“Consider it pure joy … whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. …[T]hat you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
James 1:2-4
Only by training runners to endure physical pain beyond what they will experience in a race can my student athletes improve. As their coach, I strive to convince them that the way to become faster is to experience new levels of discomfort. I ask them daily to push beyond what they think is possible because I know (and they will learn) that the result is growth. But when I watch races, I often notice that the more pain runners experience, the more they slow down to avoid it.
This is contrary to what Scripture teaches us about suffering. Never does God tell us to flee from pain or resist it. Rather, we’re told to rejoice in it, knowing that it produces endurance.
The same is true when God moves us into situations that are uncomfortable, that stretch us and test our faith. He does this because He knows that the testing of our faith produces endurance and shapes us more into Christ’s likeness. Through it we’ll be complete, lacking in nothing. God causes His likeness to grow in us especially when He places us outside of our comfort zone.
This is contrary to what Scripture teaches us about suffering. Never does God tell us to flee from pain or resist it. Rather, we’re told to rejoice in it, knowing that it produces endurance.
The same is true when God moves us into situations that are uncomfortable, that stretch us and test our faith. He does this because He knows that the testing of our faith produces endurance and shapes us more into Christ’s likeness. Through it we’ll be complete, lacking in nothing. God causes His likeness to grow in us especially when He places us outside of our comfort zone.
Scripture Focus
James 2:2-8
Insight
“We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance.” (Romans 5:3)
Bible In A Year
- 2 Chronicles 13-14
- Psalm 14
- Matthew 21
