Count it all joy, my
brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing
of your faith produces steadfastness. James 1.2-3
Well, let's be
honest. At first blush, if we take this seriously, it seems odd. We should
'count it all joy', should be in some sense pleased, when life gets hard? Who
lives like that?
Well, actually we
live this way. We may not exactly be pleased when life takes a nosedive. But we
do rejoice in that very biblical sense of joy. This isn't a matter of trying to
hide from reality, of covering life over with some sentimental religious fluff.
Actually, this is living more in tune with reality.
As James says, we
can rejoice because we know something. We know that Jesus is at work in that
hard situation. (And isn't that at the heart of what true rejoicing is about?)
We know that Jesus is going to use the situation to make something good happen:
endurance (a better translation, IMHO, than 'steadfastness'). And don't we need
a healthy supply of endurance when it comes to doing a good job of dealing with
life. So, knowing what Jesus is up to, we can rejoice. And that would be
because of our faith, our trusting the Father in the situation. This faith,
according to James, is being put to the test and, as a result of passing the
test, it is rewarded with endurance. And maybe that's not so odd a way of
dealing with life.