“God will never give us more than we can bear.” Have you heard that? One friend said, “I know God won’t give me more than I can bear. I just wish he didn’t think so much of me.” Why does God let us go through trials, tribulation and trouble? How should we respond?
James, the brother of Jesus wrote to encourage Christian brothers and sisters who were facing trials. “Consider it pure joy . . .” he wrote. How exactly can we experience deep joy in times of deep trouble? Knowledge is power. We know that the testing of our faith produces perseverance, maturity and completeness. God is not out to make us comfortable. But he is out to make something out of us. So often God works through the hardest things in our lives to grow us in relationship with him. As one pastor put it, “When God gives us tribulation, he expects us to tribulate!”
Later in the chapter, James pronounces a benediction on those who persevere. Why are we blessed when we persevere? On the other side of the tests in our lives, we receive the crown of life that God has promised to us who love him. God often gives us more than we can bear, but never more than he can bring us through. On the other side of our pain there is the promise of eternal life with God.
