Perseverance

I am feeling the same hesitation I had when I covered the life of Jesus. The book of James packs a powerful punch in five short chapters. James says it so well, and I’m certain I cannot add any wisdom to his writings. My favorite study on the book of James was written by Beth Moore. She challenged her readers to memorize all five chapters of James. It was a thrilling experience that made the book come to life. I wish I could still quote the entire book. However, the word pictures that James painted are still vivid in my imagination. So, I will focus on those paintings for you here on my blog.

 

James 1:1-18. The first sketch James created for us is Perseverance. The words I would use to describe trials would be blood, sweat, and tears. James uses the terms joy, faith, perseverance, completeness, maturity, and abundance. Imagine the victory you and I could achieve in our trials if we took James’ advice. We could change our stories from defeated to champion. Instead of focusing on how much we despise our struggles, we could ask God for the wisdom to stay focused on the end goal of our journeys. We could picture ourselves standing in the winner’s circle with Christ, who rewards us with joy, faith, maturity, and abundance when we persevere under trial.

What struggles are making you focus on the negatives of life? Will you allow God to recreate your story today? Will you ask Him to paint your portrait of Perseverance?