“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” James 1:2-4 KJV
Have you ever had one of those days when nothing was going right? Or when something big just comes at you out of nowhere and you have no idea what to do with it? I know I have. Sometimes it seems overwhelming. You have no solution. There’s no easy fix. You just have to live through it. One day at a time. Honestly, it’s hard and exhausting to live through some of the trials that come into our lives.
About a year ago I had one of those days. I didn’t really know what to do. There wasn’t an answer. I just felt like I needed to sit with my Bible and spend time with God. I didn’t know what to pray for. I just needed that moment of silencing all distractions and fears to focus on God.
I opened my Bible, not sure what I was looking for or what I needed. God directed me to James chapter 1. In my mind I thought, “I know this passage. It’s asking for wisdom. I don’t feel like I need that right now.” However, I just began in verse 1. I didn’t make it past verse 4. I had found what I needed. God was there with His perfect answer.
But this time, His answer seemed be more of a challenge than comfort. This was not a promise to take the trial away, or an answer on what I needed to do to fix anything. Instead, He wanted me to count it ALL joy. Yet, this actually was an answer of comfort. Counting it all joy meant I had to obey His Word. I had to surrender to God’s Will. I had to trust Him. There is a peace and comfort that comes when we say “Yes” to God and let Him work in us.
I’ll be honest. I cried and prayed, “Lord. This is hard. I do not like this trial. I don’t want to count it as joy. I don’t know how to do that. It hurts. I don’t know how this is joyful.”
Guess what happened. He began to teach me how to do that very thing. Lovingly and gently, God showed me how to count that trial as joyful.
I got to enjoy His presence and comfort as I surrendered to His will and chose to trust Him in the midst of that trial. Paul experienced the same thing in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. He had a thorn in his flesh. He asked God three times to remove it and God said no. God answered Paul with “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” I don’t know about you, but the presence and promise of God is way more satisfying than God removing my trial. In response Paul was able to say “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. This was also the same man that God use to write Philippians 4:11-13 “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both how to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” He had received the comfort and promise in 2 Corinthians, and after many trials, he was still able to say that he can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth him. God was Paul’s source of strength, and He is your source too! We can have the same testimony as Paul. Trusting God and counting it all joy.
In James 1, we see there is a purpose for our trials. God does not allow trials just to make us miserable. That is not His desire at all. It is for a purpose! Knowing this helps us to take our focus off of the situation and look to Him, to see what He may be trying to do in our lives. Verse 3 reminds us that the trying of our faith works patience. So be careful next time you pray for patience! They come by the way of trials and God has no problem answering that prayer request so we can grow spiritually! It really is for our good! Romans 8:28-29 agrees with this truth: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
All things are for our good and the purpose is that we will be more like Christ. Isn’t that the goal of the Christian life? But, if you don’t trust Him, you won’t have this perspective. So it really does come down to whether we trust and believe Him or not. I had to ask God to show me and help me to count it all joy. That is what He wants. That is relying on Him. You can’t do this on your own. Ask Him for help. Trusting God is really just trading your will for His. In James 1:5 God invites us to ask Him for wisdom and in chapter 4 verse 2 we are reminded that we have not because we ask not. He wants us to ask Him! God is not challenged or caught off guard by our questions!
I want to say that patience is not just idly sitting by waiting for the trial to pass. Patience is enduring the trial with the grace of God. This is part of your testimony that others will see. Are you counting it all joy and showing the goodness and grace of God to others? Counting it all joy shows you trust Him, and there just may be someone watching you that needs to know if God really is trustworthy or not. Your endurance shows others that they can endure their trials, too, when they rely on God and endure His way. Joyfully trusting Him.
We see God has a purpose for these trials. Others have told us this when things are hard. But have you ever wanted to ask God “why?” I believe that’s a normal response. Some of you were taught that it is not okay to question God, that you should never ask Him why. I disagree with this teaching. I firmly believe we can ask God why, as long as we do it in the right spirit and not in demand of an answer. He does not have to tell us why, God is far wiser than we are. He does not owe us an explanation. When we ask why, that drives us to God. That puts us in a state of prayer and seeking Him. Which is where we should go, to Him. Seeking Him in prayer and in His Word; in faith that He is doing all things for our good.
Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Will you trust Him today so that you can count it all joy?
With Hope in His Service,
Heather
Proverbs_31Life 