Hardships Produce Perseverance

James 1:2-4- “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

I’m a teacher… And I started school this week in the middle of a global pandemic. Along with many other educators, joy is not what I’m feeling. I feel fear and anxiety to the max. But joy? That hasn’t been on my radar this week. 

Instead of living in the moment, I’ve been living in the what-ifs, and the constant state of worry about what is going to happen next. What polices are going to change overnight, what are my students going to do if there is a case in the school, what is going to happen if..

And maybe you are there with me. Maybe you are in a trial too. Your trial might be much different than mine right now, and that’s okay. 

But James says that trials produce perseverance. 

Joy? When I am going through a hardship? Anxiety, fear, sadness, hopelessness, shame, guilt, embarrassment… I could keep going with all of the other emotions that I usually feel with going through a trial. 

James says that trials are a GOOD thing! Trials help us to produce perseverance. Perseverance is grit that helps you make it through hard times. 

That grit to keep going even when the what-if’s are swarming in your mind is strength. That tenacity to keep fighting when it would be so much easier to give up and do things the easy way makes you stronger. 

Next time you find yourself crying over a trial, yet still getting up to face it the next day- you are persevering. 

The next time that you are gritting your teeth and getting through that difficult meal or emotion- you are persevering. 

I love that James points out that perseverance is WORK! Taking the ‘easy way out’ by not facing emotions, or choosing to hide from the problem isn’t producing perseverance. It’s producing more fear and anxiety. 

The more we continue to choose to face our fears and our trials the better we will get at handling them. The more trials we face and get through by persevering, the more we can handle. Those difficult meals that you feared a year ago might not seem so scary anymore. That relationship that you were so scared to leave? You might have the courage to stand up for yourself. That fear of speaking out in a room? Do that enough and speaking out will become second nature. 

Doing the things that scare us. Getting up and facing the trials. Knowing that God is with us every step, in every thought and is always just a prayer away helps us know that no matter what trial we are facing, we aren’t alone. We are never alone. 

Keep fighting the good fight. Keep making the choices that will make future you happy. It might make you uncomfortable now. It might make you feel emotions that you don’t want to face right now. It might even make you scared. But facing it? That’s strength. Face those trials and fears with the knowledge that God loves you and is fighting them with you. Face them with the faith that God is going to get you through anything this world tries to throw at you.

I hope that this devotional helped you today! To see more devotionals, check out my Devotions Tab at the top of the screen. Also, if you are interested in my Eating Disorder Recovery Story, make sure to check that out as well.

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