Be Joyful in Trials

"Consider it pure joy my brothers when you face trials of many kinds because you know the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4 

This is not particularly the easiest verse to read. I certainly don't want trials and after a week filled with many kinds of trials, I find myself wondering when they will end. Then I realized that it is actually foolish to expect them to end. I may as well just embrace life for what it is: full of trials.  

In Gesses these trials somehow seem more dramatic, more frequent and more exhausting. So how can I accept these trials joyfully instead of dreading them? 

One way is certainly to sing about the value of trials and so I decided to work with the Gumuz translators on a song pertaining to these verses. The community is going through just as many trials as I am! We are going to face trials until the day we die. Can we face them joyfully and believe that they will strengthen our faith and be used for His glory? It is certainly something we have to intentionally choose to do though and we can only do this with the strength of the Lord!  

In order to face trials with joy, I need to be walking closely with my heavenly father. I need to be listening to Him, filling my mind with His word and quick to call out to Him in times of need rather than attempting things on my own weak strength. 

Rolf has been able to get some rest the past couple of days and though this caused some stress for others, it was good for the community to see that we too are human. 

May these verses remind us all that the trials we are facing have purpose. Let us persevere so that we can grow and mature in our faith. We may as well accept the fact that this growth will also be painful at times.

We also need times of rest in order to persevere. Rest from the burdens we find ourselves carrying. Rest from the physical, emotional and spiritual stresses that come our way. Jesus modeled this and so we know that we are not expected to persevere with no end in sight. We need to be refreshed so that we can carry on. And that .... is easier said than done.