BUILDING BLOCKS OF MATURITY

 

Wednesday, June 21, 2023

 

BUILDING BLOCKS OF MATURITY

 

James 1:2-4

2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect [whole or mature] and entire, wanting nothing.

 

          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 that you have become men of mature character with the right sort of independence. (James 1:2-4 – Phillips Translation)

 

          J.B. Phillips, in his paraphrase, calls the handling of problems a PROCESS. Merriam-Webster describes the word “process” as “something going on!” It is also described as: “a series of actions or operations directed toward a particular result.”

 

          Sometimes when trials and problems hit us like a fully loaded freight train we ponder and wonder what is going on? Who is in charge of these problems that smash into us car after car? Then the questions come. Have I done something wrong? Have I upset the delicate balance of the universe? Is God angry with me?

 

          For the maturing believer the answer may mean that God is taking a raw recruit and transforming him into a solid well-trained soldier. Nothing builds experience quite like making mistakes and then making the necessary corrections to see that those mistakes are not repeated later. We call that experience, and you can’t get it from a book.

 

          Phillips suggests that we welcome trials as friends. He suggests that the testing of our faith produces endurance and that the result is that we become people of mature character with the right sort of independence.

 

          Dear Lord, I do not ask for trials, but I would like the wisdom and maturity to handle them with character. AMEN