James 1, 1 Peter 1:6-7

Matt Summerfield

One of my favourite books in the Bible is the book of James in the New Testament. I love James because he doesn't beat about the push but jumps straight in, challenging us with what it means to really live a God-honouring life. The Message puts the first few verses of James like this.

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides.

You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colours.

So don't try to get out of anything prematurely.

It has to make you wonder whether James has lost the plot. How can you be joyful in affliction? How can you be thankful in trials? How can you keep the faith in times of trouble? But James' message is another example of how everything is upside down in the Kingdom of God - or perhaps to put it more accurately, everything is the right way up in God's Kingdom.

• The last are first


• The weak are strong


• The poor are rich


• The humble are lifted up


• And those facing troubles are joyful

How does this work? Why is it like that? God wants us to live sin-free, hope-filled, faith-packed, miracle-walking, joy-embracing, devil-destroying, liberated lives in the power of His Spirit. To make us more like Jesus. So how does this work out in the area of our trials and troubles?

You see, with God, problems are not the breaking of us - they become the making of us. That's worth repeating. Your problems aren't there to break you - they're opportunities to make you.

When a space shuttle is built the tiles that are used on the nose cone of the space shuttle are subjected to all kinds of severe testings. The purpose of the tests is not to destroy the tiles but to prove their worth - to prove that they are up to task. To prove that when greater future testing happens - when the space shuttle re-enters the earth's atmosphere it will be able to stand up under the extreme heat and pressure of re-entry. That's the message that James is trying to get across here. Peter, another of Jesus' disciples, puts it this way.

"...though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed." 1 Peter 1:6-7

Both James and Peter are saying that facing trials is a key part of your growth - the testing is not a negative thing - God allows you to face trials because they prove your faith. Another word for faith here could be 'conviction' - it's about testing your conviction - what you really believe. The stronger your convictions about God, the stronger your ability to endure - to press on - to persevere in all kinds of troubles. What kind of convictions am I talking about???

• The conviction that God exists, He is holding you, He is for you.


• The conviction that He will not allow you to suffer or be tempted beyond what you can bear


• The conviction that, with God, your past and present do not dictate your future


• The conviction that even though you may be walking in the valley of the shadow of death, God is with you


• The conviction that with God, a better day is coming, the storm will soon be calmed- that God's will will be done and His Kingdom will come in your life as it is in Heaven


• The conviction that whatever happens in this life - there is a better life to come - where there will be no more sickness, sin, sadness, tears and death.


• The conviction that God deserves your trust because in all things He works for the good of those who love Him

It was Smith Wigglesworth who once said "Great faith is a product of great fights. Great testimonies are the outcome of great tests. Great triumphs can only come after great trials"

Herein lies thee nubs of the challenge - here's the great invitation that God extends to us..