James 1:2-4

James 1:2: “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”

Now this is a hard teaching! This is something that we definitely don’t want to hear, but it is so important. First, the word “temptations” in verse 2 would probably be better translated “trials”. What James is saying is that we should rejoice when our faith is tried and when we are put through hard times. These should be seen as blessings because “the trying of your faith worketh patience”.

Patience is a really big deal to God. The Lord wants us to learn to wait for His timing. God didn’t change Abram’s name to Abraham until he was in his 90s. Abram knew that he was promised a son but God made him wait a very long time for it – so long, in fact, that having a son became a biological impossibility. God was testing Abram’s faith to see if he would still believe God even after it looked like all hope was lost.

Learning to wait is a hard thing. Jesus said that He would return, but it’s been almost two thousand years and He has still not come back. Will we believe Him and patiently wait, or will we give up, as so many others have?

God will often put us in situations that are designed to stress-test our faith, to demonstrate if our faith is genuine or phony. Many people abandon their faith in God after something terrible happens to them (such as a loved one dying, for example). Their faith was weak; it would only stand as long as it was not tested. As soon as they were asked to believe in God despite the circumstances, they buckled. They would only trust God as long as He did what they wanted Him to do.

God wants us to have genuine faith and genuine patience. He wants us to wait patiently, even when we’re suffering and even when our lives are pure misery. He wants us to be content even in the midst of hard times. He wants us to learn to be patient and endure.

When we have mastered patience and contentment – when we have learned to wait on the Lord and hold onto our faith, no matter what the circumstances – then we are “perfect and entire, wanting nothing”.