James 1:3
“Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.”
You will notice in this verse that God is not talking about having trials, but He talks about you trying “your faith.” In other words, God says that there will be times in the Christian’s life when they will literally examine their faith. Putting it plainly, the “trying of your faith” is literally taking your faith to trial to see if it is worth following. It is putting your faith on the witness stand to see whether you should trust it.
What would cause a Christian to put their faith on trial? You would think that any Christian who is serving the LORD would already have settled that their faith is worthy of following, but God understood there are going to be times when you will put your faith on trial.
God says in verse 2, that a Christian will put their faith on trial when they are going through personal trials. Verse 2 says, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith…” Notice, it is the personal trials you face in life that cause you to put your faith on trial. It is very easy to say that you shouldn’t do that, but when you are going through hard times and you don’t know your way out of your personal trial, then it is easy as a human to question whether your faith is really true. God tells us what we should do when we put our faith on trial.
First, be patient with your faith. It says in the verse above, “…the trying of your faith worketh patience.” In other words, your patience is pushed to the limit, but you must be patient to give your faith time to perfect you. That is what verse 4 says, “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” God is not chiding the Christian about putting their faith on trial, but He is encouraging them to give faith a chance to do its work. God knows that if you will be patient with your faith, that your faith will prove itself true. If you move too quickly and give up your faith, then you will never have the opportunity to see what faith can do in your life.
Second, ask God for wisdom when you have your faith on trial. Verse 5 says, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” You need God’s wisdom when you are questioning your faith so that you will know what to do. You may have your faith on trial, but part of trying your faith is to get God’s wisdom on what to do to see if it is true. A person who completely forsakes the faith has not given faith the chance to testify in their life. The only way faith can testify in your life is for you to ask for wisdom as you go through personal struggles in life.
Friend, I know there will be times when you face personal struggles. It is during these times when you will no doubt wonder whether serving the LORD is really worth it. Let me encourage you when you put your faith on the witness stand to be patient and listen to its advice. It has never led one person wrong, and every person who is patient with their faith has found that it did not disappoint.