James 1; James 2; James 3; James 4; James 5
When Troubles Come Your Way!
Scripture
James 1
2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
James 5
13 Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. 14 Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.
Observation
These two passages were definitely for me this morning, but maybe they will help you too! Some of us have been going under some pretty intense testing and trials lately. At least from our perspective they are huge. But I was reminded again last night as I read someone’s post on Facebook about all that this person had gone through and all that still faces her in the future that it made me realize that what I have gone through is nothing in comparison.
But the point James is making is that when troubles come our way we need to consider it an opportunity for great joy. Great Joy! So if troubles have come our way maybe in the form or shape of financial problems, health problems, marriage problems, problems with your teenage children, or any other kind of problems or troubles James says that is when our faith has the chance to be tested, and our endurance has a chance to grow.
In the second passage, “James 5:13-15” James tells us how we are to pray. If we are going through hardships … we ought to pray! If we are happy we ought to sing praises! Here is the big shift in thought and I don’t want you to miss this. When any of us are sick this is what James tells us to do. We are to call the Elders of the church and have them pray over us and have them anoint us with oil in the name of the Lord. And the promise is that such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make us well.
I am so glad that the Elders in our church came to the hospital and prayed over me and anointed me with oil. I know that God honored their prayer because it was offered in faith and now I am getting well.
Application
When I grumble or complain about my seemingly slow recovery may the Lord bring James 1:2 to my mind so I can be reminded that my troubles are an opportunity for great joy! It is my choice!
I will encourage people that face serious illnesses to call for the Elders of their church and have those Elders pray over them and anoint them with oil.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, it seems strange to me but having this heart attack and seeing how it has strengthened the faith of so many does bring me great joy. I am still overwhelmed when I think about how many people prayed for Kathy and me. I pray for those that are facing surgeries and for those that are living under extreme trials and troubles. I pray that Your Word from the book of James will encourage their hearts and their souls.
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