Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 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.
James 1:2-4 (emphasis mine)
A long time ago I heard or read an interview with author Phillip Yancey.* He talked about how differently Americans prayed than people in other, less prosperous, nations. He said Americans pray more for God to overcome, to resolve, to heal their difficulties and pain. In other countries, according to Yancey, people prayed, not so much for relief from their suffering, but to be made stronger, more persevering throughout their suffering. It’s taken me a few decades to understand the latter is the better prayer.
I used to do a bit of an eye rolling inside whenever I would read James’ counsel, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds …” Accepting trials, I can appreciate. Even thanking God for trials, I can understand. But consider it JOY? Really? For decades I just couldn’t connect to that. But I’m starting to see. I’m starting to see just how different life would be if I could be more like Jesus. More gracious. More present. More engaged. More long suffering. And so, more than ever before, being like Jesus is what I want and I’m seeing with a clarity I never had before that I will grow in Jesusness through the trials. Just like Him. For Jesus “learned obedience from what he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). So, though I’ve held this verse close for decades, I am only just now feeling a certain joy, in the midst of heartache and pain, longing and waiting, knowing it is doing a needed transforming work in me. Yes – joy. Crazy, huh?
I’m not talking about a giddy joy. If that is what James meant, than, obviously, I still have a way to go. I’m talking about a solid hope that anticipates something wonderful and that can’t help but produce a small internal smile even while hearts are breaking.
How do we find this experience of joy in the middle of trials of all kinds? Three things, at minimum, need to be active in our hearts and minds if we are to taste this very special kind of joy. First, we must know and accept that we will never be done wrestling out and confessing sin. Not until Christ appears and we become like Him, having finally seen Him as He is (1John 3:2). We are deep and complex people and our flesh messes with every bit of us (Proverbs 20:5). Just because we are not aware of sin, doesn’t mean it’s not there. That is God’s grace over us. If being a therapist has taught me anything, it is that there are always more layers of desire, pain and sin.
The second flows right out of the first: we must never think of ourselves as good Christians. We must understand that our “good” falls short every time of the holiness we are called to. Isaiah refers to our efforts as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6) compared to God’s. And God is the standard bearer. Even Jesus practiced this mindset (Mark 10:18).
And finally, we must constantly remind ourselves that if goodness does flow from our lives it is not us but God at work in us (Phil 2:13). These awarenesses will lead us into the humility that compels us to embrace our need, yes need, for our difficulties and afflictions, if we are to be like Jesus (Psalm 119:67, 71). Times of perseverance are an essential part of what brings about our maturity, our completeness, our perfection.
To have the lives of love and purpose that we hunger for, we need to be more like Jesus. To be more like Jesus, we need some serious training. And trials of all kinds provide that training. So, maybe it’s not so outrageous to be joyful when the opportunity to grow comes my way, even if it is in the form of a trial.
Unconvinced? Try this every day for a month: think about something really hard in your life. Then look at God, your Father, and say, “I trust You. I trust that You have allowed this for my good. I look forward to the transformation You are doing in me. I want to be more like Jesus.”
*Of the five excellent Phillip Yancey books I’ve read, What’s So Amazing about Grace? is my favorite. I would recommend it for anyone wanting a more gracious heart.