James 1:12 “God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”

The second reward for those who remain faithful is that they are:

2. Approved

James tells us that those who faithfully face trials and temptations are not just approved, they are approved by the Almighty. After the proof is victoriously demonstrated in the way that they live through the dark and difficult times they are approved by God. Today we want to be approved before we are proven, we want the affirmation we just don’t want the affliction. But only after one is proven are they approved. The word translated approved or tried here was used of metals and coins which had been tested and found to be true or genuine. What good is counterfeit currency, it’s not even worth the paper it’s printed on because it isn’t real. We may not like trials but these times of testing reveal what is real. While good times are what many of us are chasing after and living for they really don’t reveal our real hearts. It’s the groaning times, not the good times that reveal where we really are. Today there are a lot of counterfeit Christians, people who claim to believe but at the first sign of difficulty or distress, they bail. Their faith is not in God but in everything going good, instead of following the Father they are following feelings. And as long as life keeps feed their feelings with warm fuzzy feel goods they are content, but the moment there is a crisis they abandon Christ. The truth is they were never really chasing after Christ they were just chasing happiness. Happiness is dependent on our happenings where faith is tied to a Father that will never fail. As long as we keep following our feelings we will always be fair weather followers, committed as long as we are not challenged. But at the first sign of struggle, we will cut and run because we were never really committed to Christ and His cause. This is not faith it’s fickle, where we worship good times instead of worshiping God. We can rejoice in trials because tough times reveal that what we believe is real. The truth is that trials can be our greatest testimony, because in the midst of the storm what a watching world gets to witnesses is genuine faith that can’t be faked. The outcome of enduring in the fiery forge of trials is being approved by God. His approval of our faith is precious because it assures us that our little faith is genuine faith. Like a gold prospector that brings their sample of ore into the assayer’s office to be tested. Though the sample itself may not be worth more than a few dollars, the approval, the official statement reveals that the mine that the ore came from is worth millions. It assures the prospector that he has a gold mine. God’s approval of our faith is precious because it assures us that our faith is genuine. Trials bring blessing because they prove our faith is genuine and God blesses us as we trust Him through the trial. Several years ago one of the adds that aired to recruit new Marines said, we are looking for a few good men that will be tested to see if they have the metal to be Marines. The same is true of Christians, we will be tested to see what kind of metal we are made of. It is through times of pressure that we are molded and we mature. We may not like the process but we will like the product. Trials expose our real character, not who we say we are but who we really are. Christianity is not a religion for the faint of heart or those who want to spend their time whining. There is no place for wimps in the development of faith, for faith development and the cultivating of our character calls for stamina and courage. As Christians, we are called to take up our cross and follow Christ, the one who was crucified. So why would we think that this would be an easy calling? Those who are faithful in the fire are rewarded by growth in their Christian character. “Our Father, who seeks to perfect His saints in holiness, knows the value of the refiner’s fire. It is with the most precious metals that the assayer takes the most pains, and subjects them to the hot fire, because such fires melt the metal, and only the molten mass releases its alloy or takes perfectly its new form in the mould. The old refiner never leaves his crucible, but sits down by it, lest there should be one excessive degree of heat to mar the metal. But as soon as he skims the surface the last of the dross, and sees his own face reflected, he puts out the fire.” –Arthur T. Pierson

He sat by a fire of sevenfold heat

As He watched by the precious ore,

And closer He bent with a searching gaze

As He heated it more and more.

He knew He had ore that could stand the test;

He wanted the finest gold

To mold as a crown for the king to wear–

Set with gems with a price untold.

So He laid our gold in the burning fire,

Though we fain would have said to Him “nay,”

And He watched the dross that we had not seen

As it melted and passed away.

And the gold grew brighter and yet more bright,

But our eyes were so dim with tears

We saw but the fire, not the Master’s hand,

And questioned with anxious fears.

Yet our gold shone out with a richer glow

And it mirrored a form above

Of Him bent o’er the fire, unseen by us,

With a look of ineffable love.

Can we think that it pleases His loving heart

To cause us a moment’s pain?

Ah, no, but He saw through the present cross

To bliss of eternal gain.

So, He waited there with a watchful eye,

With a love that is strong and sure;

And His gold did not suffer a bit more heat

Than was needed to make it pure.

As we go through the fiery trials of this life we need to remember that God can use the heat to refine and cleanse us, not only for our good but also His glory. If you are in a time of refining don’t complain about the trials instead rejoice in the truth that your Father can use this fire to refine. Don’t let the fires defined you let them refine you.

