Joyful Suffering

Introduction

Thanksgiving

A lot to be thankful for: Who has something?

We officially adopted our 7 year old son, Caesar!

Hard times in 2020

Pandemic, election, racial frustrations, etc.

Personal struggles on top of that

In the intro to his epistle, James, the brother of Jesus, gives us a clear directive when it comes to our trials

PRAY

Key Verse:

James 1:2 ESV

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

Respond to Trials with Joy (v. 2)

This concept is foreign to us in 21st century America, where we love comforts and life is about us

Let’s break this verse into two parts

“Count it all joy”

To “count it” means to consider, to take the perspective of

“joy” according to Logos means “anything that causes cheer and dispels gloom”

“all” has an idea of completeness

James is telling them to have a perspective of complete joy/cheer with no gloom

There are many things in Scripture where we can easily have that attitude

When we consider the wonders of God’s creation

When we think of the grace God has given us

When we hear the descriptions of the throne room of God in heaven

But those things aren’t what James tells us to count all joy

Instead, he tells us to “count it all joy…”

“when you meet trials of various kinds”

“When you meet” or have an encounter with

“trials” can have various meanings

“of various kinds” tells us to examine what those meanings might be and see that they apply in this passage

These can be temptations to sin, tests we face in life, or just general hard times

These are instances that naturally cause us to doubt, question, struggle, feel sadness and discouragement

Our normal reactions range, but joy is not a natural human reaction in the least!

But James is calling us to have a complete joyful perspective of these hard times that come our way

But how?

No doubt each of us had a trial we recently faced or are currently facing come to mind

How on earth do we face these trials with joy?

Maybe it is a temptation to sin that keeps plaguing us, that we keep falling prey to

Maybe it is a lost relationship

Maybe it is the death of a loved one

Maybe it is a financial struggle

Recently, I have felt a great deal of discouragement

Been searching for a ministry for three years now

Keep getting turned down

It is hard to count it all joy in any of these instances

But James doesn’t leave us there with a command and no further assistance

How to Have Joy in Trials:

You must have a relationship with Christ, for then you have hope at all times, even in trials

Embrace the Testing of Your Faith (v. 3-4)

James tells us that “the testing of your faith produces steadfastness”

But this is one of those things that the Christian already knows (“for you know…”)

James is simply reminding us of the impact of a tested faith

It is stronger!

On the rare occasion I go to the gym, I find comfort in remembering that when I am feeling worn down by the weight of the exercise, it means my muscles are being strengthened

In the same way, when we are tested, our faith is being strengthened

Peter uses a similar analogy in 1 Peter 1:6-7

1 Peter 1:6–7 ESV

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Peter’s analogy is gold being refined by fire

But even Peter notes that these trials can grieve us

We don’t face this all with an extreme happiness oblivious to pain

There is still pain and grief

Joy and grief do not have to be antonyms

They can coexist

Steadfastness is the ability to continue to endure

It is why people who push through the pain of the gym get stronger and how they can lift more and do more with less stress and pain

This same word is used later in James to describe Job, the man who went through trials of losing his wealth and his children and experiencing great physical pain

James using this analogy later reminds us that we don’t have to have a perfect response

Job definitely struggled with an extreme sadness and questioned God

Going through trials is hard!

We don’t have to respond perfectly

Look at the Psalms – David went through terribly hard times

Many of his Psalms question God

But the important thing is that he didn’t stay there

He came through and doesn’t let his circumstances dictate how he viewed and responded to God

Same with Job

And the same has to be true of us

We can struggle through the circumstances, but we need to endure

And the more we do, the better we will face struggles in the future

Because our faith will be stronger

Seek wisdom from God (v. 5-6)

An incredibly beneficial tool we need to face these struggles is wisdom

Wisdom is the trait that helps us see things from a heavenly perspective

It helps us know how to respond

It helps us to make the right decision with a clear head even when everything is spiraling out of control around us

Wisdom is what Jesus exhibited when He was in the wilderness, weakened from fasting for 40 days, and when tempted in this state, responded with quoting Scripture

Wisdom is what Jesus exhibited when in the garden, overcome by the weight of what He was about to endure on the cross, He asked His Father to take the cup from Him, but then had the wisdom to submit to God’s will

Wisdom is so helpful when we face various trials

But wisdom is not a common trait

How many here have had trials where they lacked wisdom?

