To test is to persevere

James 1:2-3 Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

Is there a deep promise in these two passages, or is James stating a philosophical implication? Let's break down some of the language first.

Trials - as I was using this word yesterday, I took it to mean that which is opposed to my will. According to Strong's definition, the Greek word used by James (peirasmos) has to do with trial of man's fidelity, integrity, virtue, constancy: an enticement or invitation to sin. As I have come to see sin, it is to miss the way, to go wrong or off course. And who is it that sets the course - it is God our perfect creator of course who knows the perfect course for our life. So, if we are to go off course it is because we are not aligned to God's will and are relying too heavily on our own understanding and will. Is my use and understanding of trial in line with the above description? Let's take it in two parts:

1. If we are to find the enticement from trial in line with our will, then God's will is in opposition to our will, and hence we find ourself in a position in which our will is being opposed by God's. So yes, we may find the trial or temptation is not in conflict with our will, but our will is being opposed by God.
2. Otherwise, we find that the enticement from trial is in opposition with our will.

Therefore, in either situation, the trial invites a situation in which our will is challenged and finds itself in opposition.

James states that the trials are a testing of our faith. So what then is faith? Again, according to Strong's definition, the Greek word used by James (pistis) has to do with:

• A conviction of the truth
• The conviction that God exists and is the creator and ruler of all things.
• The conviction that Jesus is the Messiah, through whom we obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom of God.

It is clearly the first conviction I am using in my definition of trials - the conviction that God is the ruler of all things and that trials are oppositions to my will which is either in line with God's will because of faith (pistis) or in opposition with God's will and ideally by faith I will lay down my will for that of the Father's.

Finally, the promise, by James, is that trials or testing of faith produces patience which can mean: steadfastness, constancy, and endurance. So to my original question - is this a promise or an implication or both? What I see is that the more we align our will with God's, the more our will will be strengthened and we will be more resolved to align our will with God's next time. However, I see the another truth lurking here as well: the more we align our will in opposition to God's, the more our will will be strengthened and we will be more resolved to adhere to our own internal will in subsequent situations. 

So here is how I see it,  if we are convicted that God is perfect and has the perfect path for our life, then we have faith and through trials this conviction is tested and when we choose to align our will with that of the Father's then our faith (our conviction) is made stronger because we have been forced again to declare our allegiance to God and His sovereignty. However, if we are not convicted that God exists let alone has a perfect path for our life, then when trials arise they will be trials of our faith in our own good understanding of what is good for the self - and by relying on ourselves for guidance we are also declaring our allegiance to self and our sovereignty. In either case, faith is tested and patience in our faith produced.