Count It All Joy! - Pt 3

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18 ESV).

I often tire of hearing the well-intentioned platitude that “whatever doesn’t kill you makes you better.” The truth for me is that whatever doesn’t kill me hurts – a lot! So, when James tells us to be joyous in all of this pain, I need more than just a command to own it and see it come to life in me. I simply need a reason why it is happening to me. I do like the meme for today’s reading: God doesn’t give the hardest battles to his toughest soldiers, he creates the toughest soldiers through life’s hardest battles. That rings true in my experience. I could rehearse many of the clear biblical reasons why we can “count it all joy” when we encounter various trials. We’ve read them many times. They have been taught and preached thousands of times over the years. You know them:  “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).  We can write over every trial, “This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17).  And we can say with the apostle, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).  Or with Jesus, “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven” (Matthew 5:12). However I need something a bit more substantial in the face of some of my trials. After all, I often don’t want to be stronger; I don’t want to be a better soldier. I suspect many of the people of James’ day felt the same in the face of the severe conditions they faced in exile. So, James sees something very specific in answer to my question: “for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” (James 1:3). “Steadfastness” is not a word we use frequently today, and so likely this does not feel especially compelling at first glance. Another word for it would be endurance. Endurance on its own isn’t necessarily desirable (for instance, enduring in error). What makes it compelling is what we endure in. And what James has in view is very clear: faith in Christ. And for Christians, enduring in faith is what life is all about. If we do not endure in faith, we will be on the wrong side of what matters most in the universe: being right with God, and enjoying him forever, in Jesus. Now that’s worth the pain!