May 26, 2023 - James 1:2-4

“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.” James1:2-4 MSG

Lord, thank you for the tests that we face. We celebrate the things we are learning through them and the way they help us grow. We long to be mature and well-developed people who are not deficient in any way.

Lord, thank you that pressure causes us to show our “true colors”. Thank you that we can’t always hide what is on the inside. That forces us to deal with things that are not as they should be and dealing with those things is how we grow and become more like you. Keep putting us in situations where the junk is boiled to the top, where you can remove it. Thank you for not allowing it to stay in our lives. Help us to press into this process and not try and cut it short, so that you can make us pure. We don’t want to avoid it. We trust you that you won’t make the process more than we can bear. We ask for you to give us the grace we need to walk out the challenges we are facing today. Help us have the endurance to keep pressing through the process of being purified by you.

Lord, we are grateful at how you use the challenges of life to turn us into something beautiful. You are such a great God. We love walking this journey with you. We trust you today and say thank you for walking with us and even carrying us when needed. Thank you! We love you, Lord!

In Jesus name, amen.