A Study Through Philippians
A curious instruction is left for us in James 1:2-4 when we are told, “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.” Becoming a Christian doesn’t automatically exclude a believer from difficulties. Here we’re being told to meet these adversities not with an emotional reaction, but a deliberate intelligent appraisal of the situation from God’s perspective, viewing our troubles as a means of moral and spiritual growth. We don’t rejoice in the troubles themselves but in their possible results.
