To Encourage You

James 1:2-4 “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.”

The Christian life is a journey.  It begins for everyone at the moment of the new birth when the new believer becomes a “newborn babe,” spiritually speaking (1 Peter 2:2).  At this stage in the Christian life, there is often much exuberance and joy as a person comes to the sudden realization that they have been freed from sin, death, and hell.  They are forgiven, and gratitude for that great gift is an evidence that the new birth has, indeed, occurred.

However, at this stage of this new life, the new believer may be largely ignorant of much of what the Bible says.  As they spend time in the Word of God with their newfound hunger for it, the bread of life helps them to grow in their knowledge of God, their position in Christ, their responsibilities as believers, and their understanding of what it means to live a Christian life.  But where does that growth end?  Indeed, does it ever end? What’s the mark of maturity in the Christian faith? What’s that look like? 

Well, in the verses above, we are told that one of the end goals of Christian growth, something that God wants to make a characteristic in every believer’s life, is this character trait of “steadfastness.”  Elsewhere, this same word is translated “patience.” Its definition goes as follows: “cheerful (or hopeful) endurance, constancy.”  An evidence of maturity in the faith is that it will be an  enduring faith. It’s the faith that Jesus talked about when He taught the parable of the soils.  In this story, He speaks of the Word of God (the seed) falling on three kinds of soil (i.e., human hearts).  Some falls on rocky soil, some falls along the way, and some falls among the thorns. In none of these cases does the “believer” endure. Because of various temptations to sin or on account of various trials, these false believers fall away. They are enthusiastic at first, but that enthusiasm is a “flash in the pan.”  

I’m sure you know of people like this, people that appeared to be believers at one time, but sooner or later their interest in spiritual things waned. Ultimately, they walked away to engage in a life that was unchanged from the world.  But then there is the seed that falls on good ground, which Jesus explains like this: “As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the Word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience  (Luke 13:8).”  In other words, true faith, when it is tested, endures – and it will be tested.  God permits various trials to enter the life of a believer to test the genuineness of their faith.  Ultimately, one of the biggest signs of true faith to a doubting world is the endurance of believers under trial.  But it isn’t just the “grin and bear it” type of endurance that God desires in the believer’s life. It is a joyful endurance, for that’s what the Greek word that was used by James when he originally wrote the words above, meant. 

Mature Christian faith becomes most apparent in such cases. It’s one of the main reasons Christian’s suffer under the Sovereign hand of Almighty God. It’s His means of helping us to grow up in the faith. It’s how He ultimately helps the truths we learn with our head to be driven deep into our hearts, and in so doing, this becomes a great light to those around us of what it truly means to be a Christian.  Often, it is when unbelievers see this true faith that they are drawn to Christ.  As one person said to me many years ago: “shepherds (i.e., pastors) don’t make more sheep. Sheep make more sheep.” What he meant by this is that it is the lives of everyday Christians lived out in this world that typically are the means by which God works in nonbelievers’ lives to draw them to Himself. And one of the greatest means whereby He does this is by producing patience, i.e., joyful endurance under trial, in His children’s lives.  So that’s why James says in the verses above “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,” for ultimately, God is using these very things to mature us and prepare us for works of service that bring glory to Him and draw others into His wonderful kingdom.

So, are you going through a tough time right now?  Are there some things touching your life that just don’t make sense?  Does it seem, perhaps, that God is nowhere to be found or that He has forgotten about you? Well, if you are a believer, you can be assured that this is not the case, for it is at just such times that God is likely at work to mature you in the faith like at no other time in your life.  And in that maturity, He is making you a useful vessel for His glory. And any believer who is truly a believer,  in their heart of hearts, wants just that.