Count It All Joy

(Me, ten minutes ago) "OUCH! I Stubbed my toe!"

(Daughter, to her husband) "My father just called... He was diagnosed with lung cancer..." 

(Sue to her parents) "Mom and Dad, I am sorry. I guess I didn't think that the lie would affect you this 

much."

(Judge giving a verdict) "The State of Tennessee finds you guilty of three counts of man-slaughter while 

under the influence of alcohol. We sentence you to life in prison without the possibility of parole."

    James writes,       

      "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:

Greetings.

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 1:1-4 ESV)

The human experience is vast, and not two people will have the same personal story to tell. The intensity of trials might come from something as simple as an ache in your shoulder, to the sentence from a Judge in a court room from breaking the law. 

What all trials have in common is they are the product of living in a sinful world. In these our faith in Christ is being tested. But thanks be to God because we are born again to a living hope! Jesus Christ! Peter writes about our trials,

 

   "In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls."

(1 Peter 1:6-9 ESV) 

Our faces our humbled by sin, and our pride broken and we are freed to faith in steadfastness! We REJOICE WITH JOY THAT IS INEXPRESSIBLE AND FILLED WITH GLORY! 

I praise God for my trials, though many are ones that I bring upon myself. Our God is the salvation of my soul. :)