"Count it all Joy": How to Triumph in Trials

Prayer

God, you are good and you give us good gifts. One of those gifts is the ability to be able to gather together tonight. We’re thankful. I’m excited to hear real voices, have face-to-face conversations, and see everyone here. I’m been longing for this day since the day we weren’t able to gather. May we never take this for granted. Thank you for the men and women who you have used to secure this freedom to gather for us and be with those who are unable to gather in other nations. I pray that as we meditate on your Word it would serve as a balm for our souls in this tumultuous time in our world. Thank you for Jesus and his sacrifice for us at the cross. It’s in His name we pray, by the power of the Spirit…Amen.

Introduction

It’s been 105 days since we last gathered together at PV to sing and dive into the Word together. I’ve missed you all so much. I know we’ve met over Zoom, but it’s just not the same. The Leadership team and I have prayed for you all more than you could ever imagine. We love you all and are so glad to be back together.

Group Question 1:

Since it’s been so long since we’ve last met like this, take some time to make sure you know everyone in your group and then talk about what has changed in your life in the last 105 days.

In the 105 days since we last met, in many ways, it feels like the whole world has changed. We’ve experienced a historic, global pandemic that has ushered in a quarantine and a national recession. In the midst of that we experienced, and still are experiencing, some of the greatest racial and political upheaval we’ve seen in years. On a personal level, many of you have experienced hardships, life changes, job losses, graduations, sickness, and more. Yet, with all of that change, God’s Word is just as relevant to our lives as it ever was. In fact, the book of Scripture we’ll be going through over the next 10-15 weeks is one of the most relevant in the entire Bible for our current season.

So with that, would you turn or tap with me in your Bibles to the book of James, starting at the very beginning in chapter 1, James chapter 1.

As you turn there, let me give you some background on the book and its author.

Context

The book of James was written by James of Jerusalem, the half-brother of Jesus.

James was a former skeptic who later came to believe that Jesus was Lord after seeing Jesus following His resurrection. That in itself is a powerful apologetic for the truth that Jesus is Lord. Think about it: what kind of evidence would it take for you to believe one of your siblings was the Savior of the entire universe? That evidence would have to be incredible. It would take something like a resurrection from a crucified death to convince me, which is exactly what happened.

James tells us the audience of his letter in the first verse of the book.

James 1:1

“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.”

James is writing to Jewish Christians in the Dispersion. That’s just a fancy word that means that these Jewish Christians are living outside of Jerusalem. These Christians are scattered about and are facing deep religious persecution and poverty. James is writing this letter to instruct and encourage them

With that context in mind, let’s dive into our passage for tonight. We’ll be reading the first 4 verses of chapter 1, as well as verse 12.

James 1:1-4, 12

“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 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.”

(Verse 12) “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.”

“Count it All Joy”

In imagining what it might have been like to be one of the original recipients of James’ letter, pastor Sinclair Ferguson imagines an exaggerated scenario. Imagine a family in the Dispersion. The husband comes home from work and grabs the mail on his way into the house. His wife greets him with a kiss as he comes through the front door and his kids meet him with hugs. As the man sits down at the table and opens the letter, his wife and kids gather around him with excitement, ready to hear what the letter has to say. The husband has hardly opened the letter and the kids are already anxious asking what it says. “Hold on, be patient. I’ve hardly opened the letter,” chuckles the father. He begins to read the letter out loud.

“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds…”

Immediately, the wife snatches the letter out of her husband’s hands. “Count it all joy?! How can he say that? How can he tell us to ‘Count it all joy’ while we’re in a time like this? How can he do that?”

I imagine that sum of you might’ve had the same thought as the wife as you heard me read the passage.

How can God possibly tell us to “Count it all joy when we encounter trials” in a time like this? How can He tells us to count it all joy in the midst of COVID and national upheaval, and sickness, and jobless, and pain? And yet that’s exactly what James is saying, so what does He mean?

To be clear, James is not saying we should rejoice in the actual trials themselves. He’s not telling us to be happy about death, job loss, sickness, and hurt. We shouldn’t rejoice over the brokenness of the world. Not at all. We should lament the brokenness and pain of the world. James is not trying to minimize or make light of the hurt of hardship. Instead, he’s taking hardship extremely serious as I think you’ll see.

Our job tonight is to figure out what exactly he means. To do that, we’re going to be asking and answering two questions: Why can we count it all joy when we encounter trials? And how can we count it all joy? Why and how we can count it all joy when we encounter trials. We’ll spend most of our time on the “why” and then move to the “how” at the end.

Let’s begin with the first question: why can we count it all joy when we encounter trials of various kinds.

Why?

Trials

In order to understand why we can count it all joy during trials, we have to know what “trials” means in the first place.

