count it all joy

‘2count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4and let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

5if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6but let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7for that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

9let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11for the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flowers fall, and its beauty perishes. so also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

12blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him. 13let no one say when he is tempted, “i am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

16do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father or Lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.’

joy. what a beautiful gift from God, right? that we would find joy in his presence – in being connected with Him we would experience of joyful life. that doesn’t necessarily mean a happy life though. joy unlike happiness is a state of being, it is an inner feeling, it is a practice and a behavior. a joyful life is yours to choose – it is intentional, a heart stance you deliberately shift towards. happiness comes and goes because it is a reaction. happiness is an outward expression of a moment. happiness is temporary, while joy is present in every moment.

            since joy is a state of being it is able to be accompanied by other feelings such as happiness, anger, anxiety, sadness. all of these emotions are undependable, they are constantly influenced by our external events that are everchanging and out of our control. but not joy. joy is about what is happening within us, and that we get to choose. this is why James says to ‘count it all joy’ not ‘be happy in everything’ because he understands that life is hard. he understands that happiness is not going to be ever present, as it says in Ecclesiastes 3:1 ‘for everything there is a season, and time for every matter under heaven.’

    faith is tested through trials, not produced by trials.

            James wants us to ‘count it all joy’ because if we receive our trials this way instead of from a place of discouragement our trials are actually meant to bring us blessings as James later on mentions in verse 12 saying, ‘blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him.’ our trials produce steadfastness, which means to stay the same or not quick to change, when they are received with the lens of faith and not unbelief, when they are received with joy and not grumbling.

            James is also not trying to tell us that we have to enjoy our trials! i know there are plenty of trials i’ve gone through in baseball that i did not enjoy at all, as i’m sure there are seasons of grief, or mourning, or anger and confusion that we don’t necessarily enjoy, but we will seek after joy and set our hearts towards it. we will stand on the encouragement from James that when we have ‘let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.’ and that is how we can have joy amidst our circumstances. we know that when we face trials of all different kinds throughout our lives, that if we take them on from joy and with faith that we will be that much closer to ‘lacking in nothing’.

            the more we come to know Jesus the more we should also come to know and grow in His joy. the joy of His presence, the joy of His peace, the joy of His love, the joy of His faithfulness. joy is constant like our Heavenly Father. He is joy, and since He will never leave my side, neither will His joy. happiness isn’t present in darkness or in difficulty, but Psalm 23:4 says, ‘even though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death, i will fear no evil, for You are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.’ and if He is with me in the valley of the shadow of death i know His joy will be present also.

            count it all joy my brothers and sisters.

-n0tbychance