Various Trials (Bulletin Article for October 28)

[With the 9th Avenue Youth Rally a mere 71 days away, here is another article about the book of James. You are coming to the rally on January 4-5, aren’t you?]

James wrote his epistle “to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad” (1:1). That they were “scattered” is enough to show us that something wasn’t right. It is true that we can scatter on our own, but usually we scatter because we are forced to leave.

In Acts 8:4, we have a summary statement about the early church. After Stephen had been stoned to death, persecution began to become common in and around Jerusalem. For that reason, we read, “Therefore, those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.”

Did you notice? They were “scattered,” but they kept up their work.

It seems that these are the Christians to whom James writes. While “the twelve tribes” obviously means Jewish Christians, the lessons of James are so practical that any Christian—no matter his or her background—can take them to heart.

The first lesson James presents is about suffering. Beginning with verse 2, he writes, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.” Notice some things from these two verses.

In our world, to suffer (or to have “various trials”) is almost never seen as a good thing. James, though, tells us to count it with joy when we have trials! How can we have such an attitude? We remember the positives that come out of even a bad time in our life.

At one time or another, all of us have suffered, only to look back and see that we have grown, matured and been made better. While we don’t often like to admit it, we understand that, when we come through a trial with the right attitude, and having “fought” hard, we are the better for it. We usually find something within ourselves that we didn’t know was there. We also learn better how to lean on the Lord.

In this passage, James specifically mentions one positive outcome of our overcoming trials. He says that we gain patience. But I like how he puts it. He says that our suffering “produces patience” (emphasis added). It is not just something that magically happens because we have a trial, it is the product.

We see a farmer working over the course of several months. He plants, waters, works the soil and does various other jobs necessary for a certain crop to grow. Why? Because he is trying to produce a crop.

That farmer understands that work is needed to gain the desired outcome. He understands that to produce a crop, he must put forth effort.

In the same way, we need to understand that, to produce patience, we will have to work through our trials. We cannot simply have trials and expect to gain patience. We need to understand that we must work so that we can gain patience.

When that happens, we also gain faith and are complete (verse 4). That’s something for which to strive!