I could do devotionals on this scripture a ton. It’s just that good of a scripture and it’s so embedded in my life. It really means so much to me in so many ways.
James 1:2-4 NIV Trials and Temptations 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Let’s face it, these last two years have brought some challenges, some scares, some unwanted choices that we had to face or fail. New vocabulary and new normal have become the standard. Issues that just straight fly in the face of business as usual. We’ve had to view ugly up close and personal. Be lonely, be worried, be scared, and be hesitant, doubtful, reluctant, and skeptical. I don’t think anyone was viewing it as positive. The really terrible thing is how many people got horribly sick and how many died.
There is not one adjective that describes the unimaginable things most of us have walked through these two years. I know for me, getting this virus concerned me because I have asthma which is not really a big case of it, that along with a restricted airway is enough for me to fear all things Covid, I had a few nightmares early on about just not being able to breathe, of course I quickly figured out that was the enemy trying to bait me. When it first happened and we were still working several months in there was much question about being essential and what do we do to drum up business, because the phones were not ringing, the emails stopped cold and we were not allowed to go out and see anyone – there was no business and we were left scratching our heads about what to do. We stepped up and sold hand sanitizers and masks. Most of our business for about 4 months in was just PPE anything we could find. That was a challenge too because if you found stock a Noon, it could be gone by 12:15. We spent so much time chasing inventory.
Now that the no calls and no orders are past we are getting orders, the inventory is a mess because of inbound stock on most things. Especially apparel, I order a massive amount of apparel for our large client and I can tell you it’s tough there too because so much of the ordered inventory is out off the west coast waiting to be unloaded. This just really makes trying to do business so hard. Then if you can find inventory all the production time to stitch clothes, to print on a pieces of drinkware, pens, just anything takes almost double the normal time and don’t get me started on someone who needs a rush… Yikes.
Through it all I keep going back to – whenever you face trails, testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so you may be mature and complete.
I get it, you are like me sometimes you want to know just how much are we supposed to take… and still bounce back.
Years ago I had a boss who was talking to me about the field guys, one project manager in particular. He said about this man, “You can wad him up and throw him against the wall and he will bounce back in perfect shape every time”. To which I answered him, because I know this project manager – I know he deals with the office people who constantly need something from him and are bugging him to finish the project on time and in budget, the workers who moaned about other trades being slow and money, then he also dealt with the client who always had something they needed so this man got it from all sides and yes he could handle it. My reply to the boss was this – you’re right he can and does bounce back but every person has a point where they stop and can’t bounce. To do the best we can to support this project manager we need to have his back and help him in any way we can. This way he feels like he has backing to tackle the job and do his best. Everyone has a point where they have to stop being so elastic. Everyone needs reinforcement.
During trials we have a tendency to want to stop, to reverse and backtrack but how is that moving you forward? Do you think God wants us to back pedal? I don’t think so. This scripture says, 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Perseverance: Dedication, determination, Steadfast, endurance, grit, spunk, stamina, moxie. None of those are reverse words, they are push forward words.
Sometimes you have to power through the trial to get to the other side and see just what you were supposed to learn or get from the trial. Covid itself and all its aftershocks has been a serious challenge but let’s just ask this question…
Is there anything that God can’t handle? If God has your back is there anything you can’t handle?
Let’s Pray
Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for your love, your grace and mercy. Thank You for giving us tests and trials so that we can be strong and perfect, not lacking anything. Please stay with us and most importantly when these trials come please make yourself very evident to us so we know that we know You are always with us. You will hold us and guide us through. We will come out on the other side in one piece and all the better for it. In Jesus Name - Amen