James 1:2-8
2 My friends, be glad, even if you have a lot of trouble. 3 You know that you learn to endure by having your faith tested. 4 But you must learn to endure everything, so that you will be completely mature and not lacking in anything.
5 If any of you need wisdom, you should ask God, and it will be given to you. God is generous and won’t correct you for asking. 6 But when you ask for something, you must have faith and not doubt. Anyone who doubts is like an ocean wave tossed around in a storm. 7-8 If you are that kind of person, you can’t make up your mind, and you surely can’t be trusted. So don’t expect the Lord to give you anything at all.
You and I need to start looking at trouble in a whole new way, not negatively but positively. Trouble is the packaging and when you look at it at face value only then you will miss what is contained within the trouble. Within every trouble lie opportunities that many miss out on because we see trouble and react instead of seeing the real issues within the trouble so that we respond to them.
Be glad when trouble comes your way because there in lies an opportunity for your faith to be tested creating an environment where you learn endurance and that leads to maturity. No one wants to stay a baby all their life, we all want to grow and mature up, in fact God expects us to grow up.
In the midst of this God extends a hand and offers to give us wisdom to navigate through the trials but we have to ask in faith and not weaver.
As I pen this,. I am reminded of the trouble that Jesus went through, the ridicule, the whipping and being nailed to a cross leading to death. That is trouble more than any of us could bear. Encased in that trouble was an opportunity for you and I to be reconciled to God and here we are today enjoying the benefits of that trouble. After all that, God glorified His Son.
Yes trouble is part of the package, it will come your way from time to time and when it does don’t complain, instead rejoice because you now know that therein lies an opportunity and if you walk in faith trusting God, you will see that it is all designed to work for your good.
