Troubles Test our Faith

“My brothers and sisters, when you have many kinds of troubles, you should be full of joy, because you know that these troubles test your faith, and this will give you patience.” James 1:2-3

I meet with a handful of teens each week at “Pop with Pastor”. We gather at a local restaurant, I pay for drinks, and we simply chat. It isn’t a Bible study or prayer group, simply an expression of my love for the students, and an opportunity to make myself available to them. Each week on Wednesday six to a dozen of us get together for about an hour.

Last week, a girl who barely weighs 100 pounds proudly boasted, “I can bench 120 pounds!” (I’m not going to even speculate what I can bench press; nearly 60 and doing little strength training since the onset of chronic pain a few years ago.) She is a tiny thing, petite and small-boned, but she is proud she can bench her weight plus another 20. I imagine she didn’t get there without a little pain.

Any time we want to add strength to our muscles we have to work them. We lift weights, do sit-ups and crunches just past the point when pain is an issue. When we are first working out the next two days are usually very painful. We have torn the muscle fiber in our body and it is strengthened as it heals itself. But, we must also endure pain to have our desired result. This is why most people have workout partners. Few of us can push through the pain by ourselves.

James wants us to know that something similar happens in our inner life. It is not difficult to see the connection. When we endure different kinds of troubles and come through them with a modicum of success, we are strengthened for the next trial…and the next…and the next. (Yes, sorry about that, but there is not “over” point for trials in our life.) These troubles, he says, test our faith.

When faced with hardship we can approach it as if God doesn’t exist or doesn’t care about us. Or, we can approach it as one of His beloved who are family by faith in Jesus. When I played Little League, it always made a difference if Dad was there watching, cheering me on. Our earthly dads cannot always influence the outcome of our challenges, but their presence always makes a difference. Something rises up within us because Dad is present.

How much more so when we realize that our Heavenly Father does not allow anything to come into our life without His permission and His presence. We are so tempted to think God has deserted us in our trials, but the truth is, He is closer than ever in every hurdle we face.

Several years ago I left full-time ministry and took a sales position with a computer firm. I had always been a bit of a geek, but more on the software side of the cyber-world. I was nearly illiterate when it came to the hardware. I took the position just as businesses were seriously beginning to network as well. For nearly an entire year I climbed the steepest learning curve of my life. I even dreamed about video cards, hard drives and USB connectors. Oh, and did I forget to say, my pay was based entirely on commission?

Yet, as I found my way, asked questions, read, and stayed after hours to build computers with the service staff I learned my craft. Within two years I was making twice the annual income I had ever made before. Even now I can diagnose most issues that might make someone else take their PC into the shop. To use Keith Green’s words, the “Trials Turned to Gold.”

The difficulty I face is being “full of joy” when I face these trials. Most of my readers know I have had constant headache pain for the last six years. This trial is entirely different than learning a new skill set so I can provide for my family. Yet, in some way, even this daily struggle also tests my faith, resulting in patience. “Perseverance” is actually the better translation.

Father God has promised to be with us in our struggles. Do not succumb to the fiction that you must have done something wrong to be going through such a difficult time. Jesus absorbed all the punishment for every wrongdoing on the cross. As a good Father, God may use your pain to train you and strengthen you, but, as a follower of Jesus, there is no way you can be punished. All of God’s wrath against sin was satisfied at the cross.

So, boldly take your trials to Father-God. Find the joy that is aware of His presence even in the most severe trial. Over time the trials will prove your faith stronger than you realized, and build up a bit of spiritual muscle besides.