Are You Ready for the Test?
“My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.”
James 1:2-3
Long after I had finished my formal schooling, I would have a familiar dream (or nightmare rather!). I would find myself sitting in the middle of a large classroom only to learn that the teacher was administering a test I didn’t know about. Sometimes it was a biology exam. Sometimes it was a calculus test. Whatever the subject, to my horror, I found myself unprepared. I am no dream expert, but I know enough to know that dreams sometimes mirror issues that transpire in our awake life.
In many ways, life is one extended exam for which most of us feel woefully unprepared. Each day we face an endless list of questions that test us: Will we take the time to listen to someone who needs to be heard? Will we acknowledge someone’s gifts? Will we take care of our body by exercising? Will we respond to conflict with meekness and humility? Will we live today as if it’s our last?
Tests like these are part of life, but when Christians undergo such tests, something positive happens. That’s because God uses tests and trials to bring about transformation. In James 1:1-2, we read, “Whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” In short, James tells us that trials develop endurance, which enables us to better withstand future trials. This is great, but the trials in our lives serve even a greater purpose: they help us grow spiritually. In verse 3, James writes, “And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.”
Today, each one of us will be tested in ways that we cannot anticipate. Some of these will be hard and some will be easy, but whatever test or trial that you face today, know that God is using this in your life help you grow “so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.”
