Count It All Joy

Have you ever expressed your worries and stresses to someone, only to be told to count it all as joy? I bet that phrase left you feeling confused. Am I supposed to be glad that I am facing hard times?! Well, unfortunately, the answer is a resounding yes!

As it says in James 1:2, we are to consider it a gift, a blessing, when tests and challenges come our way. But you may still wonder why. Why must I consider these trials that cause pain and distraught as something good? Well, let us dive into this a little more…

Oftentimes when we are told to have joy in our battles, we immediately think that we are told to be happy. However, happiness is not joy! Joy is much more profound in its meaning than happiness. Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit that is within us, present in every one of us. Joy is a choice we make daily, but happiness is something we often chase. Joy is a deliberate and intentional behavior, but happiness comes and goes. We find happiness in the moment, when things in life are going great but joy is found in our hearts and exists despite our circumstances. Joy is found in the battle, in the suffering and not just the victory. We can have joy even when we are angry, afraid, or sad, but happiness itself can’t exist with these emotions. Joy transforms our difficult times into blessings and brings meaning to our lives. With joy, we are filled with comfort, dressed in peace and our self-respect and self-esteem is strengthened.

Happiness cannot bring or produce joy. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit that blooms through connection with God’

– Dr. T. Richards

Joy blooms through our lives, through the hardships and trials. But the most important question is can you wait in this slow bloom process? Do you murmur in frustration, try to escape or do you patiently endure? Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, and with any fruit, spiritually or not, a process must occur that tests the ability to produce fruit. As it says in James 1:2-4, we should be joyful because we know the trials that we face shape us and mature us so that we come out on the other side lacking nothing. To allow the difficulties we face to build us, we must first exercise patience, or more simply active endurance. Similar to how a plant needs time to grow before it bears fruits, we must allow this slow bloom process to be completed so that we can bear fruits in our lives. For example, if patience wasn’t exercised as you faced setbacks in your research, would you have produced the fruit of a successful and impactful project? Or if you didn’t exercise patience as you repeatedly got denied jobs, would you have produced the fruit of a million-dollar company? Good things come to those who wait on the Lord.

Just as important as patience, we must understand that our faith will be tested. What is it you believe in? What lens are you using to see? Do you believe in what you see, or do you see as God sees and have faith in what He said? You may see the odds stacked against you financially, but God says you are a millionaire. You may be in a tough situation and be calculating your way out of it, but God has an unusual way of getting you out. Do you believe in your own capacity, or do you believe in God’s ability? The challenges we face in life reveal to us our hearts and where our faith lies – in ourselves or God.

As we show patience and grow in faith, we allow those very tests and challenges to transform us to who God called us to be. As James 1:2-4 says, we come out of these trials mature, well-developed, increased patience, stronger faith and lacking nothing. Shouldn’t you be joyful about this?

‘Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work, so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.’ – James 1:2-4 (MSG)