God’s Idea of Joy (Part I)

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,  knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. James 1:2-4

Count (Strong’s Concordance G 2233): lead, to go before, to be a leader, to rule, command, to have authority over, a prince, legal power, the leader in the speech, to consider, deem, account, think

Joy ( Strong’s G5479 ): gladness, cheerfulness, clam delight

The above definitions shed a new light on this critical scripture (James 1:2-4). When we usually think about the word “count”, we consider it at a quantitative level, but in spiritual terms we have to have a qualitative approach to counting things. This has to do more with evaluating the quality of something and measuring its value in our lives.

The scripture tells us to count trials as joy. Counting something that naturally has a look of negativity and considering it joy, requires faith, leadership, and vision. A person who can envision their lives and their situations beyond the here and now and is able to see God’s hand in the midst of a tough situation has a level of understanding that keeps them above the choppy waters. These individuals are also the ones that others look up to in times of trouble.

Many can lose their joy in the midst of trial. It is not easy to be happy about a tough situation, but it really is not about happiness. One of the definitions of joy is a calm delight. Sometimes as American Christians we think having joy means that we need to be excited and act as a cheerleader in a tough situation, but that may not be the case. We can have a calm confidence that God is with us and that He has a plan to use the situation.

God desires to build His children to keep the vision in the midst of trials that come. He wants us to look further down the road and see the good that will come out of the situation.

How do you handle trials? I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.