Ripples and Tidal Waves

Over the last two days I've spoken to two friends who are struggling right now. They are both great Christians, and they are both seeking God's will, but right now they are in the midst of testing. And as I spoke to both of them, the same passage of Scripture came to mind. It was this passage from James 1:

2My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
3Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
4But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

Verse 2 can be a tough verse to swallow. Count it joy when you fall into temptations? How is that possible?
It's possible because trials allow us to see that the Spirit is working in our lives. He uses these times to work patience into our hearts. And when allow that patience to rule our lives we will become the mature, whole Christians that we were meant to be.
Now sometimes those trials or temptations are gonna be little ripples on the sea of life. They may not be huge things but they hit us again and again, never allowing us to sail on smooth seas. Those small ripples prepare us for what's ahead. They build our faith in God and our patience in times of trouble. They prepare us for the tidal waves we are going to face.
And we are going to face tidal waves. They will be different for each of us. Some will face the tidal wave of sickness. Some will face the tidal wave of death. Some will face the tidal wave of marital stress. Tidal waves will hit, and when they do, we are to remember the lessons we learned while we faced those small ripples.
We are to remember that the same God who sailed us through the small problems of life will sail us through the major storms. And we should praise God through it all, knowing that on the other side of every storm we will be the stronger Christians that God wants us to be.