Consider It Joy

James 1:1-4

1 James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.² Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials,³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. ⁴ And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. [NASB]

The Promises Inside Your Trials

The more endurance we have, the more perfect and complete we become, lacking nothing.

In these verses, James makes it clear to us that during our time here, we will indeed experience trials. But there is a promise and assurance that rests on the other side of these trials: the testing of our faith will produce endurance, which, in this context, means spiritual maturity and inner peace. This implies that as we go through our trials, we should be aware that a guarantee awaits us on the other end. The trial is meant for us to come out of it stronger, no matter what happens during it. I want you to think about something you've wanted very badly. Whatever it may be, imagine that the road to it is long and treacherous. Imagine that you know that you will be disappointed as you press on down the road; however, you also know that you are going to make it. Even in the face of disappointment, would the guarantee that you are going to make it to the other side encourage you to see through the end of the long journey? In fact, would it even make the journey easier? Would you become more committed to following through, always being reminded and assured that the end of it will come? Would it become easier to fix your eyes on the end knowing that it is guaranteed? Would you fight harder against everything that stands in your way?

Well, here, James reminds us that we do have that assurance, that God has already gifted it to us. Nothing here says our trials will be easy, and nothing here clarifies how heavy the burdens will be during them. But three things are promised. First, that you will make it through; second, that if you are committed to doing a thorough work, the Lord will carry you through. And third, when your endurance reaches its result, you will be perfect and completely developed in your faith, lacking nothing.

Jesus Is With You In The Trial

Sis, I want you to remember that through every trial that comes your way, you will have the greatest gift of all, who stays with you In all of your troubles and times of need, who is Jesus! When the trial gets hard, and it becomes more challenging to consider it joy, and to fix your eyes on its perfect result, turn to Jesus. Who is always there to strengthen and reassure you.

When you need a friend, He will be your friend (John 15:13–14).

When you need support, He will be your comforter (Matthew 11:28).

When you need direction, He will be your counselor (Isaiah 9:6).

When you need reassurance, He will be the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).

And when you need rest, He will be your Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).

Get this, sis. He will always be the source and the reason behind your endurance. When trials and troubles arise, He is there with you. Sometimes it is in the worst of trials that Jesus is nearest to you. And because of that, it can be one of the best places where you are able to grow closer to him. It's through the way He shows up. Like when you do not have the words to express what you are in need of, but somehow He delivers it to you in the anyway in the best way. Or sometimes it's through the ways He gives you eyes to see the good things that are still happening even in the midst of the darkness. He is always perfectly there. I would argue that it is often during our trials that we come to know The Lord better than ever before because of our reliance on Him, because of how He keeps us, encourages us, and loves us to it's end. With every trial, He breathes new life into us. We come out different, even if it is for a short time, due to our stubbornness and reluctance. As James puts it, our trials lead to endurance, I would say, because sometimes that is just where Jesus plans to bring us up by reminding us just how strong and courageous we are.

I want you to think about how many times your faith has been tested throughout your entire life. Good and bad because I think most of us associate trials with hard times, but even in a good situation, we might be tried with a decision that could feel trying. It is not necessarily the number I want you to focus on, just more so the trials. Did God meet you during those times? Did He take you out of them? Did He stand you on solid ground after them? Did you come out stronger, smarter, better? Did the trial bring you to trust Him more than you did before? Sis, I know trials can be hard. I am not trying to get you to glorify hard times, but how sweet of God must we have that even our trials and troubles produce good. How amazing is our God that our trials are good?

