Counting it all joy

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”   James 1:2-3 ESV
 

spring sage blooming in the desert

This is not a verse that I would have thought of writing about.  That is because I haven't really counted my trials as joy, and it reminds me that at times I have failed to even agree with this command!  It’s not that I didn’t want to be joyful (remember that I like to do it right!), but a new friend just opened my eyes to what James is saying in a way that is making sense to my heart.

What we are to count as joy is becoming perfect and complete, lacking in nothing!    Now that is something to celebrate!  The trials are the conditions of life that invite us to dig into God’s word, to believe what we find, to choose what we will do with it, to stand firm, to pray.  They highlight our need for more than our own strength and if they continue, we begin to develop perseverance, or steadfastness.  It is the standing firm with steadfastness that brings maturity.  It is the digging deeper that perfects us.

The friend that shared this is a breast cancer survivor of 13 years who found out over Christmas that the cancer has returned, metastasized to her bones.  If she can count it all joy, I am listening!

Then the next morning I read this in Jesus Calling, my devotional:  “I am leading you along the high road, but there are descents as well as ascents….Learn to trust Me when things go “wrong.”  Disruptions…highlight your dependence on Me.  Trusting acceptance of trials brings blessings that far out weigh them all.”  (page 19) 

steep hiking in Bryce Canyon

What I am hearing from the Lord is a very simple way to improve my perspective on life’s challenges and heartaches.  It is to consider them the pathway that is taking me, hand in hand with Jesus, to becoming complete, lacking in nothing.  They are not random, they are not bad luck, or punishment, or because God doesn’t love me as much as someone else.  They are things He allows (or puts) on the path we are walking together.  He meets them with me and endures them with me, and holds the outcome in His loving hands.  My response can be fear, or frustration, or despair, or it can be continued trust with thanksgiving for who He is with me.  And it can be worship!

photo sent in an email (source unknown)

I love these words from a song we sing at church:  “The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning, time to sing my song again.  Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me, let me be singing when the evening comes!  Bless the Lord o my soul, o my soul, worship His holy Name!  Sing like never before, o my soul, worship His holy Name.” (Ten Thousand Reasons (Bless the Lord) by Jonas Myrin & Matt Redman).

A couple of months ago I would not have thought that this was an issue for me because I was rocking along pretty well.  But God, in His perfect wisdom, saw fit to introduce a challenge that pulled deeper unbelief to the surface.  This was really a gift to be counted as joy because it exposed things that needed to be dealt with.  The great thing was that even though I felt negative emotions connected with unbelief, I knew where to run and I ran straight to Jesus.  It doesn’t matter what our reaction is as long as we know where to go with it!  I poured out my heart – every fear, every doubt, and then let Jesus talk!  Now that the dust has settled over that issue (which hasn’t gone away at all), I am grateful to receive a deeper perspective on what it means to count it all joy.

I have tasted and seen that my true joy is the Presence of Jesus himself.  He is the only One who can answer every question and satisfy my heart.  I do not want to be robbed of that joy with Him just because this world is fallen.  Who is in charge here, anyway?  Jesus is Lord and He is mine!  He is yours.

OUR VICTORY

"Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it.  When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled."  1 Samuel 17:51

glory in the display of God's power & might!

This is the end of the well known story of how David defeated Goliath.  David knew that the battle was not about flesh and blood armies and their weapons.  It was about being in covenant with God.  David couldn't believe that "the armies of the living God" would be so intimidated by "an uncircumcised Philistine"!  Why not?  Because circumcision was the sign in their very flesh that they belonged to God who had chosen them and invited them to be in covenant with Him.  God had made promises to them.  This was real to David and he did not face Goliath alone.

a precarious place on the journey

"...You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.  This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head....For the battle is the Lord's and he will give you into our hand."  (1 Samuel 17:45-46a;47b)  Until you've been in a battle for your life, or a loved one, or something equally precious, you can't appreciate the power of knowing we are aligned with God Himself.  It takes the threats of the enemy of our souls to stir us up and make us angry, as David was, over what he's trying to steal, kill and destroy.

We do not need to come into our battle with weak knees, unsure of the outcome, pleading with God to do something to help us.  God receives us in whatever state we come to Him, but our true position is so much stronger than we often realize when we are under attack.

The enemy roars at us through circumstances with the goal of intimidation.  He wants to do harm of course, but he also wants to drive us from God and make us afraid.  He wants to disrupt the relationship we have with God and our fellowship with Jesus.  Relationship is paramount with God.  We were not saved by Jesus so we can be religious, but so can be free and delighted children of a Perfect Father.  That relationship cannot help but stand out in a world of lost orphaned hearts seeking the significance and security they crave.

glory at the end of the day

As the world scene becomes darker the light of our joy and our peace and our love shines all the more noticeably.  But our opportunity to glorify God in His love for the world and His great compassion can be smothered when we begin to shrink back from the enemy's threats.

All I want to share today is a truth that God allowed me to see this past year.  It is simply that Jesus cut off Goliath's head for me!  I don't have to muster up my courage and face him as David did.  Jesus did it... and I am in Jesus!  He's my King.  He's my Lord.  He won and his victory is my victory too.  He cut off Goliath's head.  It is finished.  And I am free.  So are you.