"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."
I think that God wants me to learn something about suffering. I've been dealing with an extended passage in the Psalms on suffering in the bilingual service. And now my devotions lead me to this passage. How do I view the trials that I encounter? My first response is to question why I am facing them. Unfortunately this questioning comes most naturally in the form of questioning whether I should be facing them or not. That of course is just questioning God. Often this type of thinking easily moves into anger. This is the exact opposite of how we are directed to respond. We are told to "count it all joy." What a strange statement. If someone where to instruct me to do that when I was facing trials, I would be tempted to call him an idiot. Unfortunately this only reveals my immaturity and the unbiblical nature of my thinking.
I should face trials with joyfulness, knowing what is really happening. When I am being tried, my faith is being tested. What does that mean? When I face something challenging, will I respond by what I see and feel or by what I believe to be true. If I am being tested. When I go through this, it increases my stability, my steadfastness. How does that matter? When steadfastness is developed in us we are "complete, lacking nothing."
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