A Prayer For The Eyes To See

Now, I hate to get strict on you, but sis, if you are looking back on all of the trials that you have faced in your life and for whatever reason you can not really think about whether or not God was there with you in them, I want you to call on the name of Jesus right now. Do not even waste a second of your time. Pray that He gives you the eyes to see all that He has done with, during, and through your trials. If you have never been able to see God in your trials, pray that from this moment on He gives you the eyes to see that then and now no battle could have ever been won without him and on our own. Pray that He give you a heart to overlook self-reliance, to see His sovereignty and working hand instead. I pray that what He reveals to you helps you to give Him all the Glory, to truly see all that the Lord has done in your life. I pray that He might continue to refine us, to perfect us through our trials to come. That we may find value in some of the hardest and trying times of our lives because we know that through them, you are there with us. I pray that we stop spending all our time and energy in an attempt to run away from the trials. That we have the ability to consider it joy that you are still working to perfect us. I pray, Lord, that we no longer have to rely on keeping ourselves busy; that instead, you give us a heart to see our trials as an opportunity to be in your presence, which is not worth missing, even if it feels trying. Lord, remind us that you are still working on us, because you love us. Help us to see it for the grace and mercy that it is. Give us a heart to understand that if we were not worth keeping and perfecting, that there would be no trials left. Remind us that it is because we are still lacking in our faith and endurance that you are supplying us with our needs to achieve redemption, salvation, and perfection. Help us to see that you are still strengthening us so that we can withstand more challenging times and the enemy's attempts to take us away from you. Help us, God, to see that you are making us stronger so that we will always be your children, that you are working for far more than just our life here on earth. Remind us that we still have trials because the work is not yet done, that there is more of you that we are blessed to know and see.

Transform our hearts and our minds to consider it joy that you see our potential.

Learning To Endure Well

Sis, we need to get this. When we are fully developed, James says we will be perfect and complete. Not just because we made it through the trials, but because of the way God worked on us in and through them. Think about how much God will have worked on us by the time our trials are over? I bet you, we will no longer need or find any pleasure in using distractions. I bet we likely won't be able to settle for avoidance as a strategy to get us through them. Instead, the trials will draw us closer and closer to understanding that the only way we can ever truly rest assured when trials come our way is by knowing who stands beside us as we endure them. I bet you the trials will make prayer the first strategy we employ in our lives. That with every trial that comes our way, we will gain more advice from the living word, so that it will point us back to it for more and more direction all the days of our lives. Let me take it up a notch. I prophesy that because of your trials, there will come a day when you will be so secure from all that you have learned and experienced that you will, in fact, suffer well by the mighty hand of Jesus. I prophesy that we will find joy in not only our trials, but like Paul, we will rejoice in our suffering, even if it is not our own gain but for the sake of the gospel and to be made more like Christ. God uses trials to transform our hearts. It is the trials that remind us of the plans He has for us. It is the trials that get us to understand that He is working all things out for our good. The trials are meant to renew, to transform us, to prepare us for what is to come. Maybe in your next season of traisl He will teach you something new, like that He find no joy in hurting you, and that He loves you so much that your pain also pains Him, Maybe He’ll use this trial to teach you that He hurts and sympathizes with you so deeply that He would make sure that trial you face is short in length but long in revealing how much He truly loves you. Maybe through this subsequent trial, He intends to show you how strong and courageous you really are; to show you that no weapon formed against you could ever prosper because all along His plan has been to take you from pain to purpose.

But the trial could also be meant to humble you because God sees that you have been falling away from Him, and if you go any further, you could be lost forever. Maybe the trial is meant to redeem you, to soften your calloused heart that results from pain, that desire to hurt others in the way you once were hurt, too. Maybe it is meant to discipline you because you are not being obedient to who He has called you to be, maybe it's meant to save you from yourself, to loosen the devil's foothold so that you may break away from the enemy's promises, to return to your Father like the prodigal son.

Sis, I don't know why you will have to go through your next trial, but one thing is for sure: It will not be purposeless or in vain. God always knows what He is doing, have the heart to see that all He is doing is out of love for you. I know it is hard, believe me, I am telling myself too. But stop focusing on all the distractions around your circumstances; they are meant to be exactly what they are, distractions. The distractions make you forget why God does what He does. They keep you unaligned with His plans for you. Instead, look into your trials, look at all of what is in front of you. Start to feel the feelings of trials, even if they hurt so badly that you think you will not be able to make it out of them. Trust that even that uncomfortable and horrible feeling that you feel is deepening your faith, getting you to understand that God is always the sustainer, that He actually knew that you would be strong enough to endure all that comes your way, you just have to live it to see it for yourself to understand it for real. Even people who aren't Christians know that God won't give them more than they can handle; it's one of the most trendy quotes of our day and age. But do you believe it? Would you trust Him to teach you that it is true?

I don't know if I've stated this clearly yet, sis, but we do not have to endure any of our trials on our own. Even before we make it into them, the Lord is working to prepare us in advance. When you feel like you can't take it, call on Him. When you think that you won't make it, call on Him. You are not meant to go through a single part of the hardships that can take place during your trials alone; God is with you through it all.