James tells us that if we lack wisdom, we need to ask God!

Simple as that. Need wisdom? Then ask for it!

And God will give it to you!

God doesn’t always give it in the same way

For me, over the last three years, I have had moments of discouragement and doubt

I have asked myself if I was really being called to preach

In one such instance, I was filling the pulpit at a church near Harrisburg

After the service, they had an announcement made by a retired pastor who had been attending and helping the church

He announced that he and his wife were moving on from assisting that church

It was a heartfelt announcement

Then he prayed and when he did, he of course prayed for the church and their future

Then he prayed for me, praying that God would help me find a ministry for he could tell that God had called me to ministry

I hadn’t even talked to the guy, but God used him to give me His perspective, His wisdom

God has done this time and time again

Just last week, I was feeling probably more discouraged than I have in the last three years

And I turned on a sermon by David Platt and God used him to encourage me by hearing him be transparent about his struggles

And on that same day, I saw a video he posted on Facebook where he was encouraging pastors to continue to wait on the Lord during their hard times

God used him to give me the wisdom I needed reminded of

I am sure we could go around this room the rest of the day and recount instances where God has given each of us wisdom in our hard times

But the point is God has done it and will do it again. We must ask Him

This requires faith

The faith these trials develop is essential to help us endure more trials as we turn to God for wisdom

James simply says, “when you ask God, believe that He will give it to you”

It isn’t a magic trick that if you say the right password, you will receive what you desire

God desires our heart faith, not our recited expressions

And James says if we lack faith, we are like a wave thrown around in the sea

We have no control but are controlled by our circumstances

But faith calls on the Lord, knowing He is not in the raging storm, but can stop it with one word

And when we find we are being thrown around by the circumstances of our trials, lacking faith, we should then ask God for faith as we ask Him for wisdom

When we obtain this wisdom, we will gain perspective

The perspective we see in verses 9-11

If we are poor, we will have the perspective to boast, knowing that our earthly state does not dictate our eternal state

And if we are wealthy, we will be humble, knowing that our earthly state does not dictate our eternal state

Both of those perspectives take a...

Keep a Future Focus (v. 12)

James 1:12 ESV

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.

The future focus James refers to here serves as an encouragement to us

If we are able to be steadfast, we will receive the crown of life

This eludes to our eternal reward in heaven when we have finished the race

And the prerequisite to receive this crown is to be one who loves God

Thus, if we love God, one way we show that is by remaining steadfast under trials

“Steadfast” means to endure patiently

It is used over and over in the New Testament in regard to enduring suffering to the end and receiving salvation

James used it in verses 3-4

And here, James uses it also to refer as a necessary step on the path to eternal reward

James 1:3–4 ESV

for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

To be “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” is a goal we cannot achieve on earth

But one we can look forward to

It is a future focus

It is tempting to think, “well, I will get there eventually, but why try now?”

Perfection might be an eternal reward

But it is also an earthly goal

We should strive each day to be more like Christ

Otherwise, He wouldn’t have said:

Matthew 5:48 ESV

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

If perfection was something we are to passively wait to attain, Jesus would have simply said, “One day you will be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect”

But He gave a command to BE perfect

It is our goal

We need to focus on our goal

A runner in a race is likely to lose if he runs looking everywhere but where he is running

Likewise, we cannot allow ourselves to be consumed by our trials

But to, in the midst of our trials, focus on the goal

We need to find encouragement, knowing that we have an end goal

We strive for eternity and the crown of life

And we let this reality encourage us to remain steadfast, to endure

Have a Humble Perspective (v. 13-15)

In verse 10, the rich are called to have a humble perspective in regards to their worldly standing, which can be a trial in and of itself

We in America struggle with this greatly, having a culture that promotes growing our comforts and economic position

Verses 13-15 focus on humility when it comes to our trials of sin and temptation

He hits on one of our default responses to temptation: blame God

James warns us not to fall into this trap

God doesn’t tempt us

In fact, it is our own desires when we are tempted

And these desires grow into sin which leads to death

He uses an analogy of life to describe temptation

Desire conceives and gives birth to sin

Sin grows up and when fully grown brings death

A reminder that the consequences of our sin are not always immediately seen

They take time to mature and then we feel the full force of their consequences

So what does this have to do with a humble perspective?

