Michael Kelley, Guest Contributor

“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 1:2-5

The Book of James gives us an entirely different way to treat the trials of life:

Most of the time, our first reaction when we experience some kind of trial is to find a way out of it as quickly as possible. But instead of manufacturing our way out of them, James says we should consider these trials as joy.

Before we think about what that means, let’s first state what it doesn’t mean.

Considering trials as joy does NOT mean that the trial is changing. This is not a magic formula to get us out from under trying circumstances. No, considering a trial as joy doesn’t change the trial; it’s purely about the manner in which you see it. It is a matter of perspective.

To count trials as joy is to look beyond the trial and see what God is doing in you. Through these trials, God is testing your faith to produce endurance, and you must have that endurance to reach maturity in Christ.

Perseverance, endurance, and strength are not built with comfort and ease; they are forged through adversity and difficulty. That underlying truth is this:

When it comes to trials like these, God is not trying to harm you; He’s working to strengthen you.

James continues in verses 13-18, acknowledging that it is very possible that we respond wrongly to trials, and the beginning of that wrong response is to attribute evil to God. That mindset doesn’t lead to perseverance and maturity; it leads to sin.

But if, by God’s grace, we consider things differently and remember that God is not trying to harm us, we can start to consider trials as means to build us into something different than we are.

DIG DEEPER:
Read “Grace & Peace in Trials” by Jonathan Munson