James 1:2-4 NLT: “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.”
WOW! A whole lot is going on here! Let’s break it down because these verses used to cause me much confusion: consider joy in my trials! Sure, OK!
The NLT version sums it up nicely: consider our trials an opportunity to see God’s hand upon our lives and each situation we place at his feet.
When we approach the throne, hands full of worries, heads scrambled, hearts fearful, and as we bow humbly, releasing our cares out of our hands and into His, we feel the joy of knowing He is always there and with us.
Proving time and again that each time our faith is put to the test and God shows himself to be faithful, it gives us the strength and endurance to face each new trial.
Flex your faith muscle, and use it because the more you do, the stronger and more fully developed it becomes. It is empowering you to become perfect and complete, needing nothing.
Ha, this doesn’t mean we will become instantly perfect! I believe that as we develop within the Lord, we become satisfied in different things and ways. Contentment rather than worry and strife. Joy in the simplicity of life. Unexplained peace within chaos. It’s knowing that somehow, someway, God will carry you through your Red Sea moment and safely deliver you to the other side.
That’s Completion. That’s needing nothing because you know your God will supply all your needs. As Paul writes:
Philippians 4:11-13 NIV: “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
Please, I don’t mean to imply that I throw a party when my world is in turmoil and strife, but I do immediately turn to God and turn my needs and worries over to God and allow the peace of knowing somehow, someway, He’s going to take care of me!
That’s Perfection! ❤️☺️
Sunshine On My Shoulder 