James is telling us this to correct our prideful response to sin that keeps us from accepting fault and leads us to blame God

Instead, we must be humble and admit fault

Our response to our sin should be to humbly confess

And we can know for sure that God will forgive

When we face trials of temptation, a humble perspective will help us remain steadfast

And so will community

It is a temptation to fight sin alone

But this too is routed in pride

We don’t want others to see our faults

But when we have that philosophy and others have that philosophy, the members of the church hide their sin and lack authenticity

Then we have a church full of people pretending to be something they are not

And sin continues to hid in the recesses of our hearts and grow

Instead, we must humbly confide in others

And bring that sin into the light

And our communities will grow

As we collectively live out grace and receive grace from others

Remember God’s Character (v. 16-18)

As we are tempted in our trials of sin to blame God, we are also tempted in our trials to doubt God

Doubting God is natural

And when we face hard trials and take bruises, doubting is even easier to fall into

I would be lying if I told you that I didn’t have times of doubt over these last three years

But living in doubt is wrong

We will often find ourselves there, but when we take up residence in doubt, we have given into that temptation and forgotten God’s character

James tells us not to fall into this temptation

And the remedy he gives is to remember God’s character

When we are going through trials, it is easy to forget the good and focus on the bad

We do that with God, being quick to try to blame Him and forgetting everything true about Him

So, when we are in trials, sometimes we need to pause and refocus our hearts on God and His character

James gives three examples:

God is the perfect gift giver

When we feel like we are getting nothing good in life, we can remember to turn to our God who gives good gifts and trust that He will give us gifts that are good by His standard

God is light

When we feel like there is no light at the end of the tunnel of our trial, we can remember to stop seeking whatever relief we desire and instead seek God, for He is light

God is not impacted by change

When our trials are tossing us around like a canoe in a hurricane, we can find solace in our God who is constant and seek the stability He offers

Most importantly, however, is that God has given us salvation

He has made us His firstfruits, the best of His crop

What does the best look like? Perfect and complete, not lacking anything

And it is because of this that we can have faith in that God

Because we know that when our faith is tested, we can stay true

For the One we have faith in is able and willing to make us perfect and complete, not lacking anything

And because of this, when we face trials, we can have joy

Conclusion

Understanding how to consider it all pure joy rises and falls on whether we truly trust God in the middle of what our human minds can't see as good at all. It's hard. So I like to think of it in terms of baking. Imagine today if we decided to make a cake....After going to the store, we set out all the ingredients: the flour, the butter, the sugar, the vanilla, the eggs, the baking powder, and a pinch of salt. But then maybe we felt too tired to mix it all together and make the cake. Instead we thought we could just enjoy the cake one ingredient at a time. The thing is that sometimes we don't like some of the individual ingredients, so we'd rather leave them out. The flour is too dry - leave it out. The sugar, butter and vanilla are all good - leave them in! The eggs are just gross when raw - definitely leave those out! And then our cake would never be made mature and complete, not lacking anything. We are so quick to judge the quality of our lives and the reliability of God based on individual events rather than the eventual good God is working on putting together. We know that just like the master baker has reasons to allow the flour and eggs in the right measure into his recipe, Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, will do the same with dry times and hard times. And yes, we may have to go through some chaos in the mixing and some heat in the baking, but soon we will rise and live lives that are a sweet offering of hope, grace, peace and comfort to others. That's how we can consider it pure joy today. There's purpose in the pain and joy in the making of a life with Jesus.

-Lysa TerKeurst