“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds” (James 1:2). Let me re-phrase that in the Carole Wheaton version … “hey folks, ain’t life just the best when it gets really hard?” … now doesn’t that just build up hope and anticipation in your life?
What the heck was James thinking when he wrote this in the book of James?
Was he some sadomasochistic fool?
Had he just come from the winery?
Perhaps he had been standing too close to the smoke of the grape leaves as they were being burnt at harvest?
Whatever it was, it took over his senses!
But lets look a little closer!
The message starts out, as above :
v.2
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters …”
Not just joy, but pure joy … I am guessing that means the kind of joy that comes from knowing that your life is in the hands of One greater than ourselves. It is the joy that comes from being confident in those hands. The joy that says, ‘I will be in joy because I am in safe hands.’ Aka. I do not know what the future holds but I know who holds the future!
v.2
“whenever”
Not ‘if ever’ but whenever … sigh … trials are a coming, and they keep coming … get your head out of La La Land and brace yourselves!
v.2
“you face trials of many kinds …”
Many … sigh … many … that is more that a couple!
v.3
“because you know”
This would be the reminder that we are being reminded of this joy and trial pairing, because, honey, we have been facing trials since we were knit together in our mother’s wombs, and they will continue until we are planted into the Earth.
v.3
“that the testing of your faith”
I think it is a universal fact that we all hate tests … and if our faith is to be genuine it needs to be refined through testing.
v.3
“produces perseverance”
And perseverance is the stuff that helps us to keep getting back on our feet and giving it all a go again, after we fall down. That is the stuff that makes us grow muscles that endure, keep going, not give up.
v.4
“Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete”
Mature and complete … you know, having it all together! Woohoo! There might be hope that some day I might have it all together! What a hope is that!
v.4
“not lacking anything”
To not lack anything means to have everything … everything! That is JOY!
“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
itsawonderfilledlife 