James 1:12

“God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”

Verse 12 is the encouraging conclusion to the tough topic of trials that James began in verse 2. James closes this section on times of testing with a promise for Christians who are facing the challenges that come from difficult trials by reminding them of God’s rewards for those who remain faithful. Scripture makes it clear that the promised blessings are not based on our backgrounds or socioeconomic status, but rather have to do with our faithfulness to the Father. James tells us that this reward is three fold. For those who remain faithful the first reward is:

1. Blessing

Though going through trials may not be a blessing, verse 12 teaches us that enduring trials does brings blessing. God blesses those who persevere under pressure. The word blessed means “fortunate,” and speaks to an inner quality of joy, contentment in the midst of challenging circumstances. This blessing is a joy that the world cannot steal because it is a joy that is found in the depths of your heart. Joy is not based on your circumstances it is based on Christ. Circumstances change but Christ is the corner stone. Joy is a choice; you can focus on Jesus or the junk. You have a choice in this life, you can allow yourself to be miserable, or you can choose Christ in the midst of the challenges and face life with joy. Our joy flows from our relationship with the Redeemer and results in us faithfully following Him. Not just in the good times but also in the trying times. Inner blessedness is the result of faithfully following Jesus even through the trials and tribulations of life. Trials will come to the Christian but it doesn’t mean that we are not blessed. There is a story told about a young Christian that worked for a rich man who told his boss that satan was constantly battling him, and desired to beat him. His boss laughed and made fun of him, saying that satan never bothered him. How was it, that the devil should bother the boy but not his boss? He would ask. But the poor young Christian could not answer him. One day however, they went hunting together. The boss shot at some wild ducks. Some he killed and some he just wounded. “Run and catch the wounded ones first before they run away,” he told the boy. The young Christian came back smiling for now he had the answer to the bosses big question. “You know sir,” he said, “why satan does not tempt you? Because, you are dead to God, just like those ducks. He goes after the live ones, ones like me.” As my mother would often say, “If you are not being tempted there is a good chance you’re already doing what the devil wants you to, and he has no need to bother you.  James proclaims that the blessed man is the one who steadfastly endures trials and temptations and has stood the test. The word persevere here comes from two Greek words. The first means “to remain” and the second means “under.” To persevere means, “to remain under.” The connotation is the one who perseveres under pressure, who remains under trials and doesn’t crack. What James is pointing to is the fruit of faithfulness. Perseverance is standing steadfastly in the midst of trial. How do we face the tough trials of this life, by focusing on Jesus. We face trials by faith. God’s plan is to bring us to the place where we patiently wait upon Him to do His work in us and through us. Trials while not fun can be very fruitful, something a blacksmith came to realize. About eight years after he had given his life to the Lord he was approached by an observant but unsaved man who had a challenging question: “why is it you have so much trouble? I have been watching you. Since you joined the church and began to faithfully follow God you have had twice as many trials and difficulties as you had before. I thought that when a man gave himself to God his troubles would be over. With a thoughtful but smiling face, the blacksmith replied: “Do you see this piece of iron? It is for the springs of a carriage. I have been ‘tempering’ it to soften the hardened steel for some time. It gains elasticity through adding or absorbing carbon. I do this by heating it red-hot, and then plunge it into a tub of ice-cold water. This hot to cold process must be done many times. If I find it taking ‘temper,’ I heat and hammer it unmercifully. In trying to get the right piece of iron I found several that were too brittle. So I threw them in the scrap-pile. While those scraps are worth very little, this carriage spring is very valuable. He went on to explain that God saves us for something more than to have a good time, He saved us for service. Just as I want this piece of iron to be more than just a scrap of metal so He too wants to tune me for His service. To do that He often has to temper us in the fiery forge of trials. Ever since I understood this I have been saying to Him. “Test me in any way you choose Lord, so that I become useful for service and not for the scrap pile.” The point here is not the mere experience of trials, for that does not necessarily bring about blessedness. The truth is that many come out of their difficulties not softened, or tempered but hardened and brittle. Instead of blessing there is only bitterness. In the 1996 summer Olympics, sprinter Michael Johnson set records in the 200-meter and 400-meter races, shattering his own world record by a staggering margin. To do so he had trained for some ten years to cut a mere second or two from his time. In Slaying the Dragon he writes: Success is found in much smaller portions than most people realize. A hundredth of a second here or sometimes a tenth there can determine the fastest man in the world. At times we live our lives on a paper-thin-edge that barely separates greatness from mediocrity and success from failure.  Life is often compared to a marathon, but I think it is more like being a sprinter: long stretches of hard work punctuated by brief moments in which we are given the opportunity to perform at our best. The reality is that the Christian life also resembles the life of a sprinter, long stretches of obedience and spiritual disciplines punctuated by great tests in which God gives us the opportunity to choose His eternal best. What about you are you focused on the trial or on the treasure hidden within the trial?