The Greek word used for trials is “peirasmos” (pear-os-mos) which can mean either trial or temptation.

And James is clear that these trials and temptations are not just of one particular kind, but of various kinds, like he says in verse 2.

These trials and temptations could range from a chipped nail and a flat tire, to temptation to look at pornography, to cheating on your homework, to the loss of a job, depression, or a cancer diagnosis. We encounter trials and temptations all of the time and each of these is what James has in mind here.

Group Question 2:

In order for us to be able to apply James’ wisdom well, I want us to reflect on what trials and temptations we’re facing right now so that our discussion isn’t just a philosophical one but is related to what you’re experiencing right now. So take 3-4 minutes in your group and talk about what trials you are facing right now or have faced recently.

Now that we’ve identified some trials we’re facing, why is it that we count it all joy when we encounter these trials? James explains to us in the following verses:

James 1:2-4

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

So James is telling us that we can count it all joy in trials because in trials our faith is tested and that testing produces grow, strength, and maturity in our faith. And when our faith grows we find more rest and joy in God. We are able to fall deeper in love with God.

The Christian faith proclaims that God is what we ultimately need. God Himself and God alone will satisfy us perfectly and fully. Not school, not social media, not food, not sex, not marriage, not children, not video games, not friends, not fame, not affirmation from people you look up to, or anything else. Only God can truly satisfy us. Only God can truly provide for us. Only God can love us like we need. Only God can give us the rest we desire. Only God can give us the true and lasting joy we seek. And the way we find that rest, satisfaction, love, and joy is through a relationship with God. And the deeper we fall in love with God, the deeper our relationship with Him gets, the more rest, satisfaction, love, and joy we will have.

How can we deepen our relationship with God? James tells us: through trials and temptations. When we face trials and temptations, we are given an opportunity to trust God to provide, satisfy, protect, and care for us. When we face trials and temptations, we are given an opportunity to watch God come through and deeper our trust in Him. And deeper trust leads to deeper satisfaction and joy.

This principle is true with any relationship. Think of the strongest marriages you know. If you were to talk to those couples about how they lasted and deepened their love for one another, they will tell you it was during the trials and hardship that they grew in trust and love the most. And they endure those trials together because they know it’s worth it, because their marriage is worth it. Think about your relationship with your best friends. You all have built trust and affection because you have endured hard conversations and trials together. You endure hardship together because your friendship is worth it.

This principle is true even in fitness. Think about it. When you work out, if you never encounter real resistance you won’t get stronger. If I only ever lifted with the lightest weights I would never grow. It is only encountering greater and greater resistance that we grow stronger and learn to persevere. You push yourself to the limit because the end goal of strength and health is worth it.

Childbirth Example

Women rejoice when they hear of their pregnancy, not because they believe the pain and trial of pregnancy will be light or non-existent, but rather because they can see past the pain and trial to goal of the pain: namely the birth of her child. That birth of their beautiful baby is worth all of the pain the woman will face in pregnancy.

The end goal of persevering through trials and temptations is to love God more and to be even more satisfied in Him. All of the trials of the world are worth it if we get God. In fact, trials are one of the primary means that we’re pushed to love and rest in God more. All of the trials we face are worth it if it means we get an eternity of perfect joy with God.

That’s why Paul can say in Romans 8:18 that:

“[He] consider[s] that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

And that’s why in James 1:12, James can say:

“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.”

Christians throughout church history have understood this.

Samuel Rutherford

In 1630, in the midst of the recent death of his wife and while he was plagued by a brutal sickness, Scottish pastor Samuel Rutherford wrote to a Christian woman who wondered why God wouldn't give her an easier life during the current painful season for her. Here’s what he said. All I’ve done is modernize his words.

"We may ask, 'Surely, God can bring me to heaven with ease and prosperity, right?' And of course, who doubts that He can? But in God's infinite wisdom He has chosen another way; and we can't see the reason for why, but here's what we can know: that God has a good and right reason for it. Just because we can't see God's reasons doesn't mean they're not there. We've never our own soul with our eyes, yet we know we have a soul. We see many rivers, but we don't know where their initial spring is at is; yet we know they have a beginning. Madam, when you have come to the other side of the water, and you've set your foot down on the shore of glorious eternity in Heaven, and you look back again to the waters and to the path of your wearisome journey, you will finally get a clearer glimpse of God's wisdom and reasons. And when you get that clear view of God's glorious plan, you will be forced to say, “If God had worked another way with me than He has done, I would have never come to the enjoy of this crown of glory.” Madam, right now, it is your part now to believe, and suffer, and hope, and wait. But what you are enduring now is not the end. It will be worth it. In fact, I contend in the presence of God, who knows what I write and what I think, that all of the most bitter afflictions are worth it if I get the experience of the sweet consolation of Jesus.. Whether God comes to His children with a rod or a crown, if He Himself comes to them, all is well. Welcome, welcome, Jesus, whatever way He comes, if we can get a sight of Him! And I'm sure, it is better to be sick if Christ comes to the bedside and draws the curtains, and says, “Courage, I am Your salvation,” than it is to enjoy health, being strong and full of energy, and yet never to be visited by God."

