Let it Finish

Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:3)

So…the folks that have endured through hard trials and counted it “pure joy” (as mentioned yesterday), are the same folks that are mature, complete, not lacking anything.

Wow.

Sometimes I want to hurry through trials.  Something difficult arises and I think,

“Okay God, please solve this situation for me quickly, so I can get back to enjoying life.”

But what I read in this chapter is that part of the journey is finding the joy in the trials and persevering through them.  Anything less than pushing through won’t do it. 

I’m not sure I’ve ever met a person under the age of 60 or 70 that I would describe as complete, mature and lacking nothing.  I believe all of that maturation takes decades of living, falling, getting up and moving on, and smiling as the miles behind you become more than the miles ahead of you.

If we don’t count it joy, we choose not to persevere, we resist maturation, we shove off completion, then we will continually be dissatisfied always feeling as though we’re lacking.

You can't hurry God when he's at work completing what he's started in you and me.