the testing of your faith produces patience

One common approach to homeschooling is the unit study. A unit study is where the parent/teacher centers all of a student's studies around a certain topic. So, for example, if the topic is the middle ages, all the student's readings in history and literature and science would pertain to the middle ages. Students may complete art projects or take field trips that line up with the theme.

Sometimes I am surprised by how often I find [super-]naturally-occurring unit studies in my own life. Where everywhere I go I find myself learning about the same concept.

This year's big lesson has been about hope. Hope turns up in songs, in sermons, on Monday nights and Wednesday nights and Thursday nights, in conversations with friends I see all the time, in conversations with friends I haven't seen in a long time, in books I read, everywhere. Bible verses that first captured my attention somewhere in the middle of teenage-hood seem to suddenly come to life in full color.

Now I think I am starting a unit study on faith.

James says to count it all joy when we fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of our faith produces steadfastness. Then last week I was reading in Proverbs somewhere that the fire is for silver, the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the hearts. What is this testing? And what is faith?

I have confidence that I will understand this all better as the faith unit study progresses, but I was thinking this morning that faith (one facet of it, anyway) is being certain that some word of God will come to pass. Certain that His promises are sure.

And testing may happen when all earthly circumstances point to that promise not coming to pass. I'm thinking that one way we're tested is that we come up with our own earthly translation of what fulfillment of God's promises will look like. And we're tested as the certainty of that earthly translation is snatched out from under us, and we're left with Him and His Word alone, clinging to His promise because it's the only sure thing.

Even right there in James's description, I find a promise that gives me hope to keep clinging: the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

What a marvelous thing to be steadfast -- to hold to Him regardless of what storms brew around us. And how good He is to give us a promise that gives us hope to stay faithful through testing.

This is going to be a good (but hard!) unit study.