What a striking word. But it's made more striking still. At the very same time that Rutherford encourages this woman to hope in Jesus in the midst of trials, he is battling a brutal sickness with mourning the recent death of his beloved wife.

Despite encountering unspeakable trials, Samuel Rutherford could count it all joy because he knew that through these trials he would have opportunities to deepen his love and joy in God.

Rutherford knew that the trials he was experiencing weren’t just pointless and painful interruptions to his life. No, he knew that they were invitations to deeper intimacy with God.

Maybe you’ve struggled with your faith in this last season. Maybe God feels distant because of the trials you’ve experienced. Maybe you’ve strayed from reading the Bible and prayer because you wonder if God is there because of what you’re experiencing. What if, instead of questioning God because of your trials, you realized like Rutherford, that those trials are God’s invitations to intimacy? What if you realized that in trials, God is not trying to push you away, but rather draw you in? That would change everything.

That leads us to our second question: how we can count it all joy when we face trials of various kinds.

How?

While there’s so many things that could be said about how to count it all joy in trials, we’re just going to briefly mention 3 ways.

Change Your Mindset

The first way is that we must change our mindset about trials.

One big way we can change our mindset in trials is to actually expect trials. Notice that in verse 2, James say when you face trials, not if you face trials. James is a realist. Trials will surely come. Sometimes, we can go through life surprised every time we face a trial and this surprise causes us to fade into unhealthy mindsets. We may not know the exact trials we will face, but if we expect to face trials then we can be much more prepared when they come. We will face trials at every stage of life. Many of us are facing trials in a season of school with finals, lots of homework, struggles with singleness, and more. After college, many will face trials of finding a job and then once the job comes adjusting to a new vocation, and then the trials of adjusting to new coworkers and challenges of a new position. If you get married, your trials in singleness may cease, but trials in general will not. You will face new trials as you try to figure out how to do life intimately with someone else. And when you have kids you will face trials with sleepless nights, potty training, discipline, and more. When you retire you will face trials of finding purpose and community in life along with trials of keeping care of aging parents and plenty of health issues. At every phase we will face trials. We should expect that. That’s not meant to be a bleak outlook, but rather to say we should expect trials and that we will have thousands of invitations to deeper intimacy with God.

Another change in mindset is to be able to allow people to speak wisdom and encouragement into our situations. Of course no human knows our experience and of course no human knows the specific trials we are going through, but that doesn’t mean that no one can speak to our situation. God knows our trials and he tells of to rejoice. If our consistent first response to trial and pain is to doubt God and His goodness, and ask why this is happening to us then our hearts are not in the right place and need to grow.

He’s a vital truth you need to know if the face of trials. Even though we may not understand what all God is doing in the midst of a trial we are experiencing, we can know this: We never experience trials because God doesn’t love us. God gave up his very own son for us because He loves us. Paul reminds us of this in Romans 8:32 when he says, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”

If you are a Christian, God will turn all things, including all trials, for your good and his glory. That’s the proclamation of Romans 8:28. Romans 8:28 is not meant to be fodder for coffee cup theology. It’s not meant to be a cheap line to throw out when things get hard. No, in that one verse lies the infinite depths of the greatest theological truths we could ever possibly imagine. God really will make all things work for the good of those who love Him and nothing can change that glorious truth. Rest in that.

It’s easy to question God’s goodness in the basis of our circumstances. But if you’re a Christian, to do so is not to consider all of your circumstances. Yes, you may be enduring excruciating pain and hurt in this moment. At first glance, your circumstances are hard. But when you consider the full breadth of your reality, God’s goodness comes to the fore. Our fullest and truest circumstances are this: if we are saved in Christ then we are guaranteed an infinite and all-satisfying inheritance that will never fade. We will be with God forever in joy and nothing can take that away from us, no matter what comes. The Bible assures us that every single bit of pain we experience in this life will be turned for our good and God’s glory. In light of those circumstances, God’s goodness isn’t questionable, but glorious. That perspective changes everything.

Hopelessness is literally impossible for you if you’re a Christian. The worst thing that could possibly happen to you (receiving the just wrath of God for your sins for all of eternity) has already happened in Jesus, and the best thing that could possibly happen to you (an eternity of infinite joy, satisfaction, and love with God) is already secured for you in Jesus. There is an infinite amount of hope for Christians.

