Trials of Life - James 1:2

James 1:2-4 (ESV) "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds..."

When James writes this letter to Jewish Christians, there are suffering under great persecution from both the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem and from the Roman government. They have been “scattered abroad” due to the persecution. Therefore, it is no surprise that he starts his letter with encouraging words about going through “trials of various kinds”. In James 1:2-4, James gives us a few reasons why we go through these trials and what we are to gain from them.

Right out of the gate he says “Count it all joy….”. The word “count” is of interest. The first five times it is used in the NT it is translated as “governor or chief”. The literal meaning is “to lead, to rule, to command or go before”. This idea gives the phrase “count it all joy”, a little stronger tone. We are not just to think or reckon a situation to be one of joy. We are not just to let the situation decide for us if we should be in joy or sadness. We are to lead our mind and heart to joy. We are to have command over the joy we experience in a given trial or hard test.

Another word that needs a little discussion is “meet” trials. The KJV translates the word as “fall into”. This is a more accurate translation. It is a rare word used only three times in the NT. Each time the idea behind the word is for something to come upon you unexpectedly and when you fall into it (thieves in Luke 10:30, swirling waves in Acts 27:41 and various trial here in James 1:2), you are very much surrounded and engulfed by the thing you fell into.

So the first thing James wants us to learn is to command joy from our hearts even in the middle of a trial so unexpected and so all-encompassing that we are very much overwhelmed. We are to lead our attitude to be one of joy and victory, not one of sadness and defeat. I know this is not easy. Our normal tendency when face with a difficult trial is to slip into despair. The pain is great and it doesn’t let up. Where is the joy in ……. ……(name the trial you are going through)? It is tough to find joy in these very difficult trials of life. Maybe that is why God leads us into so many struggles and hard times. Maybe He is giving us “commanding and ruling practice” over our own hearts.

One last thought… Learning to “command” joy from our hearts does not make the pain go away. It will not miraculously make everything better. And it may take a lot of governing before our hearts will listen to us. It also does not mean that we are less than a “spiritual” Christian when we don’t lift our voices at the outset of falling into a trial and say “Praise God! I get to suffer and go through this pain!! Yeah!”. We are to learn to command and rule our heart with joy. We are to learn to “choose” joy.

When we are surrounded by the “trials of life” we have fallen into let us always remember that His hands are bigger than the trials and we are always in His faithful, all-mighty hands. The next time you are tested, try “commanding or choosing” joy. Test God and see if He will be faithful to give you peace and joy in the midst of your trial. I am absolutely confident that He can and He will. Choose Joy!!!