Faithbase

Hey friends, I wanted to share something with you from James chapter 1 today, incredibly powerful passage of scripture. And James begins his book by making a statement that is not easily understood. He says in verse 2, dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. An opportunity for joy? If you're like me, you wonder, what does that even mean? I think this has always been one of those verses that is complicated to listen to. And it is even more complicated to try and figure out how do we live that out? Because that's the question when we read that, how do we do that? And what James is talking about is having a realistic, practical, down to earth, bottom line perspective of your problems. Why? Because your problems can work in your favor. And we wonder how. He says in verse 3 and 4, for 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 strong in character and you will be ready for anything. James is saying that when we go through tough times, when we go through problems, we become better. We become stronger. We become more capable of doing anything and everything that God has called us to do. The new King James says in that passage, you'll be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. This friends is what problems can do for us. They can make our life better in the long run if you're willing to tough them out. The key principle that James is talking about here is endurance. He's talking about an attitude that says, I will not quit no matter how difficult or tough things get. I will not quit. And here is the good news of the gospel for every person who is watching this video. We all have problems. Every single one of us. In fact, if you're watching this video and people are standing around you, you can look at them and you can say, Hey, you've got problems. No, don't do that. Don't do that. But that's the good news. We all have them. And here's the thing. There's only three ways you can deal with them. Number one, you can run and hide. Number two, you can whine and complain. Number three, you can stand up tall in your spirit and you can work your way through them. James says it's your choice, but that's the reality and that's the spiritual reality. With Christ, we can do anything. A problem is still a problem, but if we work our way through it, we will gain endurance. We'll become better. In fact, we'll become more complete, lacking nothing. Maybe hopefully, prayerfully, that gives some perspective on the problems that we are dealing with today in our life. Be encouraged, be blessed, be great.