Count It All Joy
Reading: James 1:2-4
Devotional: "Count it all joy when you fall into various trials." This seems impossible when the furnace breaks, the diagnosis comes, or the relationship crumbles. Yet James reveals the purpose: testing produces patience, and patience produces completeness. Trials aren't punishment; they're preparation. God isn't setting you up to fail but positioning you for future victory. The storm you're weathering today may be preparing you for the expansion tomorrow. Like a drain field that must be upgraded before growth can happen, God sometimes allows present difficulty to prepare for future blessing. Your response matters. Will you panic or will you praise? Will you complain or will you trust? Greatly rejoice—not because the trial is pleasant, but because God is faithful.
Reflection Question: How might your current trial be preparing you for future blessing?
Devotional: "Count it all joy when you fall into various trials." This seems impossible when the furnace breaks, the diagnosis comes, or the relationship crumbles. Yet James reveals the purpose: testing produces patience, and patience produces completeness. Trials aren't punishment; they're preparation. God isn't setting you up to fail but positioning you for future victory. The storm you're weathering today may be preparing you for the expansion tomorrow. Like a drain field that must be upgraded before growth can happen, God sometimes allows present difficulty to prepare for future blessing. Your response matters. Will you panic or will you praise? Will you complain or will you trust? Greatly rejoice—not because the trial is pleasant, but because God is faithful.
Reflection Question: How might your current trial be preparing you for future blessing?