"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." (James 1:2-4)
It would be great if life was all fun and games, but it's not. Sometimes, you are going to face circumstances and people who want to throw you down and punch a hole in your face. In my circumstance, my car is in the shop and is in need of pretty expensive repairs. Your trial may be more severe, like being blindsided by a divorce papers, homelessness, dealing with a family member who is an alcoholic, or unemployment. It may be even be really extreme, like being date raped by someone whom you trusted, or dealing with your friend getting murdered by a gang. However, no matter how brutal the trial, it is important not to lose heart, for that trial which you are going through will build your character, if you let it. Obviously, it's going to be painful, grueling, and tortuous, but if you put your faith in Christ and persevere, you will come out smarter, stronger, tougher, more compassionate, and better able to truly inspire and heal others.
Every time I think of this, the first fight between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen comes to mind. After being the most dominant mixed martial artist in the world for years, Silva is suddenly faced with an unstoppable force who spends four-and-a-half rounds breaking him in half. He could have easily given up and gone home bitter and dejected, but he didn't. He hung in there and finally saw an opening where he could sink in a triangle choke and made Sonnen tap. Just like that fight forced Silva to dig deep and draw upon all of the courage and heart he had so that he could win, so do our trials force us to draw upon all of the courage and heart that God has given us so that we can emerge victorious. So it's your choice. Are you going to let your life's trials destroy you by giving up and becoming bitter and resentful? Or are you going to let perseverance finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete?
