#377: Growing Pains

 


James 1:1–8

Has your child ever asked, "Why do hard things happen?" In this episode, we explore James 1 and the surprising truth that God can use our trials—yes, even the tough, painful ones—to help us grow stronger in our faith. We compare it to growing pains in our bodies: it may hurt, but it’s often a sign of growth!
With an encouraging story about a girl training for a big bike race, we help kids understand what James means when he says to “consider it pure joy” during hard times and the "why" behind it.


I also remind young listeners that not all pain means growth—sometimes it’s a sign we need help and they should talk to their parents about it.

**PARENTS: Kids Bible Stories isn’t backed by a big studio—just me, handcrafting the stories I wish I had as a child and now create for my own. By God’s grace, we’ve had over 14 million downloads, and we rank in the Top 50 Christian podcasts in the U.S.. This is proof that His Word is reaching little hearts around the world.

But I need your help.

After losing all ad funding, I chose faith over commercials—trusting the families who love this podcast to keep it going.

Now, God has opened a new door: translating the stories into Spanish to reach even more kids globally. But this next step depends on listener support.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Before you start today's episode, I want to share a
story that truly touched my heart. A mom recently wrote
me saying, my children are almost ten, eight and five,
and it's been such a blessing to see the older
two grow with the content. Now we listen to our
favorites again, and the youngest is the age her brother
was when we first started. We're on our third time
through the Exodus series. That's how much we love it.

(00:23):
I cannot thank you enough for creating these stories that
nourish the soul and that we can trust. Stories like
these remind me why I do what I do. Kan's
Bible Stories isn't backed by a big studio or corporation.
It's simply me handcrafting stories I wish I had as
a child, and now creating them for my own children

(00:43):
to hear. And yours. Over fourteen million downloads worldwide, ranking
in the top fifty Christian podcasts in the US, prove
that this ministry touches hearts across the globe. But I
really need your help. When I lost all AD funding,
I had a choice add commercials or trust the families

(01:06):
who love this podcast. I chose trust and I believe
or called to keep going. God's open a brand new door,
one that could bring our stories to even more children
through translating it into Spanish. But to do that, I
need your support. Here's how you can help. Visit kbspodcast
dot com and click support Bonus Content. The link is

(01:30):
in the show notes too. You can give a one
time gift or join our Patreon page for just five
dollars a month. If you don't prefer monthly payments, I
get it. You can pay for one year and get
a discount. You'll receive weekly bonus content and help us
reach our goal of one thousand supporters. If even ten
percent of listeners joined, we could sustain this mission as

(01:53):
well as reach new boys and girls worldwide. But I
need you. If you're listening to this, then you're the
person we so desperately need help from. Please every gift,
no matter the size, keeps this podcast going, sharing God's
word in a way children love, nurturing their faith, and
inspiring them. Thank you for choosing to be a part

(02:17):
of this journey, for trusting me to be a part
of your children's spiritual growth, and for supporting this mission
not letting this podcast die, as well as helping these
stories to be more accessible to kids everywhere. Hello again,

(02:39):
and welcome back to Kids' Bible stories. Today's story is
called growing pains, and this comes from James Chapter one,
verses one through eight. Have you ever had your legs
heard at night? I remember one time when I was kid,

(03:01):
I told my mom.

Speaker 2 (03:02):
My legs are sough ache.

Speaker 1 (03:05):
They hurt. I was lying in bed and kept twisting
around under the covers, trying to find a comfy spot.
I rubbed my shins with both hands, like I was
trying to warm them up or rub the hert away.
I didn't know why they hurt. I hadn't fallen or
bumped into anything. They just well, they ached and hurt.

(03:31):
She came in, kissed my forehead and said, oh, sweetie,
those are growing pains, growing pains. I wasn't so sure
I'd like the sound of that, but then she smiled
and said, sometimes when your body is growing taller and stronger,

(03:51):
it can ache a little. That's because your bones, your muscles,
and joints, they're all stretching and changing. It might, but
it's actually healthy and normal. Listeners, doesn't that sound strange?
That pain could actually be a sign that something good

(04:14):
is happening that I'm growing. Today, we are going to
talk about the kind of hard things that God can
use to help us grow in our hearts and in
our faith. So let's go ahead and jump right into
today's story. Many people believe that the person who wrote

(04:43):
the part of the Bible we were about to hear
that it was actually Jesus's brother, James. Can you imagine
what that must have been like, growing up with Jesus,
eating breakfast with him, playing outside with him. Oh wow, Well,

(05:03):
James wrote to encourage those who are going through a
hard time, So let's hear what he wrote.

