A Reason to Rejoice

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"We also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance." --Romans 5:3CloseRomans 5:3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt)

Read It: James 1:2-4CloseJames 1:2-4 Dear brothers and sisters,* when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt)

If you're not in the middle of a trial right now, just hang around. None of us can dodge trials. So we need to find out the resources God has given us to deal with trials.

What is a trial, anyway? It's an adverse circumstance that God allows or even brings about in the lives of us His children to deepen our faith. We'll see this week that trials are not designed to sink our boat, but to help us improve our navigation skills. In the words of the Apostles Paul and James, we can actually rejoice when we undergo trials, because we know God is doing something special in our lives.

Now trials can come from a number of directions. Sometimes God sends you a trial to teach you a specific lesson. At other times, it comes simply because you live in a sin-cursed world, and the curse rubs off on you. So you become the victim of a crime or accident or illness that crashes into your life.

Sometimes trials are the result of your own sin. You yield to a temptation that leads to a set of circumstances that are tough to deal with. And don't forget that the enemy can attack you with trials for the purpose of bringing about your spiritual defeat.

So my concern is not so much the source of your trials, but what you do when they show up. How you respond to cataclysmic circumstances has a lot to do with what shape you're in when you come out on the other side. The good news is, you're not out there alone, because no matter what the source of your trial is, God has the situation well in hand. He can work out His purposes even in a trial you may bring on yourself.

One great way to learn how to deal with trials is to watch others in the middle of one. So starting tomorrow, we'll get into a boat with the disciples and row out to the middle of the Sea of Galilee. Stay with me, and you'll learn that even when your boat starts to rock, Jesus Christ has authority over your trials.

Think About It

You're either in the middle of a trial, just coming out of one, or just heading into one. Better be ready!