This morning in my message at FFC I examined something common to all of us—trials. No doubt some experience trials to a larger degree than others. But no one is exempt from them. No, not one.

Frankly, at some point every person knows what it’s like to be under the weight of something so completely out of your control that it is crushing you. You wonder if this could possibly be the end of you. What do you do? Say? How do you respond? React? You see, that’s the trouble with trials. They require a response we don’t normally give and wisdom we don’t naturally have.

So what’s one to do? James, inspired by the Holy Spirit, tells us: thank God for it (1:2-4), ask God for wisdom about it (1:5), and trust God to bless you in it (1:6-12). Though I explained this in more detail during the message, these six words, derived from James 1, were the core of my sermon.

Because these three pairs of words go against the grain of how we usually think—it’s definitely counter-intuitive— here are some articles that garnered my attention this week relating to the very same thing: trials. The goal? To help us think rightly about the one thing which we too often think wrongly.

4 Reasons God Ordains Suffering for His People

We Lost a Child, and Gained Something Greater

Slain in the Shadow of the Almighty

Does God Ever Send Adversity?