Trial (noun): a test of someone’s ability to do or endure something; an experiment to test quality, value or usefulness
A few weeks ago, I embarked on a 10-week study of the book of James. The first lesson brought my attention to the word “Trial”, as found in this verse:
Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. James 1:12
Do I really grasp the concept that I am “blessed” because of my trials? Do I embrace the challenges and difficulties in my life with gratitude? Well, if the prize for persevering a trial is “the crown of life”, then it is a subject worth exploring even deeper than the words found in James!
If I’m being honest, which I am striving to be in all my affairs, then I must admit I have…
- questioned the biblical concept that trials are blessings
- resented Apostle Paul’s encouragement to “glory in our sufferings”
- avoided or denied a trial/test/challenge/difficulty rather than dealing with it
- doubted God’s goodness in the midst of grief or pain
What do other scripture verses reveal about trials, tests, suffering, and endurance? My search begins!
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 2 Corinthians 4:17
In the middle of a trial, it is easy to think this chapter of my story is titled something like “The Great Pain”, “The Big Depression”, or “Weary and Broken.” But what I see as an entire chapter is perhaps only the intro to the chapter! The good work God will do in me, the glory my hardship will reveal is what will become the chapter’s title. I just don’t know it yet, can’t see it yet. But maybe, just maybe, this chapter’s title will be “Jesus is the Cure”, “A Light in the Dark”, or “Rested and Restored”.
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 1 Peter 5:10
Just like I have to push my muscles in exercise and stretching in order to build and maintain their strength, I must suffer trials of life to build and maintain my faith. If I do nothing, experience no challenges, my strength and flexibility deteriorate. The muscles atrophy. Through the constant exercise of my Faith the foundation is made stronger.
Faith that is unused, untested and unapplied will shrivel and die.
No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13 NRSV
What is the way out? Surrender. Reliance. Obedience. The way out – or through – a trial is always in the choosing of God’s will over my own. Through focusing my eyes on Jesus, not on the problem. Through discerning His will and then following it diligently!
Now Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wild. For forty wilderness days and nights he was tested by the Devil. Luke 4:1-2 MSG
How did Jesus “pass” the tests of the devil? First, He was filled with the Holy Spirit. Second, He counteracted each enticement with quotes from Scripture. What is my way through any trial, test, or temptation? Follow the example of Jesus. Be OVERCOME with the Holy Spirit, turn my focus to God as the center of my life, and dig my roots – put my foundation – into His Word.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16
Such hope to find in knowing Jesus faced trials, suffering, grief, despair, loneliness, betrayal, physical pain, hunger, thirst, and weariness… the full human spectrum of experiences, emotions, and sensations. Can I see His humanness? Isn’t seeing that an important part of my relationship with Him? When I talk to Him about my own humanness, I can have confident trust in His ability to relate. And understand why He overflows with compassion.
What a friend I have in Jesus!
But we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Romans 5:3-4
Suffering (trials) open the door for the Spirit to work in me, to become more reliant on Him, to focus on how God is working in my life, to experience His great love for me. Without trials, I look to external things to give me joy – possessions, circumstances, achievements, human relationships. But these are fleeting and temporary. Trials lead me to the eternal Joy found in my relationship with Jesus. As Laura story puts it in her song “Blessings”:
What if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise
My uncertainty about the usefulness of trials has decreased by studying these biblical concepts. As I continue on my faith journey, I realize more and more that the “safest” place to be is in the arms of Jesus.
And what is the most frequent reason I run into His arms? A trial, test, temptation, hurt, or suffering.
Indeed, I am safest when in the midst of a trial, so long as I’m turning to God as my refuge during it. The crown of life will be bestowed upon those who rely on God and surrender to His protection in the face of difficulties.
That sounds like my kind of crown!