Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. James 1:2-4
Sometimes well-meaning people confuse trials with temptation. In an effort to console someone, we might hear, or tell someone, something like, “God will never give you more than you can bear. 1 Corinthians 10:13 is about temptation, not trials.
God is faithful. He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear. And when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so you can stand up under it.
Many Gospel writers experienced unspeakable anguish and suffering for their faith and wrote about it. But more than one Gospel writer concluded we should regard our trials and sufferings with joy.
“…do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” 1 Peter 4:12-13
Does it mean we should feel joyful when we’re neck-deep in the pit of despair or sorrow?    No.
The Greek root word for “count” means to consider or esteem or have rule over our trials and suffering.
Joy is not a feeling. Joy is an eternal condition of hearts rooted and established in a love relationship with Jesus.
Our joy enables us to weep and grieve and suffer with hearts fixed on eternity.
For His Glory 
“Our joy enables us to weep and grieve and suffer with hearts fixed on eternity”. Very well put and something we should always remind ourselves when the world (satan) tries to suck us in.
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Thank you, Kerri. You are exactly right.
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Good point on the distinction between trial and temptation. And we tend to whine to God when He allows trials to come but He wants to make us strong in Him, not ourselves. He seems to like the process that happens in us, and definitely how our relationship with Him grows because of it, more than answering our whiny prayers. 🙂 Blessings.
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You’re so right. Thanks, Mel, for your comment and for stopping by. God bless.
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Yes! People so often confuse the reference to temptation with trials. I think God is so much more concerned with who we are as His children, and what’s in our hearts and how it shows in our lives than the trials we go through. This life is but the title and the front page (as CS Lewis put it) to our story which will continue for eternity. There is so much more than this world and the story itself only begins in the next. I find myself focused only on what’s happening to me right here and right now, and the perceived injustice of it – why doesn’t God take this away? Make it better? – and instead He is focused on the long game, which is to shape me, change me, transform me more like Him; the rubbish that we wade through in this world is making us into something different – something more beautiful that brings glory to the God that made us.
Thought provoking post. Thank you.
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Helen, this is great and very thoughtful. And so true. I am guilty of trudging through the muck and mire of today. I often lose sight of the hope set before us in eternity. Thanks for bringing me back to reality. I’d like to post your comment in a separate blog post on FHG if that’s okay with you.
So good to hear from you. And don’t worry about your sabbatical. God will do wonderful things during your rest from writing. You’ll get re-energized. God bless.
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