Finding God's Path Through Your Trials by Elizabeth George

"Life need not be easy to be joyful. Joy is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of Christ."

This quote by William Vander Hoven opens Elizabeth George's book, Finding God's Path Through Your Trials, and it is with this attitude that she leads us down the trail of facing life's difficulties with a godly perspective.

I purchased (and quickly read) this book a couple of years ago when life wasn't as easy as I thought it should have been. Recently some circumstances of life caused me to revisit the truths found within its pages.

The first truth, and for me perhaps the most difficult, was the reminder that trials and temptations are coming...that there is no escaping them...but how we react to those trials is completely up to us.

"We can be sure trials will hit us. All kinds of experiences will come to us, including negative ones. But when they arrive, says James [James 1:2], we have choices to make. One of those choices is attitude. God allows us the privilege of choosing our attitude. We can be bitter, angry, disgruntled, or depressed. It's up to us. Or we can choose to be women who sigh...and sigh...and sigh in defeat some more. We can slump, scowl, sulk, and complain. But James recommends a better way, a better outlook to choose - indeed, the best way! He shares with us the right choice. He encourages us to decide to have a joyful attitude."

I have been a pouter for as long as I can remember (and my parents can probably remember back even farther). When things don't go the way I think they should, when I am disappointed in a situation or a person, I sigh, I slump, I scowl, and I  even sulk a little. But those reactions simply illustrate how selfish and self-centered I  really am. If my focus were truly where it needed to be, I would be able to respond with joy no matter what was happening around me. Joy because God has chosen to test and grow my faith and confidence in Him in ways I would have never chosen for myself. Elizabeth George quotes Tim Hansel (a man forced to live in pain following an injury to his back) as saying, 

"If we are to have...joy in our lives, we must first discover what it looks like. It is not a feeling, it is a choice. It is not based on circumstances, it is based on attitude. It is free, but it is not cheap. It is the byproduct of a growing relationship with Jesus Christ."

One of the evidences that a trial has grown our relationship with Christ is through the patience it produces in our lives. When we continue to face a problem, instead of running from it or cowering in fear, God is able to grow patience in our lives. Choosing to face a trial with focus and endurance illustrates the depth of our faith. Elizabeth refers to several women of the Bible when saying, 

"They each went on - a true mark of genuine faith and a distinctive feature of a stable woman. They kept on going. The kept on believing. They kept on trusting in God Almighty..."

Many times, like the Israelites trapped between the Red Sea and the pursuing Egyptian army, it is easy to think there is no possible escape route and that God has led you to your own destruction. At that point following God sometimes means doing the unthinkable, like stepping out where the path is unseen. However, as Elizabeth says, 

"Stepping into the water of this trial is the right choice because it's God choice and His plan for my life. He wants me to move forward and onward to the other side and go on. He wants me to trust Him and to grow. And what is on the other side of the stream? Of the trial? Victory. Growth. Maturity. Strength. Experience. Staying power. A greater contribution to God's purposes and His people."

Responding to our trials with joy and a patient endurance shows others (and sometimes ourselves) that our strength is not found in our own power but in God. 

"God gives as much of His marvelous grace as you require. He gives it abundantly...God's grace will be all you need, will be what you need, will be as much as you need, will be complete."

Sometimes, no matter how much we may know otherwise, we (and by "we" I mean "me") are determined to handle our problems on our own, thinking that our strength...physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually...is required to solve the problem. In reality, it is not our strength that God requires, but our weakness.

"God contributes all the strength while we so easily and constantly contribute weakness as we face our trials and His plan for our lives. It takes our weakness to become aware of our need for His strength. And it is our weakness that shows His strength in us!" 

I have always been better able to deal with events and difficulties that I expected and could plan for and often have the worst response to problems that I did not anticipate. But, in reality, I should never be surprised at the arrival of a trial...I should always be prepared for what God brings my way. Knowing that trials are coming should encourage our faithfulness because Christ is the source of our strength. Maintaining a positive attitude and allowing true joy to be seen in us in the midst of our troubles shows others that Christ is the source of our confidence. Looking to the future with peace in our hearts proves that Christ is the source of our hope.