Hosanna Restoration Church

Rejoicing in trials is not a natural idea for fun, even though we may be heard to say that we like a good challenge. I was thinking about this when the words, tidings of comfort and joy, came to mind from an old Christmas hymn. The hymn tells us not to be dismayed; just remember that Christ was born to save us all from satan’s power. Amen to that!

Then I read a quote from John Wimber when he said the good news is that Jesus is praying for you; the bad news is that you are going to need it!

The difference in this world for those who believe God, is that we believe God. We believe that He is for us. We believe that He cares and that He will see us through this life into eternal life. We come to a place where we understand that we are still in this world; we just are not of this world.

We will have opportunities to be troubled, dismayed, and ready to give up, but we will turn to the Lord. For us, all of these things simply give us an opportunity to grow our endurance!

Of course, we would love to never face any obstacles, but if that were the case, how would we learn to depend on God. There are people in the world that have all kinds of things and they can do almost anything they want. They often can see no reason that they need God. We can only pray that one day they will see the truth and be set free.

God reminds us in His word that not many of us to have come to Him were high and lofty when He found us. The truth is, those who do seem to have everything, after they have come to know the Lord, realize that they were the most foolish of all because of all the time that they neglected such a great salvation.

I remember thinking I was doing pretty well and as a result I really had very little need for God; except of course when things got desperate!

I like this translation of the verse. We are to look at the trial as an opportunity for great joy. It does not tell us to jump up and down and laugh out loud; James simply says to look at it as an opportunity for joy.

We all like a good opportunity! The thing about trusting the Lord is that we can be sure that He is working all things together for our good. So, every obstacle is bound to be turned upside down. We know that we win! And if we know that we win; we can be sure that we are building endurance as we see how we end up winning!

The devil desires to steal, kill, and destroy our faith. He never wanted us to have faith in God in the first place, and once we trust in Jesus, he really wants to undo all that God has done. Faith knows this. Faith understands this. And faith holds on to the promises of God. Faith can see the opportunity to look forward to the victory and enjoy the endurance that is built.