2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of the life that God has promised to those who love him.
James 1:2-4, 12
Don't you just love it when you start going through a season of trials? Whether that season is just a bad day or maybe an uncomfortable year? I know I don't enjoy them and we have had our fair share of seasons of trials this past year. More than I have shared here.
For me this verse lets me look at the trials in a different way. I hear God telling me that the trials we are going through are to build up to be "mature and complete" so that we are lacking nothing in our lives. Doesn't that life sound great?
Then it continues to say that "the man who perseveres under trial...will receive the crown of the life that God has promised". I don't know about you but I want to have the life that God has promised for eternity even if that means I have to suffer some trials here on Earth.
We are just coming out (hopefully) of over a year of trials. When it first started May of 2011 I didn't handle them all with grace and trust God to get us through it. I lived my life looking through the world glasses and was very stressed through each trial we were faced with. Then this past April when Hubby entered the hospital and (I found out later) was near slipping into a coma that he may have never woke up from I had no choice but to lean on God. There was nothing that I could do to help Hubby get better but be there with him and PRAY! That's what I did! Then during all this, Monkey having emergency gal bladder surgery could have easily pushed me over the edge and it nearly did. I did have my first ever panic attack and was sent to the hospital myself to make sure that I wasn't having contractions and causing my baby to be distressed. Yes, that's right, all three of us from my family were in three different hospitals at the same time.
Now whether it was due to all my prayers and prayers of others, we got through this season. I have to tell you that many people that saw me during this time could not believe how peaceful I was with everything that was going on. They made sure to comment on how calm I was. I really looked at it from a view of 'there is nothing that I can do but keep moving and trusting God to pull us through this'. And now that I'm on the other side of it I can say that I learned so much from going through it, I know I'm stronger now that it is over, my relationship with God has grown, and as we are finally starting to recover from this crazy time I can truly say that I feel blessed!
Blessed that I still have my husband and child. Blessed that my body kept my baby safe until he was ready to come out healthy. Blessed that I have family that was there to support and help us through all of it. Blessed for a great circle of friends that did everything they could to help. Blessed that Hubby got to spend time with my pastor and actually likes him! Blessed that my heart has a new respect and love for God!
There are so many more blessing that I could probably just go on and on so let's all try to remember that when we are in a season of trials that it is just a way for us to grow in so many ways and to PRAY our way through them!
Comments
Post a Comment