Bible Verse of The Day – 1-1-24

James 1:2-4 (NKJV) 2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

I’ve spent a fair amount of time lately pondering on the irony of trials.

They’re a funny thing, these unexpected events that happen to all of us, tossing our world into a tailspin.

They catch us by surprise and can sometimes hit us with life-changing effects. Sometimes they leave scars that take a lifetime to heal.

But here’s the thing that is so ironic about trials; as much as we despise them, they can teach us a lot if we allow them to.

Some of the most powerful lessons we learn are by way of the tough things that we go through.

We learn about ourselves. We learn new things that we never expected or wanted to learn. We learn about the faithfulness of God.

And in all those things, we learn lessons that we can use to teach and help others around us when they face similar situations and circumstances.

Not one of us welcomes trials with open arms. We despise them. We hope they don’t happen to us. And we may even try to run from them.

Jesus told us in John 16:33 that tribulations will come to each of us.

So, what will we do with them when they come?

That’s the key question we need to ask ourselves.

Will we run from them? Will we deny that they’re happening? Will we be miserable? Will we gather people around us to join us in our own pity party?

Or will we seek God and let Him show us how and what we can learn as we let Him walk us through them?

The way we embrace our trials will tell us a lot about our maturity as a believer and our faith in God, whom we proclaim to others that we trust.

When the rubber meets the road, do our actions prove that we trust Him? Or do they show us struggling with unbelief?

Don’t take that wrong. We all wrestle with unbelief at times. But hanging on to it and never letting God get us beyond it is another story.

So, let us ask ourselves today, will we let our trials dictate how we behave, or will we let God teach us valuable lessons as we walk through them, that we might use those lessons to help others, and to bring glory and honor to Him?

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

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