Consider it Pure Joy

July 2, 2020

James goes a step beyond surviving suffering and calls us to consider times of suffering joyful! How could this be? What does James know about suffering that God might be trying to teach you this week? 

STUDY THE SCRIPTURE

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REFLECTION

Where is the Joy

By Kelsey Bacon

  

Have you ever looked into the face of a trial, a difficult situation, a loss, a hardship, and thought, "Oh wow, the fact that this is happening just fills me with joy!" If you answered yes to that question, I might come to you for some spiritual direction. Or I might call you crazy. If you answered no, then you're probably like every other human being on the planet who finds it pretty difficult to "consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds."

I'm sure that this passage, particularly verses 2 and 3, have been read in churches all across the world throughout this trial we've been facing the last several months. It's supposed to be a passage of comfort, one that lets us know it's okay that we're facing a hardship, because we're going to persevere and come out the other side a better Christian! What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

But what if you don't consider this trial to be a joy? What if you feel like your faith is being tested, and you don't think you're passing? Or what if you're not looking at Coronavirus, but at all of the protests and the political and social unrest throughout our country? How can we consider that trial pure joy? Or what if you and your family are going through something completely different, something completely heart-breaking, and you are struggling to see where the joy is?

I think there are a few key verses in this passage that can guide us through these questions. But first, a reminder for those who are like me: we must remember that our feelings can often deceive us. There is a song that I love that says, "A man may find his eye deceiving, a fool holds on to trust his sight, but a wise man knows that his own feeling may not with the truth align." Just because we don't feel joyful doesn't mean we don't have the joy of the Lord. Just because we don't feel like God is near doesn't mean that he's far away. Just because we might feel like we cannot persevere doesn't mean that we cannot persevere. That's where God comes in.

This passage speaks so much of God's character. Of his generosity, of his willingness to give even though we don't deserve it (verse 5). It speaks also of the gift of true life, the crown of life, the richness of our inheritance that we receive we persevere under trial (verse 12). But the whole point is that we are not alone. God is with us in the trial, there to pick us up when we fall, there to provide what we need to make it through. And that is why we can have joy. We don't have to be happy that we're facing a trial, but we can have joy--rest, contentment, peace--knowing that every step we take through this life brings us closer to the life God has promised us, and that every step we take is alongside a God who will never let us fall.

God never promised us it would be easy. But he did promise us that He would be good.

UALC’S CAMPAIGN OF PRAYER 

    

THURSDAY: TRIUMPH

Pray for scientists all over the world seeking antidotes to heal the world of this virus. Pray they would be triumphant quickly.