Tested and Approved

Tested and Approved

Patrick of Ireland — whose feast this is — was kidnapped from Britain as a teenager and spent six years as a slave in Ireland. He later wrote: 'Every day I would pray sometimes as many as a hundred times, and in the night nearly as often. It was the Lord who directed me, and He it was who awakened my faith.' He eventually escaped, returned to Britain, and then felt compelled to go back to the island that had enslaved him — now as a missionary. The testing of his faith in slavery produced something that years of comfortable Christianity had not: a perseverance that enabled him to return to his captors with love. He became Ireland's apostle. The test made him who he was needed to be.

James opens his letter by greeting believers who are facing 'trials of many kinds' with the instruction to 'consider it pure joy.' The word 'consider' (hegeomai) means to reckon or count — a deliberate cognitive choice, not a spontaneous emotion. We choose to see trials as joy-producing, not because they feel joyful but because we know what they produce. 'The testing of your faith produces perseverance' (hupomone) — the capacity to remain steadfastly under pressure without breaking. This is the same word used of a soldier holding a position under sustained attack. Faith that has been tested is faith that has been proven. It is qualitatively different from untested faith — not superior in theory but proven in reality. What are your trials producing in you today?