When others see our joy despite our circumstances, we are testifying to not only our dependence on God but how He comes through for us and brings us strength and peace that defies all odds.
“Consider it pure joy my brothers and sisters when you face trials of many kinds…” James 1:2
If you’re like me, you bristle just at hearing the word "trial," which conjures up all manner of heartache, pain, and difficulty. There is no joy to be found, but when I looked up the definition of "trial," it reframed my whole thought process for it says, “a test of the performance, qualities, or suitability of someone or something.” Before God, as believers in Christ, we have already been pronounced suitable for the Kingdom of God through the atoning blood of Jesus. However, the Lord doesn’t just want to leave us there. He wants to sanctify us by the testing of our faith and our obedience through the refining work of trials that He lovingly picked out for us to walk through in His strength. As the Lord sifts us, His word tells us 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 1:3-4
You may still wonder, "What is the purpose of my pain?" The simple answer—faith. The Lord wants us to depend on Him, and sometimes, the only way we get to the end of ourselves is when we are going through a trial. That is the test of faith that James is speaking of. When our faith muscles get exercised, we become more steadfast in our faith so that when the next “test” comes, we will lack nothing while we are going through it. That’s where the joy comes in. Remember, joy does not mean we are happy for all the pain and suffering, but it means that we have inner joy and peace knowing that our loving Father allows us to be made perfect and complete in Him. When others see our joy despite our circumstances, we are testifying to not only our dependence on God but how He comes through for us and brings us strength and peace that defies all odds.
Let’s look at three seasons when our trials can become testimonies when we remember the foundation of faith:
In Life
“For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” 2 Corinthians 4:6-10
Last year, I went through it! From September 2022 through February 2023, I felt this verse to my core! It started with RSV. I didn't know that adults could even get RSV, but there I was, and it was scary. Nothing was effective at opening up my lungs, and being an asthmatic made things even more complicated. It took me about six weeks to fully recover from that. Right when I was feeling back to normal, I got COVID. My lungs still weak from the RSV, I took another scary beating. Two days after recovering from a two-week stint with COVID, I got the flu! I was feverish and in bed for six weeks straight. Then, three months to the day after I had COVID, I got COVID again! Talk about back-to-back tests! Some days, I wondered if it was going to be my final exam! Yet strangely, I remained fairly calm through all of this. My dad, who is not a believer, said to me, “I don’t know how you’re doing this.” I answered honestly, “I don’t know how I’m doing this, either, but for the grace of God… It is only because of the Lord that I am handling this as well as I am.”
Fast forward to this year, and my brother is going through a year. Different physical ailments, but no less distressing for him. He has called me multiple times when he has been feeling anxious about his circumstances. My previous year’s trials have now become a testimony of encouragement to my brother of how God can strengthen him in the same way He helped me, fill him with peace despite his back-to-back tests, and how the Lord will bring him through it just as He brought me out of a season of testing.
The light indeed showed out of my darkness to testify of the all-surpassing power of God.
In life, our trials become a testimony to comfort those who need comforting.
In the Furnace
“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” 1 Peter 4:12-13
I was so struck recently as I was reading in Acts 16:22-30 about the imprisonment of Paul and Silas, which says, “The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, 'Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!' And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, and after he brought them out, he said, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?'”
I was thinking if that were me, I would’ve been out of there sooo fast once those chains fell off, yet Paul and Silas didn’t go anywhere! Then the Holy Spirit convicted me and the thought came to me, “Sometimes, we need to stay in uncomfortable situations because the Lord is going to use our story to bring another to salvation.” And indeed, as the story in Acts continued, the jailer and his whole household were saved.
It’s only human nature to want our discomfort to end, and there isn’t anything wrong with that, but when we look at our circumstances through an eternal lens, we can focus on how the Lord will glorify Himself through the test. We may be called to stay in a difficult situation for the benefit of another. It is then that we are truly sharing in Christ’s suffering and can rejoice in that.
In the furnace, our trial becomes an amazing testimony with a Kingdom purpose.
In Death
“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” Romans 5:3-5
I’ve always been struck by the difference between a funeral for a believer versus a non-believer. Having attended several funeral services for unbelievers, the sadness and the hopelessness in the room are profound. It just seems different as compared to a funeral for a believer where yes, of course, there can be sadness, but there is an overarching joy and energy in the room that declares hope and a knowing that they will see their loved one again and that the person is now home with the Lord.
Not only that, if the person died after a long battle with a sickness, you hear testimony after testimony about the deceased and how they still put others ahead of themselves despite their circumstances. Or how they showed kindness when they were in the throes of pain. Or how they never complained. Or how the joy of the Lord still showed on their countenance as their bodies were ravaged. And when they took their final breath, they had a heavenly peace that emanated from their faces.
You will also probably hear testimonies of a life well lived for the Lord and one that probably endured a lot of testing as most lives do.
In death, trials become beautiful testimonies that comfort family and friends, bring hope and encouragement to those who may be suffering, and spur everyone on either to a closer walk with the Lord or even to salvation.
The Westminster catechism says that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Out of everything in life that we might experience, trials bring about the most opportunities to bring glory to God and have joy in Him because He is our comfort, strength, and peace. Now there’s a testimony!
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