Count It All Joy

What do you do when you go through trials and challenges? The bible presents an interesting perspective. A paradox I must say.

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,

James 1:2 NKJV

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.

James 1:2 NLT

Now when you go through troubles and challenges, the normal and world response is to complain, to be afraid, to be sad, to worry and so on but God gives us a different approach. He says, “see it as an opportunity for great joy, in essence rejoice.”

I know it doesn’t add up. I don’t bother with trying to rationalise because it never ever makes sense to my mortal mind. I mean,  I’m in pain, I’m hurting and you are telling me to rejoice? Now that doesn’t sound normal. But why would God ask us to rejoice when we go through challenges? Let’s keep reading:

“For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.” James 1:3‭ NLT

“knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.” James 1:3‭ NKJV

That’s the thing. We see our challenges, pains and problems but God sees an opportunity for us to grow because he sees the bigger picture. He is like, “Yaaay… my child’s faith is being tested, this means that his/her endurance will grow. I am building capacity in him/her because where I am taking this one to, he/she needs that kind of capacity.” God is much more concerned about our growth and his purposes in us. He doesn’t see trials and testing the way we see it. He sees the bigger picture and what it will produce in us, when we let patience have its perfect work. And so the reason you should rejoice is because God is building your endurance and strength. The testing of your faith is producing patience in you and patience is a fruit of the spirit. (Gal 5:22)

Now Verse 4 goes on to say:

“But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”  James 1:4 NKJV.

“So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”  James 1:4 NLT

Hallelujah! We let patience grow! We stay rejoicing because when we rejoice we let patience have it’s perfect work. We let our endurance be fully developed so that we will be perfect and complete needing nothing.

I love TPT’s version:

“And then as your endurance grows even stronger, it will release perfection into every part of your being until there is nothing missing and nothing lacking.”

James (Jacob) 1:4 TPT

Until there is nothing missing and nothing lacking! The month of August was a very challenging one for me. I had to ask God “Why?” several times because I didn’t understand what was happening. The situation I was going through seemed contradictory to the promises of God. I was tired. Myy body and mind was tired. I had nothing else to hold on to except the word. But the word of the Lord came to me in 2 Corinthians 4:17‭-‬18 NLT

For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

God was drawing my attention to the bigger picture. So he says don’t look at the troubles you can see now because they are temporary, focus on that which cannot be seen. This trouble you see will produce a heavy weight of glory that will last forever. God sees the bigger picture. And we rejoice because just like Paul, we are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies (2 Corinthians 4:8‭-‬10 NLT)

And you know, no one who had walked with God by faith had it automatic. Look at Abraham, David, Joseph etc.  Joseph’s story was quite interesting. God gave him this dream that he would rule over his family and the next thing that happened was he was sold into slavery by his brothers and ended up in a prison. Like, I thought we were supposed to be ruling the world but you see, Psalms 105: 19 gives us a summary of what was happening. It says:

Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph’s character. Psalms 105:19 NLT

Until the time that his word came to pass, The word of the Lord tested him.

Psalms 105:19 NKJV

Joseph was going through a process of testing. God was training him, building capacity in him for the greater purpose which was to deliver his people and save them from farmine (Psalm 105:16-22).  James 1:3-4 was literally happening in Joseph’s life. And Joseph confirmed it in Genesis 45:5-8 when he said to his brothers:

“But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last five more years, and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors. So it was God who sent me here, not you! And he is the one who made me an adviser to Pharaoh—the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt.”

There was a bigger picture but when Joseph was going through those difficult times of slavery and prison, it felt like the opposite of what God had said but God who sees the bigger picture knew what he was doing. The trouble we go through is light and small when compared with the glory to be revealed.  It’s a heavy weight of Glory! Like the Amplified Classic puts it,  “an everlasting weight of glory [beyond all measure, excessively surpassing all comparisons and all calculations, a vast and transcendent glory and blessedness never to cease!]” 2 Corinthians 4:17 AMPC

So I say again to you, rejoice! God is at work.

I love you.

About the author.

Ebere Ezike is a Lawyer, author and a member of F.A Rubies. Her desire is that others will believe in the saving power of Jesus and come into this beautiful love story that is being written by God.