It was one thing when everything was [peaceful] in the early days in Jerusalem. But when the people began to feel the heat of persecution and even their own families began to ostracize and disown them, and took away property, and everything with it, that would have been willed to them, then it really put them to the test. What should they have done then? Should they have compromised and, for the sake of peace in the family, go back to the old church in Jerusalem so there could have been peace and love in the family? Or should they have gone on, enduring the persecutions and afflictions that were now coming upon them?
Well, James says,
G. I. WilliamsonBrothers, do not look upon this as a terrible curse. Do not look upon this as a great and evil thing that has befallen you. No, I want you to count it all joy, because it is exactly in this way that the testing of your faith works itself out in perseverance.[Perseverance] means keeping on when you do not feel like keeping on...When we talk about the perseverance of the saints, some people silently translate that to mean the security of the believer. The security of the believer is a very real truth, but that is not what the perseverance of the saints means. What the perseverance of the saints mean is that when the going really gets painful and rough, they might have tears streaming down their cheeks, but they do not quit and they do not turn back; they persevere.1
3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.