What you want vs what you need

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness."
James 1:2-3

I've been chewing over these verses for quite a while. They are two verses which imply trials of all shapes and sizes are good for the exercise of your faith. If we didn't have such trials, our faith wouldn't be strengthened.

But what's interesting is if you're a 'good Christian', you've most likely been praying for a resolution. For God to get you out of a situation, to fix things up. And then, when there seems to be no definite answer, we may start questioning why.

Our lack of faith? Perhaps we haven't been praying hard enough, or often enough. Perhaps there's some sort of spiritual battle going on, and we haven't been praying in the right way.

But the first thing these verses say is 'count it all joy'. Obviously our natural reaction is to do the opposite, to get stressed and freak out. Otherwise that particular instruction wouldn't be written. 'Count it all joy' implies the trial is a blessing, and that we have to reconfigure our pattern of thought to acknowledge that.

The verses state that our trials produce steadfastness. Jesus says elsewhere that 'the one who endures to the end will be saved' (Mark 13:13).

It seems steadfastness, perseverance and endurance are what God is developing in our lives. They are qualities of unbelievable importance, and perhaps very central to his work of regeneration. Trials, of shapes and kinds, are the process in which they are developed.

It seems that trails are often the thing we ultimately need, and not always the quick fix answer to prayer we were looking for.