FAITH TRIALED AND TESTED
When was the last time you heard someone share about a setback in life when God also revealed to them a perception or character flaw. Did it seem as though God was merciless to ‘rub it in’, or did you sense that the person had experienced God’s truth and grace in a powerful way? If we are honest, most Christian testimonies we hear in church are cleaned up versions that look more like before-and-after sales pitches. The messiness in the middle are tossed out because some parts of what God does in our lives are deemed fit for public sharing, while other parts remain private. In the process, our faith stories become sterile with little utility for helping others live spiritually productive lives.
Yet, nothing can be further from the truth in our individual faith journeys. Was it really the prayer meeting you attended and the mission trip you took that made your problem disappear? Perhaps God revealed to you a deep-seated pride that you needed to confess, or a confirmation bias that had plagued your perception that had led to much disappointments in your life. Life is messy and our personal stories, if we keep them authentic, are messy narratives!
Jesus’ brother, James, captured the essence of keeping it real when we go through trials and testing in James 1:2-4, ‘Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.’
Unfortunately, what he taught is often misunderstood by believers in that we should escape to a surreal state of euphoria as evidence of our faith in God. Let’s examine three key concepts that James taught believers on developing faith that stands up to challenges
PERSEVERE WITH JOY
The human reproductive system has been created in a way that entails tremendous discomfort during pregnancy and childbirth. Women in labour will persevere and push, but for most in the labour room, being joyful comes only when they eventually embrace their new babies.
In saying, “consider it pure joy”, James brought into sharp focus the reality of pain juxtaposed against the experience of satisfaction that follows. He saw trials in life as par for the course when he wrote, ‘whenever you face trials of many kinds’. There is no question that trials will appear in human life; the only difference is in the timing and frequency. Just as we expect a fully-formed life through childbirth, the outcome that James saw in suffering personal trials and testing is a more mature and complete form of faith in God.
Putting our faith on trial is necessary to test its validity and reliability. Like any scientific experiments, the goal is to expose errors and produce a faith that holds up under similar conditions in the future. In other words, it is to produce a future-ready faith. Pointedly, Charles Spurgeon opined that storms are faith trainers and bolts of lightning are faith illuminators.
The word ‘consider’ suggests taking a perspective change that focuses on the outcomes, and not the obstacles along the way. We can persevere with joy through trials and testing only when we anchor our faith in God. Human grit, tenacity, willpower and mind-numbing meditation will be a hard act to repeat over and over again. “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). Only the Holy Spirit can sustain us through all the storms of life.
SEEK WISDOM WITH CONFIDENCE
When God is the only source of our wisdom, it will be evident in our lives. Wisdom is the counterforce to a sense of defeat, hopelessness and helplessness. James contrasted human wisdom with heavenly wisdom in James 3:17: “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere”. To be sure, God’s wisdom does not promote any divisive underdog thinking; rather, it is the ability to see the interplay of natural human factors and divine intervention, often through the Word of God.
Therefore, James had a strong message to believers about wisdom. “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” (James 1:5). This wisdom can only be found within a close communion with God, our Heavenly Father; as well as through godly people whom God sends into our lives. The more we share about life through Christ with each other, the more we see life in Christ together. When we let the wisdom of God direct our actions and decisions, we will experience the counterforce of joy and peace that comes from living according to the will of God. God's wisdom develops in us a conscious moment-to-moment submission to Him that yields His peace and joy in the big and small moments of our lives.
STAND FIRM ON GOD’S PROMISES
Most of our emotional turmoil is a result of downgrading God’s promises to what is good to have but not important to pursue. We would rather tiptoe around people to avoid displeasing them so that life is more bearable in unbearable circumstances. We pray about secondary outcomes (such as healing for headaches, or tolerance of undesirable behaviour) instead of applying God’s promises to deal with the root cause of these problems (such as our inability to resist unreasonable demands from people, or ungodly codependence). We end up creating the certainty of a recurring problem when we refuse to stand firm on God’s promises to deal with them. Even when we ask God to remove superficial symptoms, we still have doubts because we know that the unresolved problem will surely return to haunt us.
God’s promises are His gifts. James argued that “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” We must not entertain any fear of what God’s promises can do and how they will change us, our lives and relationships. No matter what happens, we can trust God's promises to be unequivocally and ultimately good. In addition, we are promised a crown of life as well. (James 1:12).
Finally, we must remember that trials and testing are meant to shape us and not to break us; to mellow us rather than harden us; and to ensure that we grow rather than let our faith stagnate and flatline through inertia and passivity.
Read Neo Ming Wei’s story in Salt and Light.
