by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
James not only was inspired to tell us how to consider our trials, but also commands that we “let patience have its perfect work<\/em>” (James 1:4), “that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing<\/em>.”<\/p>\n So, what does all of this mean?<\/p>\n He is a potter, molding you or sculpting you from the inside. You must “let<\/em>” it happen! Quitters do not let patience do the work that perfects you. The goal God has in mind is to mold you through the trials into a fine masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10). That is a perfecting process going on, which involves growth in maturity or completion, the final product.<\/p>\n When we count our trials “all joy<\/em>” (James 1:2) because we know the process has a maturation and a point when nothing is lacking, we are letting the potter do His intended work. Now, I am sure most of us can see the process has been at work in our past, and now is not the time to act, as we have already been perfected. We should know better than that! God will determine when we have been perfected and completed.<\/p>\n Right now, our job is to “let patience have its perfect work<\/em>.” You must not throw away your patience. It is way too soon to become impatient!<\/p>\n Press on, my brethren!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Terry Wane Benton James not only was inspired to tell us how to consider our trials, but also commands that we “let patience have its perfect work” (James 1:4), “that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” So, what does all of this mean? “Let” means to allow, give something a fair chance…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[581],"class_list":["post-96202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-patience"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":58557,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/patience-the-art-of-persevering-in-this-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":96202,"position":0},"title":"Patience: The Art of Persevering in this Life","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 28, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Forrest D. Moyer As Peter continued to list the characteristics that one must add, he named \"patience\" as being essential in our lives to keep us from falling and to insure us a part in the \"everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior\" (II Peter 1:5-11). James wrote: \"Indeed,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29722,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-god-sending-me-signs\/","url_meta":{"origin":96202,"position":1},"title":"Is God sending me signs?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 25, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does God send us signs? I have known this guy well for five years. He and I just clicked so well, and when we are together everything is so easy. However, he lives in a different state, though he still comes back to visit me and his family. We\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":91129,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-hurts-us-can-also-inspire-us\/","url_meta":{"origin":96202,"position":2},"title":"What Hurts Us Can Also Inspire Us","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 8, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Gary Henry \"Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word\" (Psalms 119:67). Painful experiences can help us, but only if we allow them to. \"My brethren,\" James wrote, \"count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68062,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-any-of-you-lacks-wisdom\/","url_meta":{"origin":96202,"position":3},"title":"If Any of You Lacks Wisdom","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 14, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton James speaks of the wisdom to see our trials as opportunities to perfect our faith and develop durability, endurance, or patience. We can choose to count it all joy, see how to grow deeper in faith, or we can let the trials beat us down and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26743,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-people-say-god-sends-trials-when-they-are-really-caused-by-satan\/","url_meta":{"origin":96202,"position":4},"title":"Why do people say God sends trials when they are really caused by Satan?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 18, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My question is why do people always say when evil things happen, they believe God is using these evil events to strengthen the one who is being maliciously attacked by another, or who has no will or intent in serving or obeying God anymore? Why do Christians always say\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13400,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-correct-way-to-ask-god-for-help-is-if-you-are-willing\/","url_meta":{"origin":96202,"position":5},"title":"Is the correct way to ask God for help is “if you are willing?”","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 17, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was reading the Bible the other day. I forget which verse but I read something like 'Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean' That verse made me wonder. Is that a correct way to ask God for something is to ask if He is willing,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96202\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n