We don’t like them. We think they are an unnecessary interruption to life; truth is, they are just life. Life is made up of these difficulties; the believer may have a whole new set of troubles. James taught that we are to count it joy when we enter into trials, not because of the trials themselves, but because of what they can produce in us. Life is about problems and problem solving. Life is about growth toward maturity in the middle of what we face. We have all observed how the untested are not rooted and grounded. Maturity happens through growth pains. Character is developed by hard choices. Strength is built in our spiritual muscles when they are stretched by the difficult. Steadfastness is the character outcome of bearing up under all that life throws at us. The stedfast are promised eternal life (James 1:12).
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2–4 ESV)
