Develop the Right Attitude. What is your behavior when experiencing difficulty or pain? Do you grumble and complain or indulge in self-pity? Or do you get angry and blame others for your troubles? All these reactions lead to despair and misery, but James 1:2-6 presents a totally different perspective about suffering: “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials” (v. 2). Some may read that verse and think, What a preposterous statement! Trials and tears go together. How is joy possible? Yet James obviously understands something about suffering that we need to know. The word consider is a financial term which means “to evaluate.” James isn’t telling us to delight in pain and be happy about suffering, but to assess our trials as an opportunity to receive the blessings God has promised us when we respond wisely. I don’t know what you’re facing right now. But I do know that if you’re willing to count it as joy, you will find God’s goodness right in the middle of suffering. Unlike happiness, joy is not dependent upon pleasant circumstances, because it’s produced by the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Posted on: Wed, 04 Sep 2013 03:31:11 +0000
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