– By Lori Benka
Istarted a Bible study of the book of James and I was doing great until I read verses two-four. “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.”
Count it all joy? How do you find joy in pain, relationship issues, health issues, or financial issues? Does one have to put on a happy face and pretend everything is going well? What exactly do you mean, James?
My Example
As I sit here typing, I feel unsettled and restless. My husband resigned his pastorate position a year ago and I thought by now we would finally be moved from a place that has nearly destroyed us.
Serving in ministry in this particular city was incredibly difficult for my family. We faced constant emotional turmoil due to hurtful words and false accusations. Every Sunday brought on new challenges. We tried to leave many times, but God wouldn’t allow it and had a specific purpose for us here.
So naturally, when my husband resigned I thought, “Yes, I can finally leave the place that caused me so much hurt and pain.” But guess what? We are still here moseying along. I often find myself asking God why He has kept us in such a painful place for such a long season. I never really get an answer except it’s not time to leave. There is a purpose in this pain.
All of my searching for new homes and new cities, all of my striving and dreaming of someplace better is all for nought. I can’t run from the hurt. I can’t pretend it didn’t happen either. But learning how to find joy in my current circumstance is essential for finding peace of mind and healing from past ministry hurts.
So how do I find joy in the middle of my restlessness and pain? By setting my eyes on Jesus and allowing Him to bring healing and contentment.
How do I find joy in the middle of my restlessness and pain? By setting my eyes on Jesus and allowing Him to bring healing and contentment.Find Joy in Today
Why Count it all Joy?
What does it mean to count it all joy? It means we should look at our circumstances through the eyes of faith and believe God is working in our lives. When we go through hardships, and we will, God takes them and uses them to grow our faith and brings about patience.
Trials will often bring a lot of our junk to the surface such as anger, pride, fear, worry, rebellion or self-pity. We are able to see our true selves when trials overwhelm us. Many times, what we see is not who we want to be in Christ. If we want to be Christlike, we must sometimes go through difficulties to learn His ways and His heart.
James 1:3-4 says: “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.”
How do I Count it all Joy When Life Falls Apart?
It’s hard to look at the positive when we are in the middle of a heated battle. Oftentimes, our emotions, words others tell us, or our circumstances leave us feeling tossed around in a sea of doubt, worry, fear, confusion and discouragement. We strive to find something good, but it’s hard to see the light. But the Bible tells us to count it all joy when we face our trials.
Something very important for us to learn is we don’t have to wait for suffering to end to experience joy in our lives. 2 Corinthians 4:17 says: “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”
I find it interesting that this verse points affliction as our “light affliction.” So often, when we face trials of various kinds, they don’t feel very light or momentary. They seemingly feel as if they drag on producing feelings of anything but joy. Oftentimes, we feel like God has abandoned us and left us as orphans. We become so focused on our hardships and trials, we begin to lose sight of Jesus.
He is Always With You
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.”
God has never left your side. We need to stop interpreting who we think God is through the lens of our circumstances.
The Potter’s Wheel
As I write this, I think about the story in Jeremiah about the potter and the clay. God tells Jeremiah to go to the potter’s house where He will give him a message. When Jeremiah goes to the potter’s house, he sees the potter working the clay. He noticed that the pot he was working was marred in his hands. So the potter took it and shaped it into another pot as seemed best for him. See Jeremiah 18:3-6.
God does the same to us through our trials. He is always at work in our lives and He knows what He has put inside us. He wants to mold and shape us into everything He has called us to become.
Isaiah 64:8 says: “Yet, O Lord, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our Potter, And we all are the work of Your hand.”
People From the Bible who Counted it all Joy
The scriptures present a rich tapestry of characters who persevered through trials, drawing strength and inspiration from their faith.
JOB
If we look to the book of Job, we see he was a wealthy, righteous man who lost everything. He could have raised his fist to God and turned from his faith. In fact in Job 2:9 his wife tells him to curse God and die. Job was enduring immense suffering losing his children, his health and his wealth. But in the face of his suffering, he ultimately demonstrated faith and praise to God displaying a form of joy in the midst of his suffering. Job learned about perseverance and the faithfulness of God in the midst of his suffering.
Ruth
Ruth faces challenges such as death, loneliness, poverty, and feeling like an outcast. But her life shows us that we can get through our struggles with God and have joy in the journey. God blesses her loyalty to Naomi and her willingness to do whatever it took to obey God.
Daniel
Daniel had every right to be angry at God. For it was God he was worshiping before being thrown into the lions den. But God, in His great mercy, protected Daniel through the night. God did not deliver Daniel from the lion’s den but delivered him in the lion’s den. He was able to find joy in the fact that God was his great Protector.
Paul and Silas
I love the story about Paul and Silas. They were thrown into prison for doing the work of the Lord. Acts 16:25-28 says: “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
Paul and Silas were able to find joy in the midst of their trial by praising God in their storm.
God does His deepest work in our darkest hour.-A.W. Tozer
Helpful Scripture to use to Count it all Joy
1 Peter 1:6-7 “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
Romans 5:3-5 “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.“
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
Conclusion
It is a battle to find joy when we are dealing with an insurmountable trial. But, joy is possible in the midst of pain. It’s not always going to be easy to find, but it is there. There is a song named Praise the Lord by Russ Taff and a verse of it goes like this:
“When you’re up against a struggle, that shatters all your dreams, and your hopes have been cruelly crushed by satan’s manifested schemes, And you feel the urge within you to submit to earthly fear, Don’t let the faith you’re standing in seem to disappear…….”
Don’t allow your faith to disappear in discouragement and self pity. Praise God in your trials. Remember that God is near to you and He cares about you. He knows everything about you and is making you into a mighty woman or man of God.
Find Joy In Today 
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