Count It All Joy..Even When It’s Really Hard

This verse is often quoted to imply that when we are in the midst of trials, we need to be upbeat and put on a “brave face.” That is not what James intends here. As Christians, we sometimes have to face adversity. And it should grieve and trouble us. Even Jesus wept when confronted with the death of His friend Lazarus. 

Happiness is not what James is writing about. When you don’t hit any red lights on the drive home, that makes you happy. When you have your favorite dessert after dinner, that makes you happy. Happiness is indeed a gift from God, but happiness will not sustain us through the difficulties that come from living in a fallen world. We need joy.

Joy is an internal knowledge and hope that enables us to face trials. How can someone who receives a difficult diagnosis have joy? It is because they have an internal condition that comes from intimately knowing their Heavenly Father. It comes from having an understanding that life is more than just daily existence. It is the knowledge, not just a hope, that there is a greater inheritance waiting.

There is an entire channel now that rebroadcasts old sports games. Why would someone watch a game where they already know how it ends? That is precisely why they watch! They know how it ends. If you know that your team wins on the last play of the game, you no longer care about the turnovers, missed opportunities or stalled drives. Those things no longer matter because you know how the game ends.

We are living in the period between the beginning and the end! We are occupying the time after the period Moses wrote about in Genesis and before the time John tells us about in the book of Revelation. We know how Jesus’ story ends. Your room is already prepared in your Father’s mansion where we will wait on Jesus’ triumphant return. That is the joy that James writes about to his congregation. We know that we are so loved by a Father that he sent His one and only Son to redeem us by dying on a cross and we are now reconciled forever to a good and loving Father. 

Therefore, trials will come. There will be difficult times but be bold because you know how the story ends!

Father, we pray that when the fallen world brings trials that you will fix our eyes on Jesus. He is the hope that sustains us, not our own skills and abilities. Because God is a loving Father, He brings trials to teach us that Christ and His sacrifice is our only hope. Father continue to drive us repeatedly to the cross because it is when we experience trials that we know we truly belong to You!

 This devotion provided by Jim Franks of Compassion International, Senior Monitoring Specialist and Child Advocate