The Benefits of Trials (James 1:12)
- Candice Watters
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. —James 1:12
Yesterday a friend sent me a picture of her son with his fellow soldiers. They had volunteered for expert infantry school, an intense training that fewer than 20 percent of the soldiers who attempt it pass. It required weeks of grueling physical and mental endurance, but it was for a purpose. Those men wanted the prize they knew they would receive if they made it through to the end. Her son’s perseverance to completion offers a glimpse of the Christian life.
In James 1:12, we read about blessings, rewards, and promises—those are things we like. But James says that we are blessed when we remain steadfast under trial. The blessing is connected to suffering. He says that we will receive the crown of life after we have stood the test. The reward is linked to pressures. These are realities in tension. In the middle of trials and testing, they don’t feel like blessings.
Earlier this year we memorized a passage with similar tensions from the same chapter. James 1:2-4 says, “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.”
Trials are multipurpose tools in the hand of God. They are the circumstances that produce the steadfastness that makes enduring them possible so that we can receive the crown of life. Suffering, by faith, is the path to glory. Or to restate it, suffering with faith equals glory. From our perspective, that sounds like unattractive math. To see the utter counterintuitiveness of it, we need to look to Jesus.
He did not live comfortably. He was a wanderer with nowhere to lay His head (Luke 9:58). He was unattractive (Isaiah 53:2). He sacrificed sleep. He gave up His privacy as crowds of people pressed in on Him (Mark 3:7-10). He endured ridicule, mocking, and scorn (Isaiah 53:3, Matthew 27:29). He offered compassion rather than withdrawing to grieve after his cousin John’s brutal murder (Matthew 14:13-14). His whole life He was doing the will of the Father (John 4:34), including walking resolutely to Calvary (Luke 9:51). He stood the test, to the point of shedding His own blood. Now He is “crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death” (Hebrews 2:9). Jesus Christ is the perfect picture of a man who is blessed for remaining steadfast under trial. But He is much more than our example.
The difference between the trials Jesus endured and the ones God sends to us is that Jesus was sinless. He did not deserve to suffer. He never rebelled against God. He did not have a sin nature that was under the curse. We have, and we do. And yet, if we are in Christ, when we suffer it is not for wrath. Because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross, God is not treating us as His enemies, but as His sons (Hebrews 12:7-11). Not only that, says James, He designs our trials as the means for our blessing. No matter what you’re facing, if you are a child of God, He is working all things together for your good (Romans 8:28).
Meditating on these realities is essential in the midst of trials. Trials don’t feel like love, or blessings, or even remotely tied to gaining a reward. Quite the opposite. Thanks be to God that our feelings are not the final word. That’s what makes His promises so precious, so essential as the soundtrack of our minds. And it's why meditating on Scripture is vital for fighting the fight of faith. Instead of listening to our own thoughts and murmurings and feelings, we need to speak God’s Word to ourselves and listen to His truth.
Because of the curse of sin, everyone in this life will have troubles. It isn't a matter of if, but when and in what form. For “...man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7, NIV). The question is what will be their outcome? Where will your trials lead you?
Vaneetha Rendall Risner, who has suffered much, says, "There is trouble, and God knows there's trouble, but God rescues us in the midst of trouble, and not necessarily from it.” She discovered that hearing God say, "I am going to be with you in your trouble” is an even deeper promise than, "you won't have trouble."
The Christian doesn’t endure alone. We know this because Jesus withstood the test. He remained steadfast under trial so that we might be forgiven and reconciled to God. He received the crown of life and promised to send the Holy Spirit, the Helper, to those who believe in Him by faith. It is the Spirit’s work when we, in the midst of a trial, feel our weakness and cry out to God for help. Those pleas of mercy are evidence of God-gifted faith (Zechariah 12:10). Believer, if you know that you are hanging on by a thread, that knowing is a gift of God. Thank Him for your awareness and ask for more help. He will send it.
We can’t remain steadfast or stand the test in our own strength. Unlike the U.S. Army, which rewards its strongest soldiers, God knows that we are weak. He remembers that we are dust. We can rejoice that our weakness is reminding us to ask Him for help and that He who is our strength and song has become our salvation (Psalm 118:14).
For Reflection
What suffering—sorrow, sickness, loss, temptations to sin—are you enduring?
When you're tempted to doubt God in the midst of trials, what thoughts fill your mind?
Ask God to show you truths from His Word that you can use to fight the fight of faith.
Candice Watters is the editor of Fighter Verses and contributor to Truth78's webinars. She and her husband, Steve, lead the VBS ministry for their church in Louisville, KY. They are the co-authors of Start Your Family: Inspiration for Having Babies. They have three sons, one daughter, and one daughter-in-law.
