She Endures Fully

"Consider it great joy, brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have it's full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing."
James 1:2-4

We've heard this before. We know in our heads and possibly our journeys that trials can produce good character. This time I noticed another layer:

"... And let endurance have it's full effect..."

This reminds me of the throws of labor before childbirth. As the waves of pain come faster and fuller, it's crucial that a laboring mama lean IN to them and not against them. If we resist the painful squeeze, we are fighting against the outcome we want (less pain, more baby). Labor is most effective when a mama accepts each wave, stays calm, and keeps her eye on the prize at the end: when she endures fully.

In this season of new trials, may we endure fully.

I urge you to lean in to the Lord, set your heart on the eternal prize, and let endurance have it's full effect.

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