Faith or Fear

Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy.  For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.  So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything. - James 1:2-5 NLT

In the Chinese picture-letter alphabet, the symbol for crisis is a combination of two characters - one meaning "danger" and the other "opportunity".  You can look at it either way.

The same can be said of trials in the Christian life.  A crisis that appears to one Christian as a calamity may be viewed by another as an opportunity.  You can see your problems as purposeful and joyful if you see them from God's perspective.  Tested faith produces perseverance (James 1:3), maturity (James 1:4), and God's rich reward (James 1:12).

If God intends your problems as opportunities for you to grow rather than dangers for you to fear, how can you cooperate with Him to make the most of these faith-stretching trials?  Remember, more can be learned from life's trials than from its triumphs.