Navigating Through Life's Trials and Tests

This content was excerpted from the Storyteller James Bible study week one.

When you hear the word “test,” it may conjure up memories of sweaty palms and an anxious mind as you sat in biology class in high school. Maybe you recall the pit you felt sinking in your stomach when you read that question on a math test you know you didn’t prepare for. Maybe you go straight to the moment your teacher said, “Pop quiz!” and you realized you were nowhere near ready for what was coming. Test anxiety is real. Up to 60% of students experience test anxiety so severely that it hinders their performance. When James begins his letter with a test, many of us revert back to our insecurities and anxieties. But this test is different: It’s open-book, open-note, and you’re free to engage with the God of the universe to answer the questions. You also don’t have to (and shouldn’t) take the test alone. It’s best understood, applied, and completed in healthy, authentic community. It’ll take the rest of your life to complete it, but as you work through it, you’ll find more joy than you could ever imagine. Throughout life, you will experience trials and adversities that may feel like momentary setbacks, but they’re a part of the test. God allows them so that you can learn to be steadfast and unwavering in your faith. As you face trials, remember: This is only a test. Your faith will grow as you take it. 

“It’s all going to work out.” Has someone ever used that platitude to try to comfort you in the middle of a frustrating situation? It may have even come from a well-meaning Christian. They were trying to be helpful and give you some hope, but their words fell flat because they were simply not true. You still lost your job. Your dad still passed away. Your friend still hasn’t forgiven you. You still have cancer. And you have no answer as to why. If what others have told you isn’t true, then what is? James offers us a different path forward through frustration and pain. A different mindset: joy. When we experience various trials, James exhorts us to “consider it a great joy.” How could James say this? Aren’t trials miserable by nature? A reminder of the brokenness of this world? We lose perspective during trials, but James calls us to remember what we know deep down to be true: These setbacks are, in fact, a propeller of joy. Trials lead to our maturity. Think about it this way: When a 4-year-old doesn’t get to eat their meal at the exact moment they want it, they throw a fit. But a 40-year-old handles that situation differently. Their attitude isn’t dictated by their stomach, even though they experience hunger like a 4-year-old does. Why? Because they’ve learned patience. Their experience and perspective allow them realize that another meal will come. Contentment and joy are developed through patience. The 4-year-old lacks maturity. Because we are followers of Jesus, we have the opportunity to grow through our trials, which will lead to greater maturity and result in joy. 

If you’re in the middle of a difficult season, your requests probably sound different than normal. Instead of your daily rhythms of prayer and gratitude, your tone may be more desperate. You might ask God to supernaturally make it all go away. Maybe you’re asking God to let you go back to how things were before _______ happened. But what if it’s unlikely that your situation will change? And even if it does, chances are, you’ll soon find yourself in the middle of another no-win moment. This is just a part of life on earth. Job’s friend Eliphaz captured the sentiment well: “Humans are born for trouble as surely as sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7). In other words, trouble is inevitable. Since trouble is a guarantee in our broken world, what we need is not a way “out” of our circumstances, but a way “through.” We need to gain wisdom to navigate life’s uncertainties. The good news is, wisdom is easier to find than we realize. James reminds us in verse 5 that we only need to ask for wisdom, and God will give it to us. Sometimes what keeps us from gaining wisdom is not that it’s elusive but that we are unwilling to ask God for it—out of doubt or stubbornness. If you ask God for wisdom, He will give it to you” generously and ungrudgingly” (v. 5). Trouble will come, but God has everything we need to navigate through it. If we are willing to put our doubts aside, He is willing to give us the help we seek.