"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds."  (James 1:2)

Say what??  Think of trials as pure joy??!!  Isn't that going a bit overboard?  How many of us respond to the trials of life this way?  It seems very much against our human proclivity to do so.  Who wants trials?  And when they come, who likes them?  Yet, James instructs us to change our mindsets and to think differently about the tough times.  Why?  Because, as he goes on to share, trials test our faith and develop our perseverance, and this leads to maturity and completeness.  God desires that we be mature and complete in Christlikeness, but sometimes we have to hoe some hard rows in order for that to be achieved.

"Lord, help me to see the many trials of life as necessary for the development of my faith, perseverance, maturity, and completeness.  Help me to rejoice that, because I am Your child, all circumstances, even those that are not easy or preferred or pleasant, help move me toward Jesus if I will see them through Your eyes and respond accordingly.  Help me to look a bad time in the eye and to smile in joy...maybe even through tears...knowing that You will use it to fashion me into who You want and need me to be.  Amen."