James 1:2-3

We all go through stuff every day. You know what I mean by stuff? I'm talking about the junk that makes us mad or angry or sad. I'm talking about when people treat us worse than we think they should. I'm talking about when someone close to us hurts us, or when we hurt someone else. I'm talking about the things that make us scared, keep us awake at night and make us worry.

It's funny that we think of the Bible as an old book that has nothing to do with our real lives. That is so untrue of the Bible. You see, the Bible is God's word, but it is also about people and God uses people to write it. James knows what it means to go through tough times. He's had a life that was a lot tougher than most of us will ever face. So we should listen when he talks about tough times.

That's what he's talking about in this passage. He says we are supposed to be happy when we have tough times. Does that make sense to you? It dosen't really make sense to me either. Until he starts talking about how these trials come to test our faith and to make it strong. James makes it clear, if we trust God in the tough times, our faith will grow and we'll start to be more like Jesus. The tough times are how God works on us.

Why are you in school? To learn? To get ready for college? To get ready for life? Because your parents make you go? Tough times are like the school of life. In the tough times we learn the truth about other people. We learn the truth about ourselves. But most importantly, we learn the truth about God. If we only look for Him, He will teach us.

So go to the school of life. It will be tough. But like James says, Persevere (which means to work through something that is not easy). If you persevere, God will make your faith grow, he will teach you and he will make you mature so that you can stand strong in more difficult times ahead.