Have you ever had hard times?
Of course you have! Perhaps you aren't in a trial at this moment, but you will be sooner than later.  Some trials are small and daily while others are long sustained battles that can last weeks, months, or even a lifetime.

We are not exempt from trials.  In fact, trials are more common than good times.  Think about it...how many trials do you go through in a day?  Compare it with your level of comfort and you'll begin to see what I mean.  Trials are the norm in life.

So, if trials are the norm, we have to ask why a gracious and loving God would allow us to go through trial after trial.  The answer is found in James 1:2-4:

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

James is asking us to look at trials in a different light.  He tells us to first to look at trials differently.  When we face trials (not if) we have to understand that God is developing something in us.  He's testing our faith through adversity.  Will we buckle?  We we lash out in anger?  Or will we accept it and connect with God in it?

Trails are opportunities for us to connect with God.  That's why they exist.  God uses them to test our faith.  See the perseverance part?  We have to get through the trial.  Perseverance means Patient Endurance.  God needs to perfect this in us so that we are strong and mature in our faith.

In this way we should consider it joyous when a trial comes into our life because the God of the universe is taking an active interest in our development!  It is a complete paradigm shift of thinking and something to consider when (not if) your next trial comes about. Will you turn toward God or to your own resources?

There is a lot of fear in our world. In many cases, we give into this fear on a daily basis.  We don't have to look very hard for it either.  It's on our newsfeed.  It's on the television.  It's in the conversations we have.  An unrelenting, devastating attack on us every minute of the day.

If you are a follower of God, you know that operating as a strident leader is difficult.  Doing God's work under the ever-present pressure of a world gone wild is hard, and sometimes even the most diligent workers fall into the trap of fear.

If you remember the story of Elijah, you will get a good picture of fear.  Elijah was one of God's most devoted prophets.  He challenged King Ahab face to face and dared Ahab's many priests to an apocalyptic battle on Mt. Carmel.  When God told him to go somewhere, Elijah didn't ask questions...he just went.

But when Queen Jezebel ordered the death of the prophets and singled out Elijah for the sword, he got scared and ran into the desert.  He lost hope. He wanted God to just end him.  But God had bigger plans for Elijah (1 Kings 19:1-5).

Instead of allowing Elijah to fade away, God cares for him, first physically and then spiritually, taking him on a journey to Mt. Horeb where God shows him a remarkable display.  First in a great wind, then in an earthquake and finally in a fire.  But doesn't work in the spectacle.  He whispers to Elijah, and Elijah learns an important truth about God: in the cataclysm of giant events, God is not in them.  He works quietly, in a whisper (1 Kings 19:11-18).

As leaders in our home, community or church, we have to hold an example up to others of how we trust in God's provision. In many ways, we must continually learn the same lesson that Elijah had to learn: that God is still very much at work in our lives and in this world.  That even though the world turns on a rusty and jagged axis, we still have the charge to move forward and be the best example we can be to others. Our work matters, no matter how we view it day by day.

The world will always be corrupt and will continually get worse, but our job is to always be that light of the world.  Remember, none of the prophets, saints or apostles had it any easier.  You are simply a long line of servants who work for God day in and out, and there is value in that.  Remember, Elijah couldn't see the benefit of his ministry, bu there were many whom he affected, and there is great value in that (1 Kings 19:15-18).