A good example of this is the butterfly that must struggle coming out of its chrysalis, some call it the cocoon, in order to be healthy.
In a story I read, a man thought he would help the butterfly from its chrysalis by slitting it open, only to doom the butterfly to death because of undeveloped wings. The butterfly needed that struggle to be able to live healthy later.
The Christian life seems like this sometimes, we must struggle to become strong, that all our life experiences teach us important lessons that could not be learned any other way except through trials and struggles. There are times too when we want to bail others out of their consequences that would only serve to hinder their spiritual and emotional growth.
There have been many times I wanted to bail out of a struggle or a problem to spare myself the agony of the difficulty. It was after my struggles that I realized why I had to endure them. The more I focused on Christ through them, the stronger I felt through the next trial that would come.
Trials are not something to be avoided, they are learning experiences that bring great strength when we go through with God. Not only the strength that keeps us focused on Christ, but also the wisdom that comes as we learn important lessons.
We live in a world that seeks to make life as easy as possible, leaving many people weak and child like in their responses.
When we will not face a problem, refusing to discuss a matter with others, we do not grow spiritually. It is in the discussion, the give and take, the sharing and confessing that one learns humility and empathy for others. The maturing cannot occur when we avoid speaking truth in relationships. Growing in maturity requires us to look at our selves in truth rather than ignoring our flaws or pretending we are better than we are.
The longer we avoid the growth lessons, the more infantile our responses to the situations of life. The more we hide our real selves to pretend we are something we are not, the more we hinder our maturing process.
In our world today many people would rather manipulate, intimidate and mock to avoid facing the inner self, causing infantile responses rather than mature decisions that grow a relationship.
It seems we have lived a lifetime with people who will not tell the truth, who love to blame others, who hide to prevent exposing their inner man, rather than being open, honest and humble in an exchange that will fix a broken relationship.
Relationships cannot remain strong and close whenever there is pretense. A good relationship requires confession of wrong or bad attitudes and speaking truth. Those who cannot allow their real selves to be displayed will never be able to obey the Word of God in the relationship process.
In James it seems that the use of the word "sick" here has more to do with sin than it does with physical illness. God is far more concerned about the sin in our heart than the health of our physical bodies. He will bring illness to flush out sin to bring healing to the soul.
James 5:15-16 "…15 And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail."
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