What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31
Sometimes we think that God orchestrates the difficulties we encounter in life to teach us something or to punish us for doing wrong. When we read James 1:2, “count it all joy when you fall into various trials,” it almost sounds as though we should welcome tragedy as though it’s sent from God. But is this true?
Think of it this way. Let’s say you’re walking on a path, when suddenly you fall. Maybe you weren’t watching where you were going and you tripped, or maybe an obstacle was thrown in your path that you couldn’t avoid. Regardless, you didn’t fall because God pushed you, right?
The same is true when it comes to “falling into various trials.” It doesn’t say, “Count it all joy when God grabs you by the scruff of the neck and puts you in the middle of a trial.” It says you fell into a trial somehow.
God doesn’t throw tragedy or trouble at you. Sometimes when we
face trials, we can think of ways we could have avoided them. Other times, trials blindside us that couldn’t have been avoided. Regardless, our response needs to be the same: stay in faith.
Learn what you can from the trials you face, but never forget that God is on your side. He’s empowering you to get through this trial. In fact, you may even be able to use this trial as a stepping stone to move to a whole new level.
Stay in faith, and like a boat in a storm, the winds that threaten to
capsize you just may cause you to get to your destination twice as fast!