We started up our Bible Study again tonight. We usually take the summer off but start up in the Fall and go through to the Spring. It's wonderful to be back and fellowship on the Word of God with our Youth group.
Our Bible Study tonight was on the first chapter of James. This epistle is so rich in life lessons that we could spend a semester in graduate school breaking it down and still not cover it all. The first chapter alone is mountain full of insights and advice that lasts a lifetime. What I love about the Bible is that I can read a chapter today and it points me in a different direction, and read it next month and another part of it jumps out to me. Last night, the opening part of the chapter really spoke to me.
It opens up with James telling us to consider our trials as pure joy. Trials are an inevitable part of life. They come in all shapes and sizes. They affect our careers, families and relationships. Jesus told us that in this world we will have trouble. Once we come to grips with that realization, we begin appreciating their value in our lives. It is against human nature to consider trials, or painful experiences as pure joy. But the joy James is talking about isn't in the presence of pain, but in the knowledge that God is using our pain to refine us and make us better, not bitter. Never let a trial go to waste. Always look for what God is trying to accomplish through our painful experiences.
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