“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds” (James 1:2)
Read: James 1:1-18
Devotion: No one likes hardship. No one, in the history of mankind, has woken up thinking, “I really wish something would go wrong in my life today.” Nor should anyone. To go looking for trouble is foolish and unwise.
Yet, while trials are horrible, they’re a part of the fall. Thankfully, for Christians all trials will someday cease, but until that day, we’re stuck with them. To think that there is a way to not face any sort of hardship in this life is just as foolish and unwise as willfully looking for them. Tribulations may come to us as a consequence of our own sin, because someone else sinned against us, or just simply as a result of living in a fallen world. The one thing that we can count on, though, is that they will come.
In light of that truth, then, how should we view trials? How should we view the seasons of our life when we are undergoing some sort of difficulty? Would you believe that the Biblical answer is “with joy?”
As absurd as that sounds, God is clear on this point. We’re actually commanded by God to count it all joy when we meet trials of various kinds. To “count,” as the ESV renders it, is to “think,” “consider” or “reckon.” That is the mindset we are to have about our trials. “When we meet” means “to fall into,” so note again that we are not to intentionally and willfully seek out trials. We will have plenty of them just in the natural occurrence of life. So, when we are in the midst of them, we are to reckon them as all joy.
Why would we do such a thing? The world certainly would not do such a thing. We are to count meeting trials as all joy because we “know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” (v. 3). And letting that steadfastness have its full effect will leave us lacking in nothing. James isn’t talking about physical lack, as if we will be rewarded with money for enduring our trials well. Rather, he is speaking in regard to our character and sanctification. We are to view our trials as a joy because we know the outcome of our trials. In this we are following Christ’s example, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2).
Unbelievers cannot count their trials as joy because there is nothing to anticipate beyond this life. All they have is their time and earthly possessions, and so when a trial hits, and it destroys their treasure, all that is left is despair and immeasurable sorrow.
The believer, however, knows that there is more to life than what we can see, feel, and touch. We know that God is in sovereign control of all things and that he uses everything to fulfill his perfectly good will, which is also our greatest good (Rom 8:28). Therefore, we count the trials we face as joy. Importantly, however, James is not saying that we are to find pleasure in the suffering itself, but that we must view our suffering in light of the end result.
Having this future-orientated perspective also doesn’t mean our trials will be more pleasant as we go through them. Rather, we know that at the end of our trial we will be the better for having gone through it. We will have come to experience more of God’s grace, his steadfast love toward his children, and his protective care in and through every danger and snare.
Ultimately, focusing on the good outcome in the midst of our trial helps us to suffer well and persevere. Our countenance, attitude, words, and actions will be transformed from a dour, lack-of-hope response that characterizes the world when it faces trials (see also Phil 2:14-15). Of course, this is all easier said than done, especially if we are currently not undergoing a trial. However, as James writes, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him” (v. 5). God is our ever-present help in times of trouble (Ps 46:1). If we trust in him and go to him in the midst of our trials, he will give us the wisdom and strength to persevere—and persevere well. We are to count it all joy that God in Christ has saved you and is using your hardships to mold you more perfectly into the image of his Son.
Ponder and Pray: Ponder what joyfully meeting trials looks like. What are some pieces of evidence that someone is counting their trials as all joy? Finish by praying that the Lord would enable you to have joy in the midst of hardships you experience in this life.
