SKIPPING THE CLASS OF TRIALS

DAY 43/366

My current read this month is a book by TD Jake’s titled ‘CRUSHING‘. While I am only a few tens of pages in, today’s opening remarks from James makes the words I had been reading even more pronounced. The core message in this book so far has been what emerges after a journey through seasons and trials that have you questioning if God indeed is with you as He says.

The text of interest today from James 1:2-4 reads”

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind 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

The use of “when” is a guarantee of the arrival of trouble, something Jesus himself corroborated when He said ‘in this world you will have trouble’ (John 16:33). However, the assignment of these trials are to test your faith and to build endurance; this built endurance is then to  make you mature, lacking nothing.

Many people will fight, hurry and even cheat their way out of seasons of trials. Even men, can pity you too much and thereby push you unintentionally out of those classes. However, there is something ‘the class of trials’, in the school of the Spirit, does to a person. It has the capacity to build you up in ways that nothing else can. If you skip that class, there will deficiencies in your maturation and the account of your full Christian experience.

Beloved, it takes intense wringing, twisting and pain for good wine to emerge from grapes. So don’t rejoice because you can see fruit, God sees the wine. Go through the class of trials and graduate with honour for God is assuredly with you.

#sly