ENDURANCE, TESTING OF YOUR FAITH

James 1:3 says that the testing of our faith produces endurance. Dokimion is the Greek word translated testing; it means “approved after testing.” Although we tend to think of testing as a way to prove what we don’t know or don’t have, testing ought to be seen as a positive opportunity to prove what we have learned. Testing is an important term because it is positive rather than negative. This is the exact term used in 1Peter 1:6-7 for “proved genuine” and means that the trial is God’s attempt to prove our faith genuine. It is a test that has a positive purpose. The person being tested should become stronger and purer through the testing. In this case, the trials do not determine whether or not believers have faith; rather, the trials strengthen believers by adding perseverance to the faith that is already present. Endurance is faith stretched out; it involves trusting God for a long duration. James is not questioning the faith of his readers—he assumes that they trust in Christ. He is not convincing people to believe; he is encouraging believers to remain faithful to the end. James knew that their faith is real, but it lacks maturity. We cannot really know our own depth until we see how we react under pressure. Diamonds are coal, subjected to intense pressure over a period of time. Without pressure, coal remains coal.

The testing of your faith is the combined pressure that life brings to bear on you. Perseverance is the intended outcome of this testing. Other words that could be used for this outcome include “endurance,” “steadfastness,” “fortitude,” and “staying power.” The word endurance has a particular connection with this diamond like quality created by testing, since the Latin root of this word means “to harden.” Perseverance is not a passive submission to circumstances—it is a strong and active response to the difficult events of life. It is not passive endurance, but the quality of standing on your feet as you face the storms. It is not simply the attitude of withstanding trials, but the ability to turn them into glory, to overcome them.

REACTIONS TO TRIALS:

Escape: Our first line of defense is to avoid, deny, or escape. We don’t want to face trials; we would sooner keep our back to them. But James is not writing here about avoidable trials. These are not difficulties to look for so we can practice endurance. These are trials and temptations that come looking for us. Escape is certainly a valid strategy when it comes to those temptations and trials that we willfully walk right into by our habits or wrong choices. These are temptations that Paul urges us to “flee from” (1 Corinthians 6:18; 1 Timothy 6:3-11). The list includes envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions, and sexual immorality. Peter reminds us that the problems caused by our disobedience need to be handled differently: “But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God” (1 Peter 2:20). James gives us a plan for the worst-case scenario. It is James’s answer to one of our questions: “When we are following Christ and find ourselves facing trials of many kinds, what do we do when there seems no way to escape?”

Explain: When we face trials, we tend to ask, “Why is this happening to me?” If only we could understand God’s reasons, it would be much easier to endure whatever we are suffering. If we can explain, we can endure. But insisting on specific answers actually weakens our endurance. James does not encourage us to expect understanding. He urges us to get on with our service with joyful endurance, rather than attempt to explain every event that God allows into our life. What do we do when we face trials of many kinds and cannot explain them?

Exit: Once a trial is upon us, we want to get beyond it as quickly as possible. Any shortcut offered is tempting. But quick solutions to trials often involve compromise in areas that we should not negotiate. The temptation to revert to an old pattern, or indulge a habit, has not been joyfully endured if our resistance has only lasted a few minutes. Trials should not be allowed to outlast us; we are to outlast trials. Unfortunately, we are very much like the people who claim they are serious about training for long-distance races, but only succeed in running around the block once. A taste of hardship is no trial. Even the commanded response of joy in trials will disappoint us if we expect that joy will eliminate the need for endurance. Our joy must itself develop endurance. At this point, our best example is Jesus, “who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2 NIV). James does not hesitate to encourage us in joyful endurance when our question is “What do we do when we face trials and there is no quick exit?”

Let endurance have its full effect. The word perseverance in Greek (hupomone) suggests “steadfastness under trial.” What faithful perseverance generates is a whole person, recognized by three significant characteristics:

1. Mature: seasoned, experienced, well-developed, fit for the tasks God sent us into the world to do. Maturity in this sense is not related to age. It is a quality developed by how much we have learned from the trials we have experienced. Someone has defined experience as the ability to recognize a mistake when we make it again. Maturity is the ability to recognize a mistake before we make it again. It is a trained ability to learn from each previous experience. But maturity takes time.

2. Complete: fully trained. The weaknesses and imperfections are being removed from our character; we are gaining victory over old sins; we are demonstrating a sense of competence about life. This completeness relates to the breadth of our experience. We have passed through trials of many kinds. To be complete means that we have become mature in many areas of life. God does not want cheap substitutes, but thoroughly developed Christians.

3. Not lacking anything: the basic life skills are there, ready to be used; the obvious weaknesses or blind spots of the past have been corrected; more and more clearly we mirror Christ Himself! We will not be lacking anything when we are mature and complete in all the essential areas of life. Although this last quality is stated in the negative, it describes a security or contentment that comes from knowing that God has what we need, when we need it. Believing in God’s faithfulness, we have everything we need.

By the way in which we meet every experience in life we are either fitting or _unfitting ourselves for the task which God meant us to do. William Barclay