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Trials

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. (James 1:2-3)

 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? (James 2:16)
          Don’t you hate it when people who see that you’re facing a hard time quote verses like these? I especially hate it because it feel to me as though the person is using them as a “Get out of jail free” card. They’ve said the magic words and now they can walk away, not get involved, and pat themselves on the back for having done their good deed of the day.
         We’ve all got busy lives, I know. You may not have the time or the energy to spend the next six days helping this person in front of you with their nine-thousand-four-hundred-and-thirteenth crisis of the month. But to use these verses as the “Christian” equivalent of “Don’t worry, be happy” is unloving and un-Christian, as the passage in James makes clear.
          I know some people who get mad when someone says that their prayers and thoughts are with someone who has gone through something tragic. They are so busy complaining, criticizing, and condemning those who offer platitudes (and patting themselves on the back for their good deed of having corrected that “moron”) that they do nothing to help the victim, either. That makes them twice as bad because they’re exploiting the victim as a means of attacking the platituder. 
          No, “prayers and thoughts” may not provide immediate or complete relief, but I believe God answers prayers, and thoughts sometimes lead to ideas. That’s more than those who spend all their time mocking the prayers and thinkers accomplish. Neither side gets it right. We all need to do more to actually help the person who needs it.

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