Count it all Joy
When a finance manager in a large organization goes through the accounts at year end – or when an auditor works through the books to prepare the audited report – there can sometimes be a stray item in the accounts (an unfamiliar or unexpected line) that needs to be identified, explained and put in the right column. Is it an asset or a liability? Should it be coloured red or black? Similarly, there will come into our lives situations that arrive as a surprise to us. They will come as something unexpected and, frankly, unwelcome. And when we take stock of our lives – when we sit back and do the accounting – we need to know how to make sense of those experiences and how to file them. The book of James provides practical help in this very area.
James addresses his letter to “the twelve tribes in the Dispersion”. It could be that he is writing to a group of Jewish believers who have been scattered beyond their homeland of Palestine. Or he could be speaking more broadly of a mixed group of believers – Jew and Gentile – scattered in the world. In either case, he emphasises a key truth about their situation: they are away from home, scattered, isolated, and probably feeling vulnerable. These believers are under pressure and facing trials. The situation for Christians today is not too different—they too are scattered in the world, conscious of being away from their spiritual homeland, and facing pressure or opposition.
James teaches that Christians should place their trials in the “joy” column of the accounting sheet. He writes, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds….” (James 1:2) James isn’t saying that we should play a mental game and pretend that we’re happy when we’re sad. Joy is not the same as happiness. Joy is all about being satisfied in our deepest spirit because we know the Lord and have our delight and our confidence in Him. James is saying that the follower of Jesus Christ can and should calculate painful experiences—the illness, the loss of a loved one, the career setback--as joyful ones. The reason is simple: “…the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” (James 1:2) When our faith is tested – when it is put under strain like a muscle lifting a heavy weight – it is not only shown to be true and capable, it also grows in its strength. This testing of faith produces steadfastness– an ability to endure and persevere over time.
James urges us not to short-circuit the process of going through trial. As he writes, “let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:4) To be “perfect and complete” speaks of reaching a goal. Within the plan of God for His children, trials are indeed purposeful. They are heading somewhere. And what does our Heavenly Father desire and purpose for us? A life of ease or an escape from suffering? No. In His sovereignty, goodness, and wisdom, God arranges and uses the real-life circumstances we face in a broken world – a world where pain is not in short supply – for the testing of our faith. If you are facing trials today, be encouraged that there is no such thing as meaningless suffering. God is indeed at work for your ultimate good and His divine glory. Approach God “in faith, without doubting” (James 1:6) and, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him” (James 1:5).