Imagine for a moment that you grew up with a sibling who later became famous. You would have an insider view into the thought process and values of your well-known brother or sister. I recently started reading the book of James again and it hit me afresh that James was the little (half) brother of Jesus. He grew up seeing Jesus in the public moments and in the quietness of their home when no one else was around. He probably even shared a room with his older brother, worked alongside Him, and even did chores together. So when James chose to write, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, a letter about what it looks like to live as a follower of Jesus, he would know! I am intrigued to read what he says because he grew up with Jesus!

So what does this letter say? Well, let’s look at just the first couple verses for our time together today. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4

So much could be said about these two verses but what strikes me today is that even in trials and hardships, we can have contentment. We can know that God is at work. It’s easy to be excited when we see God working through our ministry efforts, and we have a great response to an outreach, and we rejoice in how God is working. But we can also trust that God is working in the hard times. Jesus’ little brother starts off his letter with this hope. Consider joy when going through hard times because God can work through all things to bring good! How many times did James see this in his childhood, I wonder? He saw the faith of Jesus, and he witnessed the joy of his older half-brother. Through the challenges and the happy times, he watched this truth play out. He saw the contentment of Jesus through the highs and lows. As followers of Jesus, we can have that trust, that contentment, too!