Thanks / James 1:1-25

“Our generous God…” Generous with His wisdom and His blessings. “Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father.” All of creation, salvation through Christ – all ours from our generous Father.

Our generous loving God, who allows trouble and trials and allows us to suffer and struggle.

Why, Lord?

James offers this: “When troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.” Excuse me? Is James like the “friend” who reminds you in your crisis that, “Someday you’ll laugh at this…”?

No. Not if we think about what “joy” really is. Joy is not the same as “happiness.” Joy rises above circumstances, lifting our gaze from the pit of life to look into the face of the One who cares for us. The One who invites us to give our troubles to Him.

Joy helps us to see that in all our troubles God is working in us, transforming us into the people He wants us to be. The choice is ours. We can grumble and rebel, refusing the growth, or we can accept and pray and receive the “blessing,” trusting God to make something good out of it all.

We can pray, echoing James, to our Generous Father, who with the trials will also supply everything we need, not just to endure, but to grow.

We can thank Him that it is in our struggles that Christ is born anew in us.

Lord, provide all I need for the troubles of today. Lift my eyes to You today...