James 1:2-4

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

It’s here that James reminds us of the difficult reality that even for the Christian, there will be trials and temptations. However, the Christian does not have to be a victim of their circumstance, but instead can have victory even in the trying times of trials and testing’s. James tells us that no matter how tough the trials, we can experience joy in the midst of the junk. He starts first with our:

• Attitude

What kind of an attitude do you have when it comes to affliction? James tells us that our heart response to hardship can be one of joy. The term trials, is used to speak of the afflictions and adversities that we encounter in life. These trials can come in a various shapes and sizes, from health challenges, to financial difficulty, to problems at home or work, to persecution for our faith. James says that having the right attitude is the antidote to our affliction. He calls us to consider times of trouble as an opportunity for great joy or pure joy. Notice that we are to consider it pure joy, not part joy and part something else, but pure joy. This call goes against our natural nature, yet it is not a suggestion but a categorical biblical command. Now we must be careful to understand what James is calling for here. He is not suggesting some kind of sadistic happiness in the hurts and losses of life. This is not a call to enjoy being sick, losing a loved one, or getting laid off from a job, or a denial that life often hurts. He is not suggest that we manufacture some kind of phony sense of happiness about our troubles. What James is suggesting is not that we are happy about our trouble but that we find joy in what the trouble produces. The joy in not in the problems but in what is produced. He is calling us to enjoying the sweet fruit that surfaces in the suffering.  The term to count or consider is actually an accounting term. It means to take stock of, to consider carefully or investigate fully. When we line up all the numbers and add them all up they will reveal what we really have. So what are the things we are to consider? First we need to consider the facts about trials. James does not say if trials come, but when trials come. A proper perspective on pain means that we will not be surprised by suffering but will live to expect it. Why do trials and tribulations seem to blindsided us, because we don’t expect them, because we have bought into the belief that being a believer means that we will have a problem free life. We need to stop hiding our face in the proverbial sand. Being a believer does not exempt us from trouble. Matthew 5:45 tells us that the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike. Second we should consider the many different types of trials. James says we face trials of many kinds. This can actually refer to two things. First, it can refer to the types of trials. These could be emotional trials, physical trials, or even spiritual trials. Or it can refer to the source of trials, which could be the result of living the Christian life or from the fact that we live in a fallen world. The first is probably what James had in mind as he wrote this letter, for his audience was the “twelve tribes” scattered throughout the earth…” He was addressing those believers who had been uprooted from their homes and families just because they were believers. Today there are still many in this world that are experiencing persecution because of their profession of faith. Christian World Report, says that in China alone, 1100 people are executed monthly just because of their Faith. In some Muslim countries to become a believer is an automatic death sentence. We need to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are experiencing such trials and also take time to give thanks for the momentary window of freedom we presently have to worship God and live out our faith without fear. As well as prepare for the possible day when that door of freedom might slam behind us. Even today for the most part, we have, it pretty good in the western world and few of us are experiencing trials as a result of persecution. Most of our trials come from another source, they are the unknown, unexpected experiences of life. For the most part people do not have control over such experiences. No one could have predicted or controlled the hijacking of the four airplanes by crazed, delusional terrorists and the terror they inflicted at the world trade center. These unexpected trials find you, and seem to show up out of nowhere. Third we need to consider our response to our trials. James says to count it joy when you face them. The Apostle Peter stated it this way 1 Peter 4:12-13: “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through as if something strange were happening to you. Instead be very glad (rejoice) because these trials will make you partners with Christ in His suffering, and afterward you will have the wonderful joy of sharing his glory when it is displayed to all the world.” The message here is that God can bring beauty and benefit out of the bad, because the final product is not bad but a beautiful thing for His glory. We need to evaluate our goals and priorities and learn to live for that which matters most. The truth is our values determine our evaluations. If we value comfort more than character, then trials will be troubling and upset us. If we value the physical and the material more than the spiritual, we will not be able to count it all joy. If we live for the present and not the future, then trials will make us bitter, not better. Job had a proper perspective when it came to trials for he said in Job 23:10, “When God has finished with me, I shall shine as gold.” When trials come, don’t pretend or try to deny the pain, instead learn to look at your trials through the lens of faith not feeling. Because outlook determines outcome, to end with joy, you have to begin with joy. So how do you respond when life deals you lemons? Are you in the middle of a tough trial, then focus on the finish, focus on the product not the pain.

2 Corinthians 4:8-10

“8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 10 Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.”

Not only can pain direct and inspect but third, it can also:

3. Correct

Sometimes it takes pain to bring us to the point of repentance and put us on a different path. The story of the prodigal son reminds us that it took the pig pen to bring the son to his senses. Sometimes pain and failure are the only way to learn the lessons that we need to. It’s likely that as a child your parents told you not to touch a hot stove, yet how many of us actually learned by being burned! Sometimes we only learn the value of something by losing it. As Psalm 119:71 says, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn your statutes.” Not only can tough times correct but fourth they can also

4. Connect

When someone in a family dies loved ones come from near and far for the funeral. People typically come together in the tough times. Difficulty not only draws people together, but it can also draw them closer to Christ, as David said in Psalm 119:67, “Before I was afflicted, I went astray” Calamity can serve to bring us together and cause us to connect in ways we would not do separate from suffering.   Sometimes when people get bad news from their doctor about their physical condition, it causes them to come to church as they seek to come back to God. Not only can pain connect but fifth it can also:

5. Protect

Problems can actually be blessing in disguise when they prevent you from being harmed by something more serious. Recognizing that problems can actually protect requires having a proper perspective, the kind of perspective that Joseph had when he said to his brothers in Genesis 50:20, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.” When we see problems as possible protection it will change how we approach them. The truth is God is the only true “surge protector!” not only can problems protect but sixth they can also:

6. Perfect

Problems when responded to correctly can serve to change us and build our character. The truth is that God is far more interested in your character than he is in your comfort. Your relationship to God and your character are the only two things you’re going to take with you into eternity. As Paul pointed out in Romans 5:3-4, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.” Sometimes it takes the school of suffering to perfect us. David recognized this when he said in Psalm 71:19-21, “Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the highest heavens. You have done such wonderful things. Who can compare with you, O God? 20 You have allowed me to suffer much hardship, but you will restore me to life again and lift me up from the depths of the earth. 21 You will restore me to even greater honor and comfort me once again.” It’s here that we find that trouble was actually a treasure. It was a blessing in disguise because it became a benefit to David. Often the graduate degree of spirituality comes from attending the University of distress and difficulty. Not only can problems perfect but seventh they can also:

7. Project

Paul said in Philippians 1:12-14, “And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. 13 For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. 14 And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear.” Problems actually served to propel the gospel forward, sometimes problems force us to focus on what is really most important. We may not like calamity but it focuses us so that we can further God’s cause. Paul’s chains while problematic actually served to communicate Christ to everyone around him. They also caused other believers to be bold and confidently communicate Christ without fear. Someone once said, “For God to make manifest the fact that He gives songs in the night, He must first make the night!” We may not like the storms but sometimes we need the winds of adversity to get us where we need to be and doing what we are called to do. Sometimes trouble is simply the factory that God uses to produce the right type of product in our lives. Hardships and trouble in the hand of God can turn out to be some of our greatest treasures. God is at work in your life, even when you do not recognize it or understand it. He’s in the storm with you calling you to seek Him and be a water-walker, not a boat bobber. We may want to cling to the comforts but challenges remind us that the only one worth clinging to is Christ. What about you do you see the gain in the pain or are you so focused on the problems that you are missing the purpose?