Why Trials Are Good For Us

Many people try to avoid trials, but God allows trials for our good.

Building a Steadfast Faith

Many people try to avoid trials, but God allows trials for our good. James knew all about trials that the early church were facing. Many had been shunned by family, rejected at the synagogue, lost their jobs and homes due to their faith in Jesus Christ. They could have denied Him, but they did not and as a result, many suffered tremendously in the first century church. God, through James, tells us we are to “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).

Cause and Effect

Did you notice the cause and effect that trials create? These tests of our faith produce steadfastness in the believer. This steadfastness in the believer then produces a perfecting work in us (sanctification)…and this makes us feel that we “lack in nothing.” We already know that God shall supply all our needs (Matt 6:33), so we shouldn’t shrink back when trials come. It is what our trials do for us more than to us. Paul was able to endure his sufferings because he looked ahead. He understood “that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:18), so a faith that is tested can be trusted, and a tested and trusted faith produces steadfastness.

Afflictions

We know that afflictions are good for us, even though they don’t feel like it; we know that they humble us and God gives grace to the humble and not the proud (James 4:6). Realizing that these afflictions are only temporary compared to eternal life may help us endure, but every affliction is working together for our good. We have God’s promise on that (Rom 8:28).

It is what our trials do for us more that to us.

Love and Discipline

The author of Hebrews knew that these Jewish Christians he was writing to were going through some very severe trials but sometimes our trails are allowed because, as the author writes, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives” (Heb 12:5b-6). Love and discipline cannot be separated, and if we are chastised by the Lord it is because “God is treating you as sons” or daughters (Heb 12:7a), and “what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons” and daughters (Heb 12:7b-8). The opposite of love is not hate, it is indifference or apathy. T.A. McMahon said, “Every trial of suffering is an opportunity to grow in the faith,” and why suffering is actually good because it grows our faith. We grow our faith by exercising it!

Produces Steadfast Faith

Romans 8:28 is one of the best known of all Bible passages that is often remembered when someone is going through a severe trial and experiencing great suffering. Paul assures the reader with great confidence, saying not “we think” or “we hope” but “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” This means all things…everything, both bad and good, work out for our best.

A Genuine Faith

Genuine faith “produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

Why are these tests allowed in our life? Remember Jesus said in the Parable of the Sower (Matt. 13) that some received the word but didn’t really have any root (Matt. 13:21). Others let the cares of the world choke it out (Matt. 13:22), but for those whose faith was genuine, it “produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown” (Matt. 13:23). Their fruitfulness proved that their faith was the real deal. The reality check was whether persecution and suffering would wash out the false converts (the tares) or whether the real believers (the wheat) would pass through the fire successfully.

Produces Enduring Faith

I used to run track in high school many years ago (please don’t ask how many!), and we had to run with ankle weights. This was very grueling, but the coach was testing those who said they could run track but might have only wanted to get out of class early. This created a great deal of suffering: shin splints, cramps, fatigue, and sore muscles, however, the coach was trying to produce endurance for those who were really serious about track and show who really had the ability. When several eventually fell off the track team, the rest of us continued running with ankle weights, but this was for a different reason: The coach wanted us to build endurance. That’s what suffering does for the Christian. Paul wrote in Romans 5:3-4 that “we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.”

No Shame

Suffering proves that our faith is genuine. It proves it to us and to others. It makes us more steadfast, and this “produces endurance which produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame.” There is no reason to be “be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:6-7).

Conclusion

Believers don’t have to be anxious about anything (Phil 4:6-7), but unbelievers need to be anxious every day. How many days have God showed mercy and not taken the life of an unbeliever? God’s desire is that none should perish and come to saving faith in Christ. He doesn’t take pleasure in seeing people cast into hell. Today, while you have a chance, put your trust in Jesus Christ. He will save you and bring you safely into the Kingdom. For whoever trusts in Him will never be put to shame, not so for those who reject Jesus Christ (Dan 12:1-3; Rev 20:12-15, 21:8).

Here is some related reading for you: How Your Trials and Troubles Are Good For You

Resource – Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^® (ESV^®), Crossway Bibles. (2007). ESV: Study Bible: English standard version. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Tagged as: faith, Tests, Trials, Troubles