James 1:2-3 (NKJV) 2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
Joy.
That word always brings to my mind images of people smiling, and maybe even dancing and celebrating.
Never do we think of that word, joy, in the same breath as the word, trials.
But maybe we should change that!
We all encounter trials of various types throughout our lives. Some are minor and others are very serious; maybe even gut-wrenching.
While we’re walking through those trials, we rarely, if ever, think of being joyful. In fact, we usually think quite the opposite.
But God has been frequently showing me recently that having His joy in tough situations will actually change us, and may very well change the outcome of many of the things we face.
Don’t get me wrong. This doesn’t mean that while we’re going through trials we should constantly be dancing and shouting. Trials require our attention. And sometimes they require that we take certain steps to walk through them in a way that will help to bring them to a close, and to a positive finish or outcome.
How we do that, though, says a lot about whether we have joy or not.
If we find ourselves constantly downtrodden, then it’s probably safe to say that we do not have God’s joy at work within us.
Yes, it is OK to mourn in certain situations. It is OK to seriously consider some of the things we face, pondering on what we can learn from them.
It’s not good, though, if we spend every waking hour with our heads hanging, focusing only on what we see to be negative.
After all, look at what James said in verse 3; the testing of your faith produces patience.
If our faith is never tested, we have no way of knowing if it is genuine, or if it is solid or strong.
Anything that is untested is unproven. And if it is unproven, we can never verify it as genuine or legitimate.
So, view trials as opportunities to watch your faith grow. Be joyful in the midst of them. And if we don’t yet know how to do that, let’s allow God to teach us how.
He is the Master Teacher and the Maker of joy itself.
Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie
Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808
401-315-0902
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