How would our mindset and attitude in trials change if we viewed trials not as meaningless interruptions but invitations to intimacy with God?

Group Question 3:

What is your usual mindset in the midst of trials? How would the truths we’ve talked about and a change in mindset change the way you encountered trials? Would it change your attitude in trials you are experiencing right now?

Cling to God’s Promises

The next way of how to count it all joy in trials is to cling to God’s promises.

Shortly after his letter to the woman that we read earlier, Samuel Rutherford went on to offer consolation to another woman who had just lost a young child, and this wasn’t the first child she had lost. In the midst of her pain, Rutherford encourages her to cling to the promises of God. He says: “All of the comforts, promises, and mercies God offers to the afflicted are like love letters written to specially to you.” Rutherford describes the specific promises of God to hurting people by using this analogy. He says it's like a family getting a letter that is written generally to the whole family but at specific points calls out one or two specific family members by name. That's what God's promises in the bible are like. Yes, scripture is written to everyone, but there are specific parts of Scripture where it’s like God is calling the suffering out by name to offer them hope, promises, and consolation. If you are encountering trials and temptations and hardship right now, God has and is speaking to you right now in His Word. He has given you promises to cling to remind you of the love, strength, help, and satisfaction that only He can provide. These are just a few of the love letters He has written specially to you. Write these down and cling to them.

Psalm 147:3 - "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."

Isaiah 57:15 - "For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: 'I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.'"

Isaiah 41:10 - "fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

1 Peter 5:17 - "cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you."

1 Corinthians 10:13 - "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."

Psalm 34:17-18 - "When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit."

Matthew 11:28-29 - "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."

Revelation 21:4 - "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

We can cling to these promises. They are sure and steady. God is faithful to His Word. These truths can help us have hope in the midst of our pain; both hope that God is with us, but also hope that the world will not always be this way. One day there will be no more trials.

Pray for God’s help and sustenance.

God may not answer your prayer as you expect, but know this: You would answer your prayers exactly as God has if you knew everything He knew.

Trust God’s goodness, pray His promises back to Him, and go to Him in prayer.

Daniels Family

If you want to see the why and the how of counting it all joy in various trials, we have a crystal clear example in our midst right now with the Daniels family.

Mike and Staci Daniels are faithful members here at PV. They have 5 daughters. A while back, Mike was diagnosed with brain cancer. He has fought cancer will all of his might and has sought out the best possible medical care. Recently, the doctors delivered the heartbreaking diagnosis that the medical wasn’t working and that Mike would only have a few weeks to live. That in itself is an unspeakable trial.

But the trials kept coming. Just a couple of weeks ago, Mike’s oldest daughter Kiley, who just graduated high school had a seizure. Initially the doctors thought that the seizure was the result of extreme stress and trauma from trying to process through her dad’s illness. But, after doing some tests, the doctors discovered that Kiley had a growth on her brain similar to her father’s.

By worldly standards, the Daniels have every reason to be bitter. They are facing unspeakable trials right now that would overwhelm anyone. But instead of bitterness, they are modeling exactly what it means to “count it all joy.”

Staci, Mike’s wife, has share her reflections on social media of everything throughout Mike’s journey and they have been full of faith, continually pointing people back to the hope we have in Jesus.

Mike has leveraged his sickness to share the Gospel with countless people. Last week, Mike’s place of employment threw him a retirement party and gave him the opportunity to speak. Rather than espouse bitterness or use the opportunity to brag on his many career accomplishment, this man, who can hardly walk and has little energy because of his cancer, used the opportunity to boldly share the Gospel with his many coworkers. Numerous people have come to faith from watching Mike “count it all joy” in the face of his trial.

Kiley as also modelled this beautifully. While she was in the hospital after the seizure, and while she is having to process a massively unexpected diagnosis, she was asking nurses how she could pray for them.

The whole Daniels family is showing the world the hope they have and how to “count it all joy in the face of trials.”

Conclusion

But of course they’re following the lead of someone else who also faced unspeakable trials. In fact, this individual modelled this perfectly. Jesus faced the greatest trials of all (including a literal one before Pontius Pilate) and yet he still had joy. “For the joy set before Him he endures the cross” (Heb. 12:2). He chose joy in the trials because he knew the why and the how. He knew that by counting it all joy in the trial of the cross, where he took on the punishment for our sins, he would make a way for us to have joy no matter the trial because Jesus secured a way for us to be with God. And if we would place our faith in Jesus that He really can save us from our sins, we can be saved and have joy with God. If we place our faith in Jesus, we really can have the way to count it all joy in whatever trial comes because we will have the hope of being with God in perfect peace, delight, and joy in Heaven forever.

Pray in groups for people facing trials.

Prayer