James 1:1-4 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings. Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
This is kind of a weird passage don’t you think? Ever thank God for the pain and suffering in your life? “Gee God, thank you so much for that miserable day yesterday.” “Thanks for the bad report card, that discouraging news from the doctor, those less-than-encouraging comments from my ‘friend’”. I actually can’t remember the last time I sat down and sincerely thanked God for the things that hurt the most in life. And yet, this is how James starts his whole book! “Consider it pure joy…whenever you face trials of many kinds.” Joy, he says!
Why would he say joy? Why would he write to a bunch of people who are really going through hard times and tell them to consider it joy? The answer for James is that God is intimately involved in the sufferings of His people. The suffering we face isn’t just random and pointless, but its something that God is using to make us into the people He wants us to be. God uses it to build our love and faith in Him. He uses it to build character, endurance, and maturity. He uses it to grab hold of our attention, shape our hearts and forever change our lives.
So yeah, it can hurt. It can be frustrating and downright scary at times. More often than not, its probably the last thing we would ever ask to go through at the time. But the story doesn’t end with the pain and discomfort. It ends with God’s finished work in our lives. So James encourages us to consider it all joy – because God has claimed your life and is at work amidst the struggles.
And never forget, God knows what it means to suffer! He entered this broken world and took on the height of pain and suffering to fix it. He died so that you could know what it means to live free of sin, pain, and suffering. That’s a love we can count on…a love that knows what we’re going through and promises to walk right alongside us!
