God has a goal in mind, you can count on that.  Trials are meaningless, suffering is senseless, and testing is irrational unless there is some good purpose for them.  Here James is speaking not about a natural feeling you should have, but rather the attitude of your heart toward your trouble. When we are in the fires of adversity and tragedy, the attitude of faith should be that God has permitted it for a purpose and He has a high and lofty goal in view.  We can know that God is working something out in our lives. It does not necessarily mean we will understand the purpose God has in it. This is the test of faith.  We walk by faith and not by sight.  If the believer fails the test by wrongly responding, that test then becomes a temptation or a solicitation to evil.  In my case, I have spent a lot of time wrongly responding to this trial and it has caused bitterness, anger, pity, selfishness, a desire to "play God" and take matters into my own hands.  What God had been trying to use for a good purpose had become an area of sin in my life.  Often I have not chosen joyfulness, but sorrow and pity. When I do this, I am seeing this trial through the world's eyes and not God's eyes.

James says that the testing of your faith produces patience, (better translated endurance). Through tests, a Christian will learn to withstand the pressure of a trial until God removes it at His appointed time and even cherish the benefit.  Sometimes trials are sent to keep us humble.  Trials are painful, but purposeful.  See 2 Corinthians 7:10. God would not remove the thorn as Paul requested, but would continually supply him with grace to endure it.  The weaker the human instrument, the more clearly God’s grace shines forth.  Paul took no pleasure in the pain itself, but rejoiced in the power of Christ that is revealed through him. He was able to cherish the benefit of his trial.  

"But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."  The word perfect in the verse is not a reference to sinless perfection, but rather spiritual maturity.  The testing of faith drives believers to deeper communion and greater trust in Christ.  These are qualities that produce a stable, godly and righteous character. God gives us testing and trials to produce patience in our lives that we might become full-grown, mature children of God and not remain babes, immature in our faith.

"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." Only divine wisdom enables believers to be joyous and submissive in the trials of life.  Asking of God is a necessary part of the believer’s prayer life.  God intends that trials will drive believers to greater dependency on Him, by showing them their own inadequacy. Being double minded denotes having one’s mind or soul divided between God and the world.  J. Vernon McGee speaks of how you can believe in God, but still not believe God.  He himself went many years not really believing God would get him through hard times in his life.  So often we turn a problem over to the Lord and believe Him, but the next day we do not believe Him. We decide that nothing has shown up by way of a solution, so we take matters into our own hands. That is a big mistake. If you are going to work out your problem for yourself, then God cannot work it out for you. I know I have done that time and time again.  I pray to God and I say the words with my mouth but does my heart completely believe without a shadow of doubt that He will deliver me?  Not always.  I hate to say that I often feel like a wave of the sea, tossed by the winds.  One day I am so confident in the Lord that I feel like I could walk on water and the next day I am drowning in my sorrows.  I don't want to live like that anymore. 

"Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat that it withers the grass; its flower falls and its beautiful appearance perishes.  So the rich man also will fade in his pursuits."  Trials make all believers equally dependent on God and bring them to the same level with each other by keeping them from becoming preoccupied with earthly things. Poor Christians and wealthy ones can both rejoice that God is no respecter of earthly material status and that they both have the privilege of being identified with Christ.  God wants to bring ALL those who are His own to full maturity as Christians and he has many tests for doing that.  He tests all His children to see if they are genuine, to weed out the phonies and the pseudo saints.  He also wants to give assurance to His children.  We should not regard our trials as evidence that we are not His children, but rather proof that we are.  J. Vernon McGee says, “My friend, if you are not having any trouble today, you should question your salvation; if you are having trouble, that is a good sign that you belong to Him."  Wow, thats a bold statement!  Take it in and digest it for a while because I think there is a lot of truth to it.  If you are a Christian, someone or something is always going to be testing you....whether it be God, the devil or the world.  

"Blessed is the man who endures trials; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” The word blessed in reference to a person means, "made holy." Sanctification, the process of being made holy, takes place throughout the lives of believers.  If he has been approved or “passed the test” he has successfully and victoriously gone through his trials, indicating he is genuine because his faith has endured.  The crown of life is the believers ultimate reward, eternal life, which God has promised to him and will grant in full at death or at Christ’s coming.  Although everyone who believes in Jesus Christ and accepts Him as Lord and Savior is saved, there will be degrees of rewards for believers based on how they lived here on earth.  I don’t know about you, but I’d like to have that crown, the crown which he offers to those who, after they have endured the testings of this life, love Him.  

To be continued next week with 1 Peter 1:6-9 and my closing thoughts.  Thanks for hanging in there with me!  :)