The Trial vs. Our Negative Emotions (TMF:1881)

Monday, June 27, 2022
Peace to Live By: The Trial vs. Our Negative Emotions (TMF:1881) - Daniel Litton
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       The actual ‘trial’ may not have been as bad as trying to work through our negative emotions about the trial. We were a mess. We don’t let the trial produce the steadfastness. Nah, we flunked out. We were too angry. It really didn’t do us any good, did it? So, the next sentence from James has its fulfillment: “And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (v. 3, 4, ESV). Yes, this is for the positive, faith-filled person. The problem is, if we were on the negative end of the spectrum, the trial didn’t have its full effect for us. It was a partial effect, or no beneficial effect at all. We resisted the trial. We didn’t surrender to it. By resisting, we hindered God’s work in us. Now we are not made perfect by it, or complete for that matter, but we are still imperfect and lacking. We, like Jesus disciples a lot of the time, either still yet have no faith, or we are desperately lacking in it. We didn’t grow out of it.