Life is filled with trials: cancer, financial disaster, depression, the rejection of someone we love, and lingering health issues. If God loves us so much, why doesn’t he care enough to shelter us from life’s problems? In the first portion of the book of James, we find the answer. It is because God loves us that he allows trials into our life to mature us in Christ. According to the Bible, the spiritual maturity, which the trials of the Christian life produce, is of greater worth than anything this world can offer.
In this series, we learn how to navigate our trials and receive the maturity God intends for us. With each trial, there is a difficult path of obedience, which will bring about the maturity God is seeking to produce. Next to the path of obedience, an alternate path will present itself in a seductive way. This is the path of temptation to sin in our trial. This path derails the maturity God wants to give. In this series, we learn how to steer clear of the sinful temptations that come with trials. We learn how to face one of the most audacious trials, financial loss. We learn what to do when we find ourselves in the slough of despondency because we can not imagine God’s good purpose in our present difficulties.
Are you in the middle of a trial? James has honest answers to your questions about how to make it through.
