Tuesday,
June 9, 2026
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 and entire, wanting nothing.
The word “patience” is
translated from the Greek hupomone
which means “cheerful endurance.”
The word assumes that there is something to endure; a hardship to deal with.
Most of us have hardships and circumstances that we can’t overcome. Endurance
is not a choice, but “cheerful” endurance is and most of us spend our
time being anything but cheerful while waiting.
2 Cor 12:7-9
7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the
abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh,
the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might
depart from me.
9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for
my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather
glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Paul had an “unsolvable”
problem. He prayed three times for
relief and removal of this physical problem, and each time God said no. He was
forced to release the circumstance to God who provided grace instead of
healing. Grace or “charis” is defined as: “divine influence on the heart
with its reflection in the life.” Oh, how we need God to influence our
heart so that we might reflect this influence in the way we live our lives. All
too often we let others know that we are resisting God’s influence on our heart
because there is no change in our lives. In his paraphrase of our text, J. B.
Phillips sheds some light on the process of endurance.
"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)
Once we release our grasp, our anger, and our control of the situation, God is then
free to go to work. The process of endurance has a product, and that product is
the maturing of our character with “the right sort of independence.”
Dear Lord, today there are many broken things that I can’t
fix. There are circumstances beyond the reach of my control. Help me to
cheerfully endure so that the process of endurance might produce the product of
character. AMEN
