Most of us can remember times when the experiences of life caused confusion, doubts, and anger and likely caused our faith to falter. No one gets through life without visiting the refiner’s fire several times. 

Understanding why good people suffer is difficult. Most people have asked Job’s same questions of God at some point: “Why do the wicked live, reach old age, and grow mighty in power? Their offspring are established in their presence, and their descendants before their eyes. Their houses are safe from fear, and no rod of God is upon them” (Job 21:7–9). Why do God’s children suffer at times while the bad guys seem to succeed? 

Every generation has struggled to understand God and his sovereignty. If we were in charge of things, the good guys would win and evil would be stopped. God is all powerful and all knowing. Therefore, God could stop horrible things from hurting us. So, why doesn’t he?

We think like good, yet imperfect people. God cannot be anything less than perfect—at all times. We make the best choices we can, as often as we can. God can only make perfect decisions. We use our free wills in good ways most of the time. God honors our free will all of the time. As a result, this world will always be imperfect.

No one will ever fully obey or understand God, this side of heaven. Our faith will be challenged, and it might even falter because of the world’s inequities. That’s why James encouraged his readers to remember we are “blessed” when we remain “steadfast under trial.” Those are tough blessings to achieve, but they have eternal value.

One day, some of the blessings we are most grateful for will have come from times of trial because we remained steadfast in our faith. Every challenge, disappointment, and heartache can be an opportunity to stand firm and trust the perfection of God. Our reward is a heavenly crown. Living with wisdom is a path to God’s blessings. Living with wisdom isn’t having a perfect understanding of God’s ways; it’s about accepting and trusting that his ways are perfect, even when we can’t understand.