Trials...Overcome or Overcoming?

While currently studying James at church, we've been discussing trials/tests/temptations and what that all means to the believer. Every human being alive will at some time face trials. If we haven't yet, we will soon. We are always faced with the choice to give into sinful temptations (be overcome) of resentment and unforgiveness during our trial or to praise God (overcoming) for allowing Him to grow our faith. Here's the thing...it's not the circumstances or how others treat us that determines how our lives will turn out. It's how I RESPOND to it/them. Circumstances and people do not have the power to control me and make me the victim. Understanding that I allow myself to be a victim helps me to grasp that God's grace is sufficient for all my circumstances. That realization helps me to rise above and move beyond what is happening to me, to let go of those people who are hurting me and to let the power of the Spirit wash over my responses. By choosing grace, I choose freedom! "I do not have to be a victim or a prisoner of circumstances or people that have hurt me. By God's grace, I can walk in peace, wholeness and joy, even in the midst of the tribulations of this world."- Nancy Leigh DeMoss