JAMES 1: 2-4
- What are your initial thoughts?
- What strange combination of words do you notice?
JOY and TRIALS?!?!?!?!?! How can we possibly have joy when we are going through a trial?? I mean, who gets excited with joy when a boyfriend dumps you?!? Or when you get into a car accident? Or when you and your best friend are fighting? Or when you have no money and you're flat broke? Or when you're sick? Or especially when someone you love passes away?? Who in the world is jumping for joy then?
Be honest! What is your first true, human reaction to your trials? I know mine is "Why me?" or "What did I do wrong?" Don't we all start re-evaluating what we did wrong, or what we did to "deserve" this?
Well, we're going to dig a little deeper to figure out just what James meant by having pure joy in the midst of trials.
The word "joy" comes from the Greek root word CHARA, which means "to be exceedingly glad". James 1:2 says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds"
- How could we ever consider going through difficulties and trials a reason to feel joy or feel exceedingly glad?
Read James 1:3-4 again: ..."because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
- According to these verses, what good can come out of trials?
Deep, pure joy comes as we persevere through trials, WITH GOD'S HELP, and our faith matures and is strengthened!!
The word JOY that James talks about doesn't literally mean be joyful in the moment that you are hurting. The way James uses it has an ETERNAL END in mind. It means we can find JOY and HOPE in the END RESULT of our PRESENT SUFFERING. We know there is a good ending coming out of the trial, so we just need to fix our focus and our joy on that, not on the immediate circumstances...no matter how tough they are!
I clearly remember the day the police informed us that my dad was dead. I was screaming and crying and asking God "Why??" I was shocked, confused, angry, devastated...utterly heart broken. There was obviously not one hint of "joy" at that moment. But I also remember the moment, after I finally took a big, deep breath and after much prayer, that I said "Ok, God, I trust you and I know one day I will see why you allowed this to happen". Well, you know what? God hears our cries and He delivers on His promises that He will always carry us through, and we will always see the good at the end of all the bad. That's exactly what happened. At the moment of my grief, I couldn't have forseen the blessings that He's brought forth through the pain. God is good! He doesn't allow us to suffer just for the sake of suffering.
Verse 3 tells us the outcome of our trials: ENDURANCE!! Think about endurance as it applies to our lives. What are some examples of things that we need endurance to accomplish?
- SCHOOL! I'm pretty sure no one finds joy in homework, reports & presentations, or quizzes & exams. But we endure all those things year after year because at the end we will finally graduate and get that diploma.
- RUNNING A RACE. Some of you may try to say that you find joy in running, but I'll bet that you didn't think that in the very beginning when you couldn't breathe properly and you got shin splints and your muscles ached for days afterwards. At the end, though, you find self-satisfaction after completing a race, along with a fit body, and perhaps even a medal =)
- WEDDING PLANNING. Sounds like a joyous occasion...until you actually start doing it. There's a lot of pressure and stress involved with all the different decisions you have to make involving a lot of different personalities. But we endure it because in the end, hopefully, the wedding will be beautiful and the marriage will be even better!
- EXERCISE. Ugh! Again, who absolutely loves every moment of working out?!? But we fight through the blood, sweat, and tears because in the end we have better health and a better body.
This is how we need to think about life - that the road to get somewhere WILL be hard and we WILL have trials, but if we focus on the END RESULT, then that tough road getting there will all be worth it! The key to enduring life's most painful trials is in looking forward to that end, not just focusing on the immediate pain.
Our trials produce: COMMITMENT, CONSISTENCY, AND A FAITH THAT DOES NOT WAVER OR GIVE UP. THAT FAITH IS COMPLETE AND MATURE. That's where we find our joy in the midst of our trials.
God gives us promises in His Word:
2 CORINTHIANS 4: 16-18. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
This is just one example of many promises God makes to us. Read the following scriptures and take note of the promise or promises in each:
JOHN 16:20-22. Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.
1 CORINTHIANS 15:58. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
PHILIPPIANS 3:8-9. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.
PHILIPPIANS 4:19. And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
JAMES 1:12. Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
You WILL face hard times. Scripture says "whenever" you face trials, not "if" you face them (James 1:2). In fact, chances are, you've already had your fair share (or an unfair share) of difficult circumstances in your life. But remembering those times--especially how God used them for your growth and maturity--will help you when you face a new trial.
One last word of encouragement for today: You may be in the middle of a fierce storm as you read this. And in that storm of life, it's pretty hard to think clearly. Everything is upside down. You feel like this hard time is never going to get any better. You may be on the verge of giving up. You may even feel abandoned by God. That's OK. What you feel is real, but it may not be reality. Your circumstances won't tell you what's true about God. Your feelings aren't necessarily the truth.
TAKE HEART! This storm will not last forever. You WILL see the sun again. And when you do, you'll see that the Father was as close as your next breath. JOY WILL COME--maybe not as quickly or as easily as you hope--but joy will come!
PSALM 30:5. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.
READING FOR THE WEEK: Read James 1 again. As you pray and read, ask yourselves:
- What is God telling you about Himself in these verses?
- What is God telling you about yourself or others?
- What steps will you take today in response to what God has revealed to you though His Word today?
Our theme for the next several weeks is: UNWAVERING FAITH. What do you think about that? Is that you?? Let's continue to pray for each other, encourage each other, and be accountable to one another as we all endure the trials in our lives, so that we all may have UNWAVERING FAITH!!
So...ready or not for the trials, here they come! I pray that you cling to God's promises so that you ARE ready when they do come!
Love you all! See you next week at GBS =)
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