Some people may have the idea that walking with God comes with the assurance of an easy life—a life that follows a straight, smooth, litter-free road surrounded by beautiful scenery. The truth is, daily walking with God doesn’t promise an easy life at all, but it does ensure a life that is traveling in the right direction. The road itself may be smooth, straight, clean, and pretty at times; at other times, it may be twisty, riddled with pot-holes, messy, and dark.
I think about men and women in the Bible who walked with God, whose stories are marked with peaks and valleys, as the road they traveled through life wound through the easy and through the hard. The same road that landed Joseph in a pit also led him to a palace. Ruth’s road, marked with bereavement, also brought her to Bethlehem. The road Peter followed had bumps of fearfulness, then miles of fearlessness. Just as in the lives of these faithful examples (and so many more that we read about in Scripture), the road will look different at different times in our lives. Even though you may not understand the reason for the rough stretches of the highway if you keep walking with God, He will get you through them—and even more, He will use them to bring about something good in your life. God does extraordinary work in the middle of road hazards.
To understand more about trials in the lives of Christians, one of the best places to land in Scripture is the first chapter of James. Written by James, the half-brother of Jesus, this inspired letter is like a Proverbs of the New Testament, offering wisdom for practical Christian living. After a brief, one-verse introduction, James begins with a weighty challenge for his readers: “Count it joy when you fall into various trials.” If anyone could speak empathetically about trials, it would be James. He knew from his own experiences that life is not easy. When Jesus was alive, James was not one of His followers. It would not be until the resurrection, when Jesus appeared to him (1 Cor. 15:7), that he would understand that his brother was not only alive again after being crucified but that He was the Messiah, the Son of God, his Lord and Savior. After Jesus ascended back to Heaven and the church was established on the Day of Pentecost, James became a leader of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 12:17; 15:13; Gal. 2:9). Secular history reveals that he was known as a man of prayer, recognized for his worn-out knees that showed the markings of a life spent kneeling in conversation with God. Eventually, he would be martyred for his faith. The road James traveled was hard, but the road he traveled also took him Home. Here are five things that the Holy Spirit, through the hand and heart of James, wants us to know about trials in James 1:2–4:
- Know that you will experience different types of trials throughout your life. In verse two, the use of the word “when” (or “whenever”, from the Greek word hotan), indicates that trials can be expected, although the exact time may not be known. The word “fall” comes from the Greek word peripiptó, which is formed from peri, meaning “around,” and pipto, meaning “to fall”. The picture being described is a falling into something that is all around you, encompassing you. The pits that you might fall into are represented by many various types of trials.
- Know that your faith is being tested in order to produce endurance. These trials are tests of faith! When you’re traveling alone, and the road becomes rocky and unstable all around you, and you fall into a pit, and darkness is on every side, and fear or doubt feels like they are closing in, how will you respond? As your faith is being tried, will it ultimately be proven? The goal is to endure! Don’t let the trial that you are facing quench your fiery faith! Remain strong under pressure (in Greek, this is hupomoné, translated to our words “patience,” “endurance,” or “perseverance”), and even more—glorify God as you’re doing it!
- Know that endurance is working to shape your character. Your ability to endure these trials as your faith is being tested has an even greater purpose: it’s shaping your Christ-like character. God is working on you! If you are walking with Him and you fall into a trial pit, then you can know that He is still right there with you…even in the pit! He doesn’t leave you there alone. He is purposeful, and He is faithful. If He is your walking partner, then He will use the pit to refine you—like gold—so that through the endurance produced by the test, you will shine to His glory. And, when you’re out of the pit and back up on the road, you’ll look more like the Son as you walk next to the Father.
- Know that the purpose of trials is to help you become complete. “Perfect” and “complete” in verse four are from the Greek words teleios and holokléros, respectively. Teleios, meaning mature or having reached its end; and holokléros, meaning complete in every part. The text itself clarifies the word “complete” further with the phrase “lacking nothing.” In this context, the idea is that the end result of trials is wholeness. Our aim is that the actions we take in this life are consistent with the attitude and behavior of Jesus. It’s the process of sanctification—becoming more like Christ—and it doesn’t come easy because there is nothing easy about conforming to the image of perfect Jesus. It comes with the trials that produce endurance and with the help of the One who is walking with us and helping us persevere in the pit.
- Know that the right response to trials is joy. Why joy? Because joy is not the same thing as happiness. Trials don’t often make us happy, but they do remind us that, as followers of Christ, we are most blessed. Our joy comes from knowing that, because of Jesus, our future is not in the pit. We are people of hope! We are children of a God who is love, who is kind, and who is merciful. He is working in our lives to bring all things together for good, and our ultimate good is to become like Jesus and to spend eternity in Heaven. The pit is not the end—it’s just a stop along the road that leads Home.
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1
