We live in a world that is constantly bombarding us with the message that our lives should be focused on our own happiness and pleasure. This message streams from every commercial we are exposed to...in an effort to induce us to buy whatever product is being featured. We are all impacted by that message, no matter how hard we try to ignore it. For us as Christians, we may seek to avoid overt materialism, or we may unwittingly fall prey to it. But even if we are somewhat successful is putting off materialism, we still subtly begin to get the idea that God's plan should revolve around us and our happiness. As we seek to work out God's will for our lives, we usually begin with the assumption that God wants us happy, healthy and successful. It's not that God doesn't want those things for us, rather, it's just not His number one priority. This means that there may be seasons of our life during which blessings pour forth, but we may also experience seasons of difficulties and trials.
During those trials, it is critical to reflect on what God's priorities are for us. James gives us a clue when he tells us to "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." The good news is that God's priority for us is faith in Him that produces spiritual perfection and completeness. The bad news is...it takes trials and tribulation to achieve those things.
Principle 3 recognizes that God's priority for us is spiritual growth and maturity, not our happiness and pleasure. Therefore, if we are Christians who truly desire to grow spiritually, we must be Christians who are ready to face difficulties in order to grow our faith. When we face those difficulties with the knowledge that spiritual growth will result, not only do the difficulties make sense, but we can more easily move toward counting it all joy!
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