The opening verses of James are familiar to anyone who has been in the church for a while. But when we slow down long enough to consider them closely, we have to ask some questions.

“Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.”

James 1:2–4, CSB

The first thing that I notice is that we are commanded to have great joy when experiencing trials. This is counterintuitive in that we are conditioned to avoid trials. I know that I am more inclined to pursue comfort rather than trials.

It is interesting to me that this is a command. We are not encouraged to try and have joy. He does not say we might have joy eventually. James is saying that we need to choose joy in the circumstance. How is that even possible?

Regular readers of this blog will probably see a pattern here because again it comes down to trust. Do I trust God enough to be able to have joy when my circumstances militate against joy? Do I trust that nothing takes place outside of God’s superintendence? Do I trust that God will somehow get me through the difficulty?

James gives us a reason for considering trials as a means of having joy. He tells us that the trials will produce endurance.

The way I have historically understood this is that I need to step back and take a long term view of the situation and see that I will grow as a result of the trial. And while this is true, I still find it hard to have joy in the necessity of enduring the trial. “Grin and bear it” is the best I can do on my own.

I am finding that God is using my circumstances to teach me the lesson that I am not in control of my circumstances. Or, at least, I have very limited control over them, and even my limited control is a gift from God.

The verb translated consider carries the idea of thinking it through and coming to a conclusion. This is far different than a snap reaction to our trials. I think that James is encouraging us to slow down our reaction and think it through to determine the correct response.

Did you notice that not only should we think of joy when we encounter trials, we should think it to be a great joy.

Yup. I will need a little help with that.

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In Deuteronomy 9, Moses recounts some of the history of the Israelites during the time when he lead them. He recounts how angry he was when they rebelled against God and disregarded the message that Moses shared with them.

While Moses was on the mountain receiving the Law from God, the Israelites were having an idolatrous party and they provoked God to the point where God threatened to kill them all, start over, and build a nation from Moses’ descendants.

How did Moses respond? Moses tells us:

“I fell down like the first time in the presence of the Lord for forty days and forty nights; I did not eat food or drink water because of all the sin you committed, doing what was evil in the Lord’s sight and angering him.”

Deuteronomy 9:18, CSB

The next verse gives the reason why Moses interceded for the Israelites:

“I was afraid of the fierce anger the Lord had directed against you, because he was about to destroy you. But again the Lord listened to me on that occasion.”

Deuteronomy 9:19, CSB

What strikes me is that rather than take God up on his offer to be the head of a new nation, Moses gets on his face before God and pleads for the welfare of the Israelites who have rejected both God and Moses.

Rather than seeking the harm of those who rejected him, Moses pleaded for their welfare. Elsewhere it says of Moses:

“Moses was a very humble man, more so than anyone on the face of the earth.”

Numbers 12:3, CSB

Moses didn’t let his pride get in the way of fulfilling his role as leader of the Israelites.

In my previous post, I spoke of loving enemies. Moses gives us a fine example of how this is done. He loved his enemies by pleading for them before God.

We should do the same. Perhaps a prayer of intercession would be better than an angry post. Perhaps I should be more concerned about a person’s standing before God than what they said to me or about me. Perhaps I should plead for their forgiveness rather than remind God of how evil they are.

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“Know therefore today that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the Lord your God.”

Deuteronomy 9:3 (ESV)

When the Israelites were to enter the promised land of Canaan the first time, they should have been bold and gone up as instructed. Instead, they carefully evaluated the circumstances and figured out that they were unable to conquer the residents and therefore they resisted Moses’ instructions.

After 40 years of wilderness wandering as a punishment for their unbelief and disobedience, when Moses spoke the words quoted above, the Israelites had a second chance to enter into the land.

Even though the task was still daunting, they were to go with boldness because their God is a consuming fire and God will go before them. Without God’s help and provision, the task would be impossible.

How does this apply in 2024?

I am reminded that God asks us to do all sorts of things that seem impossible to do. I will focus on one.

Jesus commands us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44). Yes, it is a command, not merely a suggestion.

I cannot do that on my own, I need the Holy Spirit to be working in my heart to even be open to the idea of loving my enemies.

My observation of the rest of humanity demonstrates that others share this difficulty. One must look no further than a typical social media feed to see that most of us, rather than looking for ways to love our enemies are instead looking for justification to hate them.

This ties together for me because our God will not call us to do anything that he will not empower us to do. He is the consuming fire that will make a way for us to accomplish what he commands.

I can love the one who speaks lies about me. I can love the one that knowingly or unknowingly seeks to do me harm. I can do this only because God will empower me to do it.

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This afternoon, the following passage stood out for me as I was reading Tim Keller’s, The Meaning of Marriage:

“The Holy Spirit ‘will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you’ (John 16:14). What does that mean?

‘Make known’ translates a Greek word meaning a momentous announcement that rivets attention. The Holy Spirit’s task, then, is to unfold the meaning of Jesus’ person and work to believers in such a way that the glory of it – its infinite importance and beauty – is brought home to the mind and heart. This is why earlier in the letter to the Ephesians, Paul can pray that ‘the eyes of your heart be enlightened’ (Ephesians 1:18), that they might ‘have power . . . to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ . . .’ (Ephesians 3:17-18). The Holy Spirit’s ministry is to take truths about Jesus and make them clear to our minds and real to our hearts – so real that they console and empower and change us at our very center.

To be ‘filled with the Spirit,’ then is to live a life of joy, sometimes quiet, sometimes towering. Truths about God’s glory and Jesus’s saving work are not just believed with the mind but create inner music (Ephesians 5:19) and an inner relish in teh soul. ‘Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ . . .’ (Ephesians 5:19-20). And because teh object of this song is not favorable life circumstances (which can change) but rather the truth and grace of Jesus (which cannot), this heart song does not weaken in times of difficulty.”

– Tim Keller

I know this is a long quote, but it is so good, that I considered it worth reproducing here. I like the last part even though I struggle to live it out.

To paraphrase, because Jesus demonstrates grace toward us and provides a means of dealing with our sin and rebellion, we have a reason to have joy even when our life circumstances are not what we would like them to be.

If you are encouraged by this post or would like to join in a conversation, please use the comment form below to offer your feedback. If you are reading this in an email and would like to comment, you can reply to the email or click on the “Read in browser” link below to go to the web page where you can enter a comment. I enjoy hearing from you.