Cheerfulness In All Circumstances
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you face trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. And let perseverance finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1: 2-4
The word for “Joy” here in James is the Greek word “chara” it is derived from “chairo” the Greek word for cheerfulness that we find in John 16:33. Here it means: “calm delight, greatly joyful, pleasant.” These words are so similar in meaning that they can actually be used interchangeably. We will use them interchangeably to uncover the meaning of this scripture today.
In our verse today, James claims that the trials or troubles that we experience are testing our faith for the purpose of producing perseverance. Why is perseverance important in our faith? James personifies perseverance, describing it as “working”. He explains that the work of perseverance is that “you will be mature and complete”.
“Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.” 1 Corinthians 14:20
Jesus calls us to grow up, or become mature in our faith. To abandon the “spiritual milk” of infants and as we mature, to partake in “solid food” (Hebrews 5: 12-14). We are not called to be stagnant or still in our faith journey, but to always grow and develop. James claims that one of the ways we see this growth or maturity is from the perseverance produced by the trials that we face. He says that this maturity makes us feel complete, “lacking in nothing.” This makes me think of the familiar first line of Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.” So how do our trials equate in us being satisfied and complete, lacking nothing? The simple truth is this, God doesn’t cause bad things to happen, but he can use bad things and work them for our good and his glory. Genesis 50:20 says, “What Satan intended for evil, God uses for good.” Additionally, in Romans 8:28 we are promised, “God works all things for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.” If we let them, our trials can bring us closer to God, and a deeper relationship with God leaves us “complete, lacking in nothing.”
God wants us to know Him more than he wants us to have a trouble-free life.
God is interested in relationship with us. God wants us to know Him more than he wants us to have a trouble-free life. We live in a fallen world. Sin entered the world and it hasn’t been the same since. Yes, Jesus has defeated Satan and death, but we unfortunately still feel the effects of sin in our world today. It’s only by God’s power that we can be joyful in the face of trials. We don’t have the capacity on our own. We have to rely on God’s strength through the Holy Spirit that allows us to be cheerful in all circumstances.
Prayer: Jesus, open our eyes to see how you are working in the midst of the trials in our lives. Help us to focus on how we can get to know you better through the things that we face. We admit that we don’t understand why some things happen, but we affirm our trust in you. We know that we can’t always see the bigger picture: that when it looks like Satan is winning the battle, we remember that you have already won the war. Help us to “be of good cheer” in the face of all things, knowing that the end goal is the maturity of our faith.
