2 Consider
it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any
sort or fall into various temptations. James 1:2 AMP
I want to
talk about trials from a little different perspective. Because… Sometimes…. It almost seems counter-intuitive, wrong
almost, or maybe even offensive to consider trials and temptations joyful. I
mean… they’re bad…. they hurt…. Right???
But God says these things that seem so hard and wrong are designed to
bring good fruit. Wow.
Scripture
tells us that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts
and His ways are not our ways. (Is 55:8-9) When I read in James to
consider trials joyful, I’m reminded that I don’t think like God does. I have had times of great grace, like when I was
facing cancer and lung surgery. It was easy for me to tell that God was near
and present. But somehow, it seems far more typical that the things I’m walking
through are hard and they hurt a lot, and trials don’t prompt rejoicing in me. It
seems I so easily fall into being overcome by whatever trial is pressing on me.
I love how the Amplified Bible says it: “I am enveloped in” trials.
Count it all
joy?? Where’s the disconnect? Clearly it’s me. So what do I do when I’m facing
something and all I can see is pain or negativity or whatever thing is going
wrong? Eventually, and I’m learning to do it more quickly, I focus on a few key
things:
God is good. Whether it looks like it or not,
whether I understand or not. I know this is absolute truth. God is good.
(2 Chron 5:13, 7:3; Ezra 3:11; Psalm 86:5, 100:5, 136:1, Nahum 1:7)
God loves me. He wants
the absolute best for me. This is indisputable truth. I’ve found that by settling these things in
my mind, in my thinking, the dark times don’t look quite as dark. (John 3:16; Rom 5:8; Eph 2:4; 2 Thes 2:16;
1John 4:10; Jer 29:11, 31:17; Hosea 2:15)
Nothing is wasted. So many times to me, whatever
struggle I face seems senseless and purposeless. I mean, really, why? Why?
This? Again? And then I remember… nothing is wasted. But wait… is that even
scriptural? I think so… I think it’s a loose paraphrase of verses like James
1:3 that talk about “ Be
assured and understand
that the trial and proving
of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience.” Is
61:3 talks about giving beauty for ashes, the oil of gladness
instead of mourning, praise instead of heaviness, and Romans 8:28 reminds
me “that for those who love God all things
work together for good, for those who are called according to his
purpose.” His purpose… His
will… not mine…. Ouch! How many times am I upset because I don’t like what is
happening to ME? But HE has a better plan.
One of my favorite “go to”
verses when I’m in the midst of struggle is Psalm 27:13-14 “I would have despaired unless I had believed
that I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living. 14 Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take
courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.” Sometimes I just meditate on an
encouraging or relevant verse… sometimes I pray through the verse, over and
over… and sometimes I put on music. I’ve collected music that speaks to areas
that I’m vulnerable, and when I have those times that all I can see is pain, I
put on those songs and let the music wash over me, heal and cleanse my heart.
I learned
something interesting from David’s fight against Goliath. (1 Samuel 17) In a nutshell, what happens there is Goliath
railing against Saul and his army twice a day, for 40 days, talking about how
weak they are and how strong he is. Israel believed the lies and accusations
hurled at them, and was afraid. Then David showed up. He heard something
different, and so his response was different. 26 And
David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills
this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised
Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the
living God?” Do
you hear the difference? David recognized that the accusations, though spoken
to Israel, were really challenging God. When I’m in the middle of a rough
situation, what is my response? Do I listen to all the accusations, silently
agreeing with them? Do I look at all the
things that are going wrong? ….
I’m beginning to learn, like I did
last March when so many things were pressing on me as I prepared to close on
the sale of our house, to look to God, cry out to Him, praise Him, worship Him,
the One who is bigger than the circumstances. When I finally came to the place
of looking to God and praising Him, suddenly, everything changed.
There’s
one more thing I want to mention… emotions… sometimes I’ve felt… sad, angry, depressed,
overwhelmed, hopeless or despair…. Slowly,
I’m learning not to pay so much attention to how I feel. I might be overtired.
Or hormonal. Or hungry. Or weary. Or sometimes, even after a “spiritual high”
or good time with the Lord, I’m just exhausted and need to recharge and
thoughts and emotions can go haywire… (Elijah – prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18
& despairing in 1 Kings 19:1-8 – God gave him sleep and food.)
Sometimes how I feel, how I’m thinking, how
the situation appears can change after a good night’s sleep or a good meal or a
much needed break or pampering. I’m learning to not take some of these feelings
and perceptions so seriously. More than
anything, I’ve learned that I have to pay attention to what I’m thinking. Take
thoughts captive. (2 Cor 10:5) Bless the Lord O my soul. (Psalm 103) Count it
all joy. (James 1:2) Pay attention to what I’m focusing on.
So in that context, I look again at James 1
… 2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full
effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Yeah, maybe God does know what He’s talking
about after all J Maybe I can do that
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