The Good News About Trials and Tribulations

Wait… What? There is good news about trials and tribulations? I bet you are thinking I have lost my ever-loving mind when I tell you that “Yes”, there is actually good news, and I mean really good news about trials and tribulations!

No, I haven’t actually lost my mind nor am I trying to be unsympathetic.

I get it. Truly, I do!! I’m sure that at some point a trial has dumped it’s ugly butt right on your couch. Refusing to leave, it constantly screamed at you about how bad this trial is like it’s trying to brag or something. It was right there in your face no matter how much you tried to get it to leave. But, I am here to tell you my friend that that butt-ugly trial had a very good reason for being there on your couch taking up valuable space in your life!

Guess what? Not only does a trial have a good reason for entering your life… We are actually supposed to find JOY of all things when we face trials!!!! I know it sounds crazy right? It did to me at first.

But, let me ask you a question…

When the trial finally leaves, and you look back on it, how do you feel now?

Oh, sure, I bet you felt exhausted and relieved, but did you realize that you also made it through the trial? You persevered! You, dear friend, endured the trial and are still here!

And… believe it or not, you are stronger for it!

Of course it wasn’t fun to go through. More than likely, it was horrible, gruesome, and heartbreaking. But, if you haven’t looked back and seen that you have made it this far, oh dear sweet friend, please do! When you do look back, I pray you realize that yesterday or last week or several years ago, when you felt like you couldn’t take this problem for one more second, is now in the past. Yesterday is gone and you made it to today!

So what’s the good news about trials and tribulations?

Well, let’s look at what James, the half-brother of Jesus, said about trials shall we…

First of all, let me remind you who James is.

James is the earthly half-brother of Jesus!

Now imagine for a minute what James must have felt as he watched his brother being punished for crimes he did not commit, brutally beaten within an inch of his life, and finally die through the most horrible death of crucifixion.

I bet James, along with the rest of the family, was in complete despair, confusion, heartache beyond compare, angry, and more. But, James still wrote, that we ALL, including James himself, should find joy in the midst of that despair!

“Consider it pure joy my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ”
(James 1:2, NIV)

I seriously doubt that anyone feels “happy” while they are in the midst of a tragedy. However, here in verse 2, James tells us that we should consider it (our current trial) as pure joy!

Joy, true biblical joy, like James is talking about, is not the same as happiness!

This “joy” is heavenly, a solid connection to Christ, a deep rooted, indescribable peace given by God through the Holy Spirit (Philippians, 4:6-7, NIV). Happiness on the other hand is a temporary feeling that comes and goes dependent on the circumstances.

James is not telling us that we should be happy about the trials we are enduring, but rather that we should understand the joy that comes when we understand that God will use that trial for our benefit.

Good News: Trials have a purpose!

Trials and tribulations are meant to teach us, exercise our perseverance, make us stronger individuals, and build up our faith.

Look at how James continues his statement right after telling us we should have joy during trials of many kinds;

“because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
(James 1:3-4, NIV)

See, here James is letting us know that trials have a purpose. Trials test our faith. The testing of our faith produces perseverance.

Good News: Trials produce perseverance!

Just imagine for a second that you had no perseverance…

What would that trial feel like then?

Would you have been able to deal with the trial at all?

Would you have given up by now?

I imagine that we all would have given up long ago if we didn’t have some measure of perseverance!

We need perseverance to help us grow, become strong in mind, body and soul, and become who God calls us to be. Paul, in his letter to the church in Rome, confirmed the importance of perseverance by showing how perseverance works:

“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. ”
(Romans 5:3-5, NIV)

When we suffer from any type of trial or tribulation, our suffering produces perseverance. The ability to persevere or endure our trials, builds up our character. This building of our character should also give us hope. Hope that God is always with us in the form of the Holy Spirit. God’s love withstands everything! It is never-ending! God’s love is pure, righteous, and complete.

If God loves us enough to send His only begotten son to die for us and save us from our sins, don’t you think that He also loves you enough to be there for you during any trial you face? Of course He does!!

In other words, hope builds our faith in God and His never-ending perfect love.

Here is where the good news of being blessed with perseverance comes full circle:

Suffering (Testing of Faith) produces Perseverance.

Perseverance produces Character.

Character produces Hope.

Hope produces Faith.

Testing of Faith (Suffering) produces Perseverance.

Good News: Trials build faith!

It’s like a big circle of life. The more faith we have, the more we live life and have our faith tested, the more our faith builds it creates joy in God’s love and guidance and we can then persevere even more.

If you take an honest look at your past trials, you should be able to see how that trial made you grow. Sure, there is probably someone reading this that is thinking…. “But what if that trial made me bitter towards God instead of growing my faith?”.

