My dear brothers and
sisters,
亲爱的弟兄姐妹：
As James begins his
letter to the believers, he speaks of the trials and temptations that try our
faith. These are often the hardships of everyday life which put our faith to
the test, but the result is that they develop patience in us. James encourages
us not to become depressed, but rather to “count
it all joy” because we realise that these trials are developing that
faithful patience that is pleasing to God. This is very difficult at times for
us all, particularly when desperate circumstances come on us, or we feel very
lonely, and may be the only believer in our area. Perhaps we earn very little
money and struggle every day to have enough food to eat, often working very
long days just to have these basic things of life. Yet to “count” all our trials “joy” is to see that in all
these things God is with us and, even though the way is difficult, He won’t
forsake us but will rather give us the wonderful reward of the Kingdom at the
end. In order to “count it all joy”
we need to have faith—faith that God is going to honour His Word, faith that He
is always with us, even in those times when we feel perhaps He has left
us. Faith is a very important
thing to God, in fact it is impossible for us to please God if we do not have
faith (Hebrews 11:6).
在雅各开始写信给信徒们的时候，他讲到考验我们信心的试探的引诱。这些都是每天让我们的信心接受考验的困难，但是它们带来的结果是最终让我们有耐心。雅各鼓励我们不要丧失信心，而是要“以为大喜乐”，因为我们明白这些试炼最终可以增进我们信心的忍耐，这是蒙神喜悦的。对我们现在所处的时代来说这是很难的，特别是当绝望的事情发生在我们身上时；或者我们孤独时；或许在自己所在的地方只有你一个信徒；也可能我们挣的钱很少，每天都为吃喝的基本问题不停地挣扎，为解决温饱问题而整日忙碌不休。然而把这百般的试炼“以为大喜乐”是因为在这一切事中，可以看到神与我们同在，即使路途艰辛，神也不会离弃我们，更美的是，最终还会在神国里给我们美好的赏赐。为了“以为大喜乐”，我们需要有信心—相信神荣耀他的道，相信他永远与我们同在，即使在我们以为他离开我们的时候。信心在我们与神的关系里是一件很重要的事情，实际上人非有信，就不能得神的喜悦（希伯来书11：6）。