Testing Develops Strength

James 1:2 "The testing of your faith develops perseverance."Mountaintop experiences are good to keep us encouraged. In fact, they are the spiritual goals toward which we all aim. Be we cannot stay there all the time. It is as unrealistic to think we can stay on a spiritual high, as it is to be down and out or in a bad mood all the time.

It is in the difficulties, disappointments and oppositions where we grow, if we accept them as challenges to be overcome. It is in the valleys of life, where, when fertilized with difficulties, we stretch, are renewed and grow. The trees that are on the windward side of the mountain have the strongest roots. Kits rise against the wind, not with it.

In my hometown there is a live oak tree 325 years old. When it was a young sapling, Indians lived here. It survived the coming of the white man and a century later, the Civil War. It is still surviving today as we enter the War of Terrorism. It has developed a strong root system.

This is what makes us strong too. The winds of adversity that blow against us can either motivate us to stand firm or overcome; or we can allow them to pull us down and destroy our roots. James tells us, "Consider it pure joy, my brother, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance which must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking in anything. (James 1: 2-4)

Prayer: Father, May we develop a strong root system based on your word that we may be able to withstand life's adversities when they come. Amen

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Contributed by Ivie Bozeman
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