Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
James 1:17
Let’s be honest. Whether we allow the trials of life to be used as testing or we relent to temptation, trials are hard. Suffering is not something that any of us wish to sign up for even if our Lord Jesus suffered and told us we would experience hardship (John 16:33).
As Craig Blomberg shares,
Because we live in a fallen world, much of what happens to us is not a direct gift from God, but the result of our own sin, someone else’s transgression (going all the way back at times to the fall), or the devil’s treachery. But if certain circumstances do come directly from God, then one day we will understand how they were indeed for our benefit. Frustratingly, it is often impossible to determine whether suffering in a given situation comes directly from God or not. Fortunately, our response ought not change either way, so we need not have the answer to that question.
What must our response be? We must choose obedience as opposed to sinning.* Why would we obey? Because we love Him, and every good and perfect gift comes from Him.* God is trustworthy and wholly good.* He made all things good, and though the world changed by way of sin, He does not change.* He is the eternal source of good, and He eternally offers it to His children, even if that means working through trials and despite brokenness in order to give us good.
It is impossible to know exactly what is happening in our lives. The perspective of eternity is not yet ours. One day we will see clearly, but today we must clearly see this: He is good and only good comes from Him.
When life is so painful that we can hardly bear it, He Himself is the good that we need.
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to stop trying to figure everything out. Perhaps today God wants you to look for His good gifts even in difficult seasons. Maybe today God wants you allow Him to do good through you as well as for you.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.
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*Blomberg, C. L., & Kamell, M. J. (2008). James (Vol. 16, pp. 73-75, 79). Zondervan.
Guthrie, G. H. (2006). James. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Hebrews–Revelation (Revised Edition) (Vol. 13, pp. 223-224). Zondervan.
Stulac, G. M. (1993). James (Jas 1:16–18). IVP Academic.
Moo, D. J. (2021). The Letter of James (D. A. Carson, Ed.; Second Edition, pp. 105-106). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
Nystrom, D. P. (1997). James (pp. 78). Zondervan Publishing House.