If the trial makes you bitter towards God, I’m sorry but that is up to you and how you respond to trials. I sincerely hope and pray that this post will encourage you to respond to trials better by knowing why that trial dumped it’s ugly butt on your couch in the first place. In seeing the benefits, the “Good News” about trials, I pray that you can not only have a better response next time you are in the midst of one, but that it will also draw you closer to God’s greater plan and will for your life.

Let’s look again at what James said in verse 3 and 4:

“because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
(James 1:3-4, NIV)

We just learned from Paul that suffering produces perseverance and that perseverance ultimately builds up our faith. Faith, as it grows makes us mature and complete. But, what does it mean to be mature and complete?

Good News: Trials lead to maturity and completeness!

Have you ever met a Christian that is simply content with life? The ones that are wise despite their years, and just seem to have life and faith figured out? The ones you just know that they have a peace-filled heart, mind and soul?  They seem to have that peace even in the midst of great tragedy?

If you have never met one of those types of Christians, you may be thinking, “yeah, I’d love to have that type of life…”. I know I longed to be that type of person even before I accepted Jesus as my savior.

This type of Christian is the one who understands what it is like to feel joy, like James is talking about, in the midst of trials. They have had their faith tested time and time again, and yet are content with life as it is given to them because they trust God completely! They are the ones who have learned to let perseverance finish its work like James tells us to.

You see, when we recognize that trials are ultimately faith builders, and that the growth of our faith makes us more mature and complete in the fact that God is in control we will feel the true joy that James is talking about.

We will understand that God is still with us no matter what trial plopped down on our couch! We can rest assured that the closer we become with God (through the building our faith part of the perseverance process) the more we will understand why that trial is there, what that trial is trying to teach us and how we are to depend on God through it all.

If you are struggling to understand how you can lean into this truth about the good news of trials and tribulations for your own life let me leave you with one last piece of good news:

Final Good News: Trials are meant to prepare us for the greatness of heaven!

As faith grows by being tested with trials and tribulations, we should become more aware of God’s presence and protection in our lives . Growing our faith is necessary to be able to accept the full glory of God. Our faith should constantly grow and become deeper. In this way, we will be more prepared for, or rather accepting of, the glorious blessings of heaven that have been promised to us. Look at James 1:4 again:

“Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
(James 1:4, NIV)

See that bit there about “not lacking anything”? This is not written to mean that we will have everything we want here on earth. It is much more precious than that! Earthly treasures are of no value in heaven!

Not lacking anything can only be achieved by heavenly means. God is perfect, sovereign and just. He knows exactly what we need at all times. He provides us with our needs in the form of life, breath, food, etc. without fail. Please remember that God gives us freely all our needs and blesses us with the wants we have received.

Now our wants on the other hand, is what most people think of when they read “not lacking anything.”.

This line of thinking is not what James is trying get at here. He is trying to explain that when we build our faith it is supposed to increase our love for Christ and build our relationship with Him. James goes on later in the chapter to help us realize this fact:

“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)

The “crown of life”, in this verse, means our eternal life in heaven. By “having stood the test”, or having persevered through this life’s trials and tribulations without losing our faith in Christ we will receive the ultimate crown of victory… eternal life in heaven with no worry, no pain, no suffering of any kind – “not lacking anything”!!

When we truly accept Jesus as our Lord and savior we are promised eternal life (John 3:16). But, we are not taken up to heaven and given eternal life in that moment of belief in Jesus. Why? Because God needs us here on earth to show others what faith looks like, to spread the gospel, and to grow in our faith so that we are able to understand what a true blessing of heaven really is.

Drawing closer in our relationship with God while here on earth does make life easier to handle even in the midst of deep despair from trials and tribulations. We persevere through whatever life throws at us or whenever that trial dumps it’s ugly butt on our couch because we have grown our faith in God’s provision, His love, and His guidance. And we can also feel true joy, no matter the situation, that this life is only temporary and we have the glorious wonders of heaven to look forward to!

I sincerely pray that you are able to understand the wonderful good news about trials and tribulations in this way so that you can feel that joy James is talking about. I also pray that whatever trial has dumped it’s ugly butt on your couch leaves quickly, but please know that you can persevere. You already have time and again in your past! It’s up to you to let perseverance finish it’s work so that you can feel that wonderful heavenly joy.

If you know someone who is struggling with trials and tribulations and cannot seem to understand God’s purpose for them, please share this post, or better yet… go visit them or at least call them and let them know God loves them and that He is with them through it!

In Christ’s Love,

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.