Count it all Joy
James 1:2 KJV
My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
Life will not always bring sweet things our way. In as much as God wants us to enjoy life to the fullest, a fact that we must accept and get used to is that we will at one point or the other in our lives be faced with situations that will tend to try our faith as Christians. Circumstances ranging from having delays in life, not receiving manifestation to our prayers, having a form of disability among your children, and experiencing difficulty of divers kinds which are peculiar to each and everyone one of us are some how inevitable in life.
This does not mean God our father is responsible for all these irregularities that happen in life. But God will sure not leave us to struggle all alone. He is the God that causes all things to work together for our good.
In our opening text today, the Holy Spirit speaking through Apostle James exhorts us to consider it all joy when we are faced with divers kind of temptations (temptation here is synonymous to trials).
You see, even though the enemy meant evil and thinks we will be stuck and sucked up, God is saying this is a beautiful opportunity for patience (our God-given ability to persevere) to be worked out in us. Facing trials, even though not from God either directly or indirectly is an avenue for our endurance to grow really strong.
The message translation captures the thought well in its rendering of James 1:2-4 saying: 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.
Dearly beloved, even though all these are easier said than done, the reality still remains that God wants us to count it all joy for the sake of the end result that those trying experiences brings our way.
CONFESSION
I am not disadvantaged in life,
God is forever faithful to me,
He causes all things to work for my good,
I am joyful at all times.
Written by Tosin Lawal
Blessed.
Thanks Pastor Lawal