Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. – James 1:2 (NLT)
Does this verse strike you as being a little crazy? It’s telling us when troubles come our way to consider it an opportunity for joy. That seems crazy. Who gets joy out of troubles?
Today’s verse is telling us that when troubles come we have an opportunity to grow. We can learn from them and become more like Jesus.
The last year has been full of troubles for most of us. Coronavirus has hit us all hard. We’ve not been able to see friends and family as much. Most stores require us to wear masks. School for many people is different than usual, and all that just seems like a lot of trouble.
The thing is in the middle of troubles we can rely on God’s Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us that one of the Holy Spirit’s jobs is to comfort us. So even when we’re pressed and faced with difficulty, we can look to the Holy Spirit for comfort.
We can get through the troubles we’re going through right now and come out stronger and more reliant on God. So today, if you’ve allowed the troubles around you to cause you to doubt God’s faithfulness, know this: God will not leave you in trouble without help.
He will walk with you, lead you and guide you through this all. You will come out of this stronger than before.
