God Uses Trials to Shape Us

Sometimes when I find myself in a difficult situation, I will pray to the Lord and ask Him to remove it. Sometimes He does, and sometimes He doesn’t. I realize that what He does not remove, He intends for me to deal with, and this by faith. I also understand that God is more concerned with my Christian character than with my creaturely comforts, and that He uses the difficulties of life to help shape me, to transform me, to develop the character of Christ in me. When God turns up the heat, He never takes His hand off the thermostat; He’s always in control. And that God is working “all things together for the good to those who love Him, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom 8:28). James says, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing” (Jam 1:2-4).