Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Today let’s examine the growing pains of faith.

Today’s scripture, James 1:2‭-‬4 (ERV) encourages…
My brothers and sisters, you will have many kinds of trouble. But this gives you a reason to be very happy. You know that when your faith is tested, you learn to be patient in suffering. If you let that patience work in you, the end result will be good. You will be mature and complete. You will be all that God wants you to be.

Consider…
According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, the idiom ‘no pain, no gain’ is used to say that it is necessary to suffer or work hard in order to succeed or make progress.

Today’s scripture promises believers will have many kinds of trouble. This promise echoes Jesus’ words in John 16:33 (ERV), where He said…
“I have told you these things so that you can have peace in me. In this world you will have troubles. But be brave! I have defeated the world!”

Notice Jesus said that we will, not might or could, have trouble. Also notice that He said the trouble would be in this world.

The Apostle Paul explains part of the reason for the troubles we’ll endure, in his encouragement that he wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:16‭-‬18 (ERV)…
That is why we never give up. Our physical body is becoming older and weaker, but our spirit inside us is made new every day. We have small troubles for a while now, but these troubles are helping us gain an eternal glory. That eternal glory is much greater than our troubles. So we think about what we cannot see, not what we see. What we see lasts only a short time, and what we cannot see will last forever.

I like Paul’s perspective, yes there will be troubles, but they are the small pain that’s necessary to achieve the great “eternal glory” gain. Paul further encourages us that the troubles we experience help us to view our lives through the telescope of faith, which is pointed to God our Father, who sits in Heaven with His Son, our big brother Jesus.

This is the same Jesus who just told us to be brave in the midst of our troubles, because He has defeated the world. Wow 😲! I just saw that for the first time, Jesus didn’t just overcome troubles in His life, He overcame the world where troubles exist. That’s a transformational truth! It made me recall Romans 6:6‭-‬11 (ERV), which says…
We know that our old life was put to death on the cross with Christ. This happened so that our sinful selves would have no power over us. Then we would not be slaves to sin. Anyone who has died is made free from sin’s control. If we died with Christ, we know that we will also live with him. Christ was raised from death. And we know that he cannot die again. Death has no power over him now. Yes, when Christ died, he died to defeat the power of sin one time—enough for all time. He now has a new life, and his new life is with God. In the same way, you should see yourselves as being dead to the power of sin and alive for God through Christ Jesus.

Using that scripture, the Holy Spirit showed me the biggest trouble we have is our struggle with sin. He also helped me to see that troubles thrive in this world of sin. However, when Christ died, He defeated the power of sin, by being the undefeated champion who never gave into sin, showing us how we too can win.

Hebrews 4:15‭-‬16 (ERV) explains…
Jesus, our high priest, is able to understand our weaknesses. When Jesus lived on earth, he was tempted in every way. He was tempted in the same ways we are tempted, but he never sinned. With Jesus as our high priest, we can feel free to come before God’s throne where there is grace. There we receive mercy and kindness to help us when we need it.

That’s it, our faith leads us to God’s throne of grace, where we access His mercy and kindness to help us when we need it. Troubles help develop 🙏🏾 and strengthen 💪🏾 our faith to run faster to God.

Speaking of running, I am reminded of the grueling endurance training that marathon runners go through in order to go the full distance and win the race. They don’t start out running 26 miles, rather they begin their training with shorter distances and build their stamina gradually over time. As they get comfortable with a distance, they push themselves to go further, which is often more painful. Yet, rather than give up they push through, until that distance too is more tolerable. These dedicated runners continue this regimen until they are able to run the entire race. What’s even more impressive is their resolve to continually get better at running so they can beat their best time.

The Holy Spirit is telling us that just as Marathon runners push through the muscle strains and breathing pains, believers need to PUSH (Pray Until Something Happens) through our faith strains and heartache pains experienced in struggles. Then He encouraged, let faith keep getting stronger, by patiently enduring troubles, so that you can run to God’s throne of grace faster and more often, until it becomes effortless.

Lastly the Lord pointed out that in this life here on earth we can’t sit with God in heaven, which is why we have to keep running to Him. But, when we cross the finish line, we’ll spend eternity in the Winner’s, Jesus’, circle with Him! 🎖

I leave you with this poem by Langston Hughes….

‘Mother To Son’

Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.
But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.
So, boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set down on the steps.
‘Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
Don’t you fall now—
For I’se still goin’, honey,
I’se still climbin’,
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

Although troubles feel so wrong, they are actually just God’s weights that He adds to the barbell of life to make our faith in Him strong! 💪🏾

So when troubles come, don’t get down, lift faith up, then you won’t give in, and like Jesus you too will win!

As you go through life’s challenges, remember troubles are the small growing pains of faith!

Today’s Song…
Faith

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)