Completed Trials Complete
James 1:3–4 ESV
for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Knowing in Greek reads more literally as “because you know.” It’s experiential knowledge. It means to know by experience or observation. It was used for the intimate relationship between husband and wife and God and his people.
Romans 5:3–5 ESV
Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
God is using the trials for His
.
He is not sitting in heaven saying, “I didn’t want that to happen, but now that it has happened, let’s see how we can make the best of a bad situation!” Scripture is clear that God is sovereign over everything, from the rain and snow that fall
Job 37:6–13 ESV
For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth,’ likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour. He seals up the hand of every man, that all men whom he made may know it. Then the beasts go into their lairs, and remain in their dens. From its chamber comes the whirlwind, and cold from the scattering winds. By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast. He loads the thick cloud with moisture; the clouds scatter his lightning. They turn around and around by his guidance, to accomplish all that he commands them on the face of the habitable world. Whether for correction or for his land or for love, he causes it to happen.
to seemingly random events
Proverbs 16:33 ESV
The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.
to the events of nations
Psalm 22:28 (ESV) For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.
Acts 14:16 ESV
In past generations he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways.
Acts 17:26 ESV
And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,
On the personal level, He ordained all of the days of our lives before we were ever born
Psalm 139:16 ESV
Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
He fashions our hearts
Psalm 33:14–15 ESV
from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds.
and orders our steps
Psalm 37:23 ESV
The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way;
Proverbs 16:9 ESV
The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.
Proverbs 20:24 ESV
A man’s steps are from the LORD; how then can man understand his way?
Some try to get God off the hook regarding trials, saying, “This was not in His plan.” They argue that God does not control (or even know in advance!) our choices. But the Bible affirms that God is sovereign over birth defects
Exodus 4:11 ESV
Then the LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?
natural disasters
Genesis 6:17 ESV
For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die.
Jonah 1:4 ESV
But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.
and even over the evil things that people do, although He is not responsible for their sin
Genesis 50:20 ESV
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
Exodus 4:21 ESV
And the LORD said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.
1 Kings 22:23 ESV
Now therefore behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; the LORD has declared disaster for you.”
Isaiah 10:5 ESV
Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger; the staff in their hands is my fury!
Acts 4:27–28 ESV
for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
There are three responses: passivity, paralysation, or praise.
It robs people of comfort and creates a very scary world where evil is out of control to deny God’s sovereignty over trials because it denies that He is purposefully working those trials for our ultimate good. The hymn writer had it right:
Every joy or trial falleth from above
Traced upon our dial by the Sun of Love
We may trust Him fully all for us to do.
They who trust Him wholly find Him wholly true.
Refrain
Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest
Finding, as He promised, perfect peace and rest.
God is using the trials to
our faith.
Testing is the process of determining the genuineness of something. It is how we prove our faith.
As Matthew Henry says, “The faith of good people is tried, that they themselves may have the comfort of it, God the glory of it, and others the benefit of it.
Testing is not punishment but purification, not destruction but deepening.
God doesn’t test us to see what we know but to show us what we know.
When God puts you in the furnace He keeps His eye on the clock and His hand on the thermostat.
Job 23:10 ESV
But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.
God is using trials to
endurance in our faith.
Thomas Manton explained, “Trial is not only to approve but to improve.”
Produces = labor, work, or engage in an activity involving considerable expenditure of effort. Ergazomai means to work out fully and thoroughly, to accomplish or achieve an end (implying thoroughness), and to finish or carry something to its conclusion. To work so as to bring something to fulfillment or successful completion and implies doing something with thoroughness.
William Barclay says that katergazomai “always has the idea of bringing to completion. It is as if Paul says: “Don’t stop halfway; go on until the work of salvation is fully wrought out in you.”
Philippians 2:12–13 ESV
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
“Work out” describes the working of a silver mine to extract all of the precious ore. We are commanded to “mine out” of our lives all the riches of salvation God has so richly deposited into our lives.
In trials, we work out what God has worked in.
For faith to work, faith must be worked.
James 1:4 ESV
And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Let… is a command calling us to continually submit to endurance (ultimately, our submission is to God), as one submits to an athletic trainer whose goal is to strengthen their student. This letting is not to be out of legalism but out of love, love for God, and a confident understanding of His love for us, knowing that He is not trying to destroy us but to mold us.
Steadfastness/Endurance is literally abiding under. The root idea of is that of remaining under some discipline, subjecting one’s self to something which demands the acquiescence of the will to something against which one naturally would rebel.
