I’ve been thinking about a verse that my Bible study friends at work were discussing: James 1:3-4 “For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” (The NIV version uses the word “perseverance” instead of endurance.)

I can identify with it, because I’ve had that feeling of faith being tested lately. The verse is comforting to me, starting with the fifth word – when. “When your faith is tested…” Not if, but when.

So lately, I have been infected with the “why me” syndrome. Mind you, this is not over anything major. I have friends around me right now that are going through big, huge, very legitimate trials. Compared to the death of a father, or a year of unemployment, or many other things, my trials seem very petty. But even so, all the little things are adding up for me lately, and God used these verses to open my eyes to how I have been reacting.

How do you respond to trials? I get mad, then I figure out a way to fix it. I formulate a plan that I decide to execute (no input from God necessary, thank you very much). When that doesn’t work, I stomp my feet and entertain fantasies of throwing a tantrum. I let my attitude (soured with disappointment) shorten my fuse, affecting relationships with people around me.

Or worse, sometimes I pretend like everything is fine, like I am somehow exempt from trials. Or I use the the right phrase in Christianese (“God is in control!!!”) even when I am not really believing that God in in control. No. God has asked me to face trials knowing he is sovereign, that his plan is perfect, and that I will grow a little closer to spiritual maturity because of it.