Growing Stronger Through Trials

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

What use are hardships? Why do they visit us? What is their purpose, and do they even have a purpose? I’d like to believe that they’re not just random events of trouble in life.

James has a word to say about this very subject.

Trouble and trials test our faith. It’s the resistance that causes muscles to grow. So, we should be happy or as James says, we should have pure joy, when we face trials of many kinds because they are part of the maturing process.

At the end of the troubled road comes maturity and completion.

There are people for whom life is all hard. They struggle, but have faith. Imagine the homecoming when they wearily trod the last few steps into the gates of heaven. The cheers, the celebration, the joy at having a faithful one come home.

We get stronger when we face tough things. The old saying is true, “what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” It seems hard to be joyful when trouble visits, but we know that with God’s vision for the future he sees the outcome and wants to assure us of the hope that we have for the future.