It portrays a picture of steadfastly and unflinchingly bearing up under a heavy load and describes that quality of character that does not allow one to surrender to circumstances or succumb under trial. It presents the picture of being under a heavy load and resolutely staying there instead of trying to escape.
Steadfastness has in it a forward look, the ability to focus on what is beyond the current pressures.
Hebrews 12:2 ESV
looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
And thus as Hiebert says “triumphant faith finds power to persevere by looking steadfastly on Jesus, the Leader and Completer of faith, who, in view of the joy lying before Him, endured [the] cross”
Steadfastness/Endurance can be found by looking to who endured.
Morris says hupomone “is the attitude of the soldier who in the thick of battle is not dismayed but fights on stoutly whatever the difficulties.
And so hupomone does not describe a grim resignation or a passive “grin and bear” attitude but a triumphant facing of difficult circumstances knowing that even out of evil God guarantees good. It is courageous gallantry which accepts suffering and hardship and turns them into grace and glory.
Perseverance is that spiritual staying power that will die before it gives in. It is the virtue which can endure, not simply with resignation, but with a vibrant hope.
Barclay - Hupomone is not simply the ability to bear things; it is the ability to turn them to greatness and to glory. The thing which amazed the heathen in the centuries of persecution was that the martyrs did not die grimly, they died singing. One smiled in the flames; they asked him what he found to smile at there. “I saw the glory of God,” he said, “and was glad.” Hupomone is the quality which makes a man able, not simply to suffer things, but to vanquish them. The effect of testing rightly borne is strength to bear still more and to conquer in still harder battles.
Hupomone is the ability to deal triumphantly with anything that life can do to us. It accepts the blows of life but in accepting them transforms them into stepping stones to new achievement.
We should pray for perseverance as Paul did for the saints at Thessalonica…
2 Thessalonians 3:5 ESV
May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.
Perseverance does not develop automatically; we must work at it (in the sense of accepting and submitting to the trials God allows to strengthen our faith). In this practical section of Scripture, James provides the template we need to follow.
“Perseverance is more than endurance. It is endurance combined with absolute assurance and certainly that what we seek will happen. Perseverance means more than just hanging on, which may be only exposing our fear of letting go and falling. Perseverance is our supreme effort of refusing to believe that our hero is going to be conquered… . there is a call to spiritual perseverance. A call not to hang on and do nothing, but to work deliberately, knowing with certainty that God will never be defeated.” [Oswald Chambers, “My Utmost for His Highest,” Feb. 22]
James 1:4 ESV
And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Full Effect (teleios) means complete, mature, fully developed, full grown, brought to its end, finished, wanting nothing necessary to completeness, in good working order.
Teleios signifies consummate soundness and includes the idea of being whole.
Teleios meaning:
Teleios speaks of totality, as opposed to partial or limited and when used of things means in full measure, undivided, complete or entire. Teleios describes a victim which is fit for a sacrifice to God as without blemish.
Teleios also speaks of that which is fully development as opposed to that which is immature. Pythagoras divided his students into the learners, and the mature. (teleios). Philo divided his students into three classes—those just beginning (archomenoi), those making progress (prokoptontes), and those beginning to reach maturity (teleios). Teleios does not imply complete knowledge but a certain spiritual maturity in the faith.
Complete James is saying this man is the one who fulfills his lot, the one who fully attains to his high calling. The idea is that this man retains all that was initially allotted to him and is wanting nothing for its wholeness. He is without lack or deficiency, complete and whole in all his parts.
Another term like helicopter parenting is “lawnmower parenting.”
“Lawnmower parenting” refers to a style of parenting where the parent does anything and everything to take care of any challenge or obstacle that stands in their child’s way. This limits the child’s ability to learn important resiliency skills and handle their own problems as they grow.
Children of helicopter parents may have challenges becoming independent and gaining confidence and may be more likely to experience anxiety or depression.
The over-involvement from the parents can often prevent the child from learning important lessons. The child could potentially miss out on crucial life skills because they are sheltered from the mistakes they need to grow.
The Comfort Crisis - Author Michael Easter argues that facing discomfort is the key to personal growth.
We need to embrace discomfort as a powerful catalyst for change and self-discovery.
When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives my brothers, don’t resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends! Realize that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance. But let the process go on until that endurance is fully developed, and you will find you have become men of mature character with the right sort of independence.
Completed Trials Complete
Psalm 119:67
“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”
Job 13:15 ESV
Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face.