Count it all joy

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4

Everything we experience matters, down to the smallest detail because we serve a God of order. He orchestrates circumstances in our lives that serve to either make us humbler and draw us closer to him. Or, we can become more cynical, hard hearted and choose only to do what we think is best for us.

Oswald Chambers wrote, “We are not responsible for the circumstances we are in, but we are responsible for the way we allow those circumstances to affect us; we can either allow them to get on top of us or we can allow them to transform us into what God wants us to be.”

“The things we are going through are either making us sweeter, better, and nobler men and women, or they are making us more critical and fault-finding, and more insistent on our own way. The things that happen either make us evil, or they make us more saintly, depending entirely on our relationship with God and its level of intimacy.”

I assure you that the trials and challenges we face today have manifested in order to draw us closer to our Lord. Keep in mind that not everything needs a response nor is every battle our battle. Sometimes we need to just walk away.

Dear Lord, help us to keep our eyes on you, talk less, listen more, and pray more. Help us to remember that the challenges we face manifest so that the proof of our faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:7)

GiGi❤️