Are You Persevering through Everyday Trials?
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” (James 1:2 NIV)
My family is really picky about food. When I talk about this pickiness with other mamas, I usually get a good bit of sympathy, confirming the extreme nature of this issue at my house. Cooking for this bunch not only sometimes saps the joy from a process I usually enjoy, but even saps my own enjoyment of what I put on the table.
I was lamenting about food preparation and meal planning one day when my husband pointed out that I was the only one complaining. Yes, I would like to prepare more meals that everyone will eat, and I don’t want to be a short-order cook like I so often am. However, not one of my people complains about eating the same meals over and over. So why do I feel like this is such a trial? Why do I keep letting it bother me? Why do I worry that my family won’t be satisfied with what I have to offer them?
I’m not sure I have ever prayed about this issue. I’ve assumed such a petty thing surely could not be a real trial.
When I read James 1:2, though, I realized that “trials of many kinds” means everything that causes us worry or strife. This Scripture to me reminded me that God uses all our experiences to draw us into deeper faith. Deeper faith occurs when we take our trials to God—both big and small—and watch him work out the details. In this instance, he used some simple words from my husband to give me a new perspective.
So many people have greater trials than the mundane task of trying to satisfy family members who are picky eaters. Please know my heart is about seeing God in all our circumstances. So many trials are complicated, and the details take a long time to work out.
Yet I know God is working out all things for the good of those who love him and are called to his purpose (Romans 8:28 NIV)—even the everyday things like feeding our kids and husbands. This time he did so not only with wise words from my husband, but with the writing of this devotional to remind me of his instructions.
Consider it pure joy, God says, when we can be drawn closer to him through trials. He will work out this food issue of mine, which might rear its ugly face again (I know I’ll forget that my people don’t really complain). In that case, I’ll have to use my memories of what God has already told me and shown me, of how the way he has brought us through previous trials gives us a foothold on the trusting-him ladder. Then I will watch him use the next trial to grow me into a person more like him too.
Lord, thank you for trials that draw us closer to you. Help us make it through them. Give us glimpses of you working out the details and using our trials to make us more like Jesus and closer to you. Help us see the joy at some point in the journey and then to look in the mirror at a person who is at least a little bit more like Jesus. Amen.
Scripture for Reflection
Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. (James 1:12 NIV)
Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her. (Proverbs 31:28 NIV)
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:23–24 NIV)
Reach for More
If you have an everyday trial you have not given to God, pause now and talk to him about it. Ask him to show you how he is using that circumstance to draw you closer to him. Ask him to bring growth in your spirit. When you catch a glimpse of his hand at work, take a long mental note. Say it out loud to yourself to help you remember. Write it down with the date so you can look back and see his faithfulness. Or share it with a friend so someone else can see we all struggle, yet God is always right there—even with the small things.
enjoys a crazy, beautiful life with her military husband and four sons. A baby and toddler interrupt her homeschool days in the best ways, and she is always attempting to live with mindfulness of each moment. She hopes to look at the world and each person in it in light of our amazing Creator and therefore, to see each moment presented as an opportunity to love and serve him more. Carla relishes time to ponder God’s Word and have quiet moments with him and her coffee. She loves doing life with other mamas and encouraging them to simply be who God has made them to be.
Photograph © Toa Heftiba, used with permission
