Good morning!

In 1985, my wife and I were moving to our first apartment. I was given the job of packing up our clothes hangers and bringing them to our new location.

In what seemed like no time at all, I learned what little effort it took for the hangers to quickly become a large pile of useless tangled metal. Except for a few stragglers, the hangers had become impossible for me to separate from each other.

After spending way too much time and energy trying to untangle and salvage them, I reluctantly ended up making the nearby dumpster their new home instead of our apartment.

Problem situations in life can be similar in that one moment everything is going well and the next moment you find yourself entangled in a situation that you find yourself fighting just to get free from.

James 1:2-4 is telling us that despite how big and tangled life challenges get, we can still deal with them effectively by keeping a Godly perspective and eventually, overcoming them through patience and endurance.

Trials show whether we are going to trust ourselves or patiently trust God. And while we cannot control circumstances, we can control our perspective on them. And when we do, we grow and mature in the things of God. Learning to persevere and not give up and abandon the things we will later need.

While it is not always easy, submitting our will to God allows Him to guide and direct us toward an eventual victory over our tangled trials and tribulations (Isaiah 26:4).

Let us strive not to be so quick to use our judgment and remain patient. Knowing that through the power of God, we can endure long enough to turn our tangled mess into a terrific testimony!