Speaker 2 (05:15):
James, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ,
to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations. Greetings, consider
it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face
trials of many kinds.

Speaker 1 (05:35):
Oh, hold on, mom, what's a trial? It means something
really hard that you're going through. It can be painful.
It could be something that makes you feel sad or scared, frustrated,
like starting a new school, or even getting really sick.

(05:56):
Oh okay, let's hear what else else?

Speaker 2 (06:00):
He says? Consider it pure joy, brothers and sisters, whenever
you face trials of many kinds. You know that the
testing of your faith it produces perseverance to keep going.
Let perseverance then finish its work, so that you may
be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of

(06:26):
you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously
to all, without finding fault, and it will be given
to you. But when you ask, you must believe and
not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a
wave in the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

(06:46):
The person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.
Such a person is double minded and unstable in all
that they do.

Speaker 1 (06:57):
Thank you for that message, James.

Speaker 2 (07:00):
You're welcome.

Speaker 1 (07:02):
Now. Listeners. We were just talking about trials and pain,
and did you catch what James said? He said, we
should consider it joy when we go through trials. Wait,
what huh? That sounds kind of backwards. I mean, I

(07:25):
thought it would say something like feel sad or be
frustrated when hard things happen. But joy that seems like
the opposite of what we'd expect. James does say why
we can feel that way?

Speaker 2 (07:43):
You know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance,
and that will finish its work so that you may
be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Speaker 1 (07:57):
Let's talk about what James means. Sometimes a way that
can help us understand something like this is through a story,
So let me share one with you. There was once
a girl named Mia who wanted to race in the
big school bike race at the end of the year.

(08:21):
She had never done a bicycle race before, but she
thought it sounded exciting and she really wanted to try.
So Mia started training every morning before school. At first,
it was really hard. Her legs got tired fast. Sometimes

(08:42):
she got side cramps. One morning, she hopped off her
shiny blue bike, sat down on the grass, and proclaimed, Oh,
this is too hard.

Speaker 2 (08:53):
I'm not sure I want to do this anymore.

Speaker 1 (08:55):
But her mom, who had been watching, knelt beside her
and said, gently, remember when your legs used to ache
when you were growing taller. That was growing pains. Right now,
your muscles are doing the same thing. They're working hard

(09:16):
and getting stronger. If you keep going, you're going to
be amazed at what you can do. Mia wasn't so sure,
but she decided to trust her mom's advice, and you
know what, week after week she kept biking. It was

(09:37):
still hard. Sometimes her legs still ached a little, but
she started biking farther and faster, and by the time
the race came, Mia stood at the starting line with
confidence in her heart and strong legs underneath her. On
your marr, get your head at it. She didn't win

(10:06):
first place, but she did finish the whole race, and
she smiled because she had grown, not just in her legs,
but in her heart too. You see, that's kind of
like what James was talking about. He told us that

(10:30):
when we face trials, hard things, when life feels like
a tough race, we can actually be growing. Our faith
can get stronger, just like our legs get stronger when
we use them. Our trust in God grows when we
hold on to him even when things are hard. And

(10:54):
guess what, He will always be with you. He loves you, dearly. Well,
that is it for our story today. But before we go,
let's think about what we just heard. Raise your hand.

(11:16):
If you've ever had growing pains, I haven't, usually at
night or after running a lot. Thanks for sharing. Now,
we just heard that when we go through hard things
in life, things that might feel painful, James tells us
how we can look at them with joy. Just like

(11:37):
growing pains help your body grow taller and stronger, sometimes
our hearts go through hard things so they can grow
stronger too, And while we don't always like it, those
hard things might be part of how God is helping
us become brave, kind, loving, or wise. I do want

(12:01):
you to remember that not all pain is the same.
There is a pain that can help us grow, and
then there's a pain that's not good. Sometimes pain is
a warning sign that something is wrong, like when you
bump your head or have really sad feelings. That's why

(12:22):
it's always important to tell your mom or dad when
something hurts, because they can help you know the difference.
This week, I want you to remember God is always
with us, even in the hard things. He doesn't waste
our tears. He sees every struggle, every late night leg ache,

(12:46):
every prayer we whisper, and He uses them to help
us grow. So next time something feels tough, remember this
might just be your growing season and God is right
there cheering you on. Well. That is it for our

(13:08):
story today. Thank you so much for joining us, and
as always, bye for now.