For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. James 1:3 (NLT)
Endurance Rider
The book of James was written around 47 AD, making it one of the earliest letters written that has been included in the New Testament. It gives us an insight into what the first generation of Christians faced post-Christ.
In fact, the title of James is actually considered to be poorly interpreted. Many scholars and theologians believe that this letter was written by Jacob, Jesus blood half brother. It is believed that while Jesus was alive, Jacob didn’t believe a word he said. He was not a follower or a disciple of his brother.
IMAGINE THAT! But somehow, someway something happened in those years after Jesus death and ascension that put Jacob (James) on the path to becoming the lead apostle over the church in Jerusalem. Thats a story I’d like to read! Josephus believed that Jacob (James) was martyred for his faith in the 60’s AD.
Can you imagine how life must have been? Jacob, the brother of Jesus, part of the family yet separate in belief, pens decades later this incredible letter of faith and endurance. A man who knew first hand what testing faith felt like, how much it weighed on his life, the price of it… For the early church, which was really just a gathering of men and women who had been changed by the life and love of Jesus, there were no sound systems, smoke machines or fancy buildings… they were considered to be rebels, renegades, people of dissension, deserters of tradition. They were under fire from other religious leaders, the government, in some cases, even their own families. The opposition their faith faced in these trials didn’t weaken their resolve, but rather strengthened it. It gave them an opportunity to stretch it out, build its muscle and endurance. Under pressure and fire, their faith grew.
It's easy to proclaim your belief when nobody questions it or attacks its validity. It’s only when you face pressure and opposition that you can really hone in on what your faith is. And after a time, in the face of trials, when being attacked and vilified by people for your belief, your faith grows to such a place where you no longer have to defend it. You reach a place where you can love with it in the middle of anything you're facing. Your enemies, your accusers… your murderers. Just as Jesus did. And eventually, just as Jacob (James) did. While breathing his last breaths on the cross, Jesus faith didn’t compel him to defend who he was, but to love through it all. “Father forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.”
Hebrews 11:1-3 (PT) says
“Now faith brings our hopes into reality and becomes the foundation needed to acquire the things we long for. It is all the evidence required to prove what is still unseen. This testimony of faith is what previous generations were commended for. Faith empowers us to see that the universe was created and beautifully coordinated by the power of God’s words! He spoke and the invisible realm gave birth to all that is seen.”
The testing of our faith, and situations that help build endurance into our faith, also lead us to see beyond the test itself – the harsh words, the difficult situations, the unanswered problems – and into the realm of the unseen. A place where love wins, hope abides, and your future is assured. It releases us to respond in love not react in defense, shame and panic to whatever it is that is applying the pressure to our lives.
Don’t run from hardship, don’t hide when unexpected challenges arise… but stretch into them with your faith. Give it a chance to grow, to move and to flex into whatever season you’re facing knowing that you are building endurance with every breath.
Jacob (James) wrote of this experience, saying
“My fellow believers, when it seems as though you are facing nothing but difficulties see it as an invaluable opportunity to experience all the joy that you can! For you know that when your faith is tested it stirs up power within you to endure all things. And then as your endurance grows even stronger it will release perfection into every part of your being until there is nothing missing and nothing lacking.” (James 1:2-5)
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