And if you were not thinking it already, someone might ask, Why must we go through trials? If God is in control, why can't He just tell us, teach us, and show us how we are supposed to be? Why wouldn't He make it easier instead of more complicated? Well, the reason is plain and straightforward. If He is putting you into a season of trials, it is because He knows this trial will be the one that truly teaches you, and helps you to understand what you are meant to. I want you to consider your personality type. Are you even the slightest bit stubborn? I know we like to think of ourselves nicely, but reconsider: did you listen to the things your parents told you growing up? Were you rebellious when they told you what to do? Did you follow their advice? Even after you went about it your own way and found out that they were right, did you necessarily do better the next time? Did you learn the lesson thoroughly, or did you continue to go about things your own way? Now, God is not like your earthly parents, because even our parents can be wrong. Sometimes their advice is mixed with their opinions, judgments, and stubbornness. But our Father in heaven truly knows all that it takes for us to learn what we need to know. He is advising, counseling, and teaching us selflessly, for the best of who He knows we are to be. He is not like our worldly parents because He also sees the deepest parts of our broken and corrupted souls. You can't lie to Him or sweet-talk your way out of things. He knows what comes out of the bellows and the depth of your spirit. He knows why you don't do what you want to do and do what you don't, therefore, He knows what the remedy is for your spiritual problem. That process might sometimes be painful, irritating, challenging, and trying. But even the pain that may come up during our trials is because God wants to see us prosper. His path is full of grace and mercy; it is a path of love. So even when we mess up, He is not judging us and counting us out; He gives us another opportunity to learn until we get it right.

If we are still going through trials, it is because He sees that there is still more work to be done in us. Trust that the God in Heaven who gives you the gift of discernment has the best discernment of His own. He knows exactly what you need and exactly what it will take to be the woman of God that He has called you to be. If your trials begin to get tough, I want you to know that you are not alone, not here on earth, and not spiritually. You have sisters who can relate to your struggle, and you have a Father who will love you and keep you through it all. Let His true love for you give you assurance and grounding so that when troubles come your way, you do not fret or lose hold of what God's intentions are. His plans are meant to perfect you. Consider it joy that you are being perfected into endurance. The trial is meant to preserve you, not to make you perish. Don't let the enemy distort the truth and confuse you, even when he is hard at work. If this is your first time in a trial season, remember that you have everything that you need right in front of you, and if this isn't your first time, remember all of the truths God once told you. Remember that He has already given you everything you need to know to endure, and all that is left will come out of this season that will pass.

The Lord is fighting alongside you with the strength He then instills in you, even if the battle is against your own flesh and bones. No matter what the trial entails, consider it nothing but joy that, because God is with you, the battle is already won. You are a victor, and an overcomer, and you are made stronger through all that you endure. Fix your eyes on Him as you press on so that instead of rushing out of your trials, you become more patient through the testing of your faith, that way a thorough work can be done. Consider it joy that in this He is making you more perfect and complete in your faith so that you do not lack anything at all. It might feel inconvenient, and you might rightfully have so much else going on, but sis, pause and trust that the master of time is working at His perfect pace. You might see an easier route, and an easier path might come to you, but instead of being quick to take it, be wary of anything other than what God has instructed and called you toward. Trust that He knows the damage that would happen if you took your own instead of His. Like the Israelites, those 40 years could have been shortened, and they could have absolutely taken another way, but because of Moses's obedience and because God was instructing them, they made it to the promised land, with everything they needed all along the way. Let me put it like the world does: if there is no pain, there is no gain, sis. The achievement of your success is going to require your effort, obedience, sacrifice, and endurance. But unlike the world, all that you need is provided to you by our Father in heaven, who gives graciously to all who are lacking wisdom without rebuke or blame. So ask Him freely, ask Him faithfully, and be assured. Consider it joy, and rejoice in advance for what is going to come out of this!

A Reminder For Your Heart

Troubles➾ Endurance➾Sufficiency ➾Joy

1 James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve [Hebrew] tribes [scattered abroad among the Gentiles] in dispersion: Greetings (rejoice)! 2 Consider it nothing but joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you fall into various trials. 3 Be assured that the testing of your faith [through the experience] produces endurance [leading to spiritual maturity and inner peace] 4 And let endurance have its perfect result and do a thorough work, so that you may be perfect and completely developed [in your faith] lacking nothing. [AMP]

With Love,

Ebaisin