Devotional

Let’s be honest—no one enjoys trials. Pain, loss, disappointment, frustration—none of these things feel joyful in the moment. But James opens his letter with a radically countercultural message: “Count it all joy… when you face trials.”

That’s not a denial of the difficulty. It’s an invitation to see those moments through a different lens. Because trials, when seen through the eyes of faith, are not roadblocks—they are refining tools in the hands of a loving God.

We often think that suffering means something has gone wrong. But Scripture reminds us that suffering is part of the refining process. Trials do not come to destroy you—they come to develop you. To strengthen your roots. To deepen your dependence. To shape your character and prepare you for what’s next.

There have been seasons in my life when the trials felt relentless. Everything in me wanted to get out of the storm. I prayed for rescue. I looked for escape routes. But in hindsight, I can now see what God was doing. He was forging something deeper in me—steadfastness. The kind of faith that doesn’t crumble under pressure.

That’s what James is talking about. When we face trials, our faith gets tested—and that testing is not a punishment, but a process. It produces endurance—a spiritual grit that refuses to give up when life gets hard.

But there’s more: “Let steadfastness have its full effect…” That’s a choice. We can choose to fight the trial, or we can choose to let God work through it. We can either resist what God is shaping—or surrender to it, knowing that the end result is something beautiful: a mature, complete believer, lacking nothing.

Endurance doesn’t happen by accident. It’s built moment by moment—when you keep showing up, keep trusting, keep clinging to truth even when you don’t feel it. It’s built when you pray through the pain instead of walking away.

And joy? That’s not about putting on a fake smile. It’s about resting in the deep assurance that God is with you in the fire, and He is doing something in you that comfort never could.

So today, if you’re walking through a trial—whether it’s physical, emotional, spiritual, or relational—don’t waste it. Don’t run from it. Lean into what God might be teaching you through it. Choose joy—not because of the pain, but because of what the pain is producing.

You may not feel strong right now, but endurance is being formed in you. And the God who began the good work will be faithful to complete it (Philippians 1:6).