God allows suffering to come into our lives to refine us, as it were, to teach us how to be more and more dependent on Him. -R.C. Sproul
James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and
complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who
doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is doubleminded and unstable in all they do.
9 Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. 10 But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. 11 For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant;
its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.
12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
To his scattered congregation who are facing serious trials, James explains that those trials are actually a reason for rejoicing.
James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds…
For most readers today, this is a completely nonsensical statement. Who, but a masochist, would consider life threatening trials and persecution as pure joy?
Upon reading this, imagine the thoughts that would be going through your mind if you were a member of James’ persecuted and scattered congregation, “I had a nice home and business in Jerusalem. Sure, we were occupied by the Roman army, but I made a decent living. I could support my family. Now we are living as refugees in Cyprus trying to make a new start, and the Romans are insisting that I worship Caesar. Where is joy to be found in this situation?”
And notice that James doesn’t limit this to just one kind of trial. No, he says, “trials of many kinds.” First, of course, there are the outward trials that I have already mentioned; persecution, and the uncertainty of poverty, homelessness, discrimination, torture and even death that often accompany persecution. Second, there are the trials of sickness and death that accompany our frail human nature; ‘all the ills that flesh is heir to.’ And third, there are also inward trials of our attitudes, temptations, and moral tests as we rationalize how to deal with the persecution. In other words, will we blame God, grow bitter, become selfish, abandon friends, or perhaps keep account of wrongs suffered, 1 Corinthians 13:5, in order to extract payback or revenge?
Anticipating that his scattered congregation are asking themselves these very same questions, “Where is joy to be found in the midst of life threatening persecution?” James explains that trials are a reason for rejoicing because, when correctly understood, and correctly handled, they build positive, life changing, and godly characteristics. Characteristics that God desires all of his children to possess.
Matthew 5:11-12 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
James 1:3 the testing of your faith produces perseverance…
The trials, whether outward attacks, sickness, or inward temptations to sin and to compromise with the culture, all put the Christian’s faith to the test. The outcome of the test will show if the faith is a genuine faith that will persevere.
James 1:4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
And notice that this perseverance is about more than just passive endurance. This is perseverance that has work to finish. It’s goal is to produce virtue, strength and character so that the Christian will be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Whatever else we may have, if we don’t have character we have nothing. It is character that determines destiny. The process by which God builds character is outlined in Romans 5:1-5. We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. We glory in suffering. The Greek word translated suffering comes from the verb, ‘to press’. The same word used to describe the crushing of grapes and olives. The heavy pressures of outward trouble or inward anguish produces endurance. – John Murray
Like the pressing of grapes produces a fine wine, the suffering of Christians is designed to produce a beautiful and complete maturity. Christians are expected to learn, to stand firm, to face the storm, and grow from the experience. Christ made the same point in a parable; “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” Matthew 7:24-27
The trials, whether outward persecution, or illness, or inward attitudes, will reveal the integrity of the foundation on which you have built your life. Will you deny Christ? Will you seek to blend in with the unbelieving culture? Will you go along to get along? Will you cast blame on others? Will you lash out in anger at men or God? Or will you in the strength and joy of the Spirit enjoy the blessings of this life, telling of the wonder, works, and ways of God? Will you seek peace, pray for others, visit and support through the suffering?
We live in a litigious age where it is now accepted for almost everyone to assume the role of the victim. As James will explain, playing the part of the victim is never an appropriate position for the Christian to take. Instead, James envisions his congregation standing firm throughout their trials, learning from them and growing in maturity from them, and praising God, from whom all blessings flow. We are never to abandon our faith in Christ. We are never to use our trials as excuses for self-pity. Nor should we ever monetize our trials. Perhaps you know, as I do, people who rejoice in their trials, not because the trials are teaching them maturity, but because the trial gives them a reason to bring a lawsuit against someone with deep pockets, knowing that they will get a substantial out of court settlement just to make the lawsuit go away.
This is a hard teaching. James realizes that his congregation will wrestle with trying to understand how these trials and temptations can produce anything good. He hears them asking, “Sure this might sound great in theory, but when I am being discriminated against, when I am being treated like a second class citizen, or worse yet, being cheated, mocked, beaten up, arrested, or even imprisoned, how can I rejoice? How does that play out in real life because in real life I am suspicious, bitter, resentful, and angry and I don’t understand why God is allowing these things to happen.”
Sometimes we suffer for the sake of conscience because we are doing what is right. These are outer trials. Sometimes we suffer because of our own poor choices, rebellion and sin; inner trials. But we should not confuse the two. Listen to Peter:
For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, 1 Peter 2:19-21
Do you want to find favor with God?
Bear up under unjust suffering, patiently endure when you are harshly treated. But Peter cautions that we need to understand the origin of our trials, because it would be the rare man or woman whose suffering was always because of their doing what is right. Sometimes we bring the suffering on ourselves because of our sinful attitudes and actions. As John Calvin said, because we are“ shut up in this prison house of flesh, we have not yet attained angelic rank.” other words, we are all sinners, so don’t always, by default, blame others for the trials that you face. Some may be of your own making.
James continues by responding that if you don’t understand these things and even if you don’t feel like being faithful, you should ask God for the wisdom to see things from his perspective.
Andrew Brunson had been a pastor in Turkey for decades. In 2016 he was arrested, for what appeared to be political reasons and charged with terrorism. Though there was no evidence against him and he denied all charges, he was sentenced to 35 years in prison. The U.S. president was able to negotiate Branson’s release in 2018. In reflecting on his time in prison Brunson stated, “I felt at times such a sense of dislocation, and there were times when I was wondering what is real and what isn’t real. I could feel myself just slip over a barrier. I am going over into a place I know is insanity and feeling it, feeling myself going over the edge and just pulling myself back. I couldn’t feel God’s presence. I didn’t hear God’s voice.”
In the midst of spiritual darkness, Andrew made a decision based not on emotion but on a conscious act of the will: “I will lean on Jesus, even if I can’t feel his presence and even if he remains silent. I will be obedient, even if I spend the rest of my life in prison.”
“I began every day by setting aside five minutes, and I would start out by saying, ‘I repent that I have not been joyful… I am now going to perform an act of joy… I am going to be glad before You in these terrible circumstances… separated from wife and children, isolated… I will rejoice and be exceedingly glad.” “I would dance and sing, ‘Rejoice and be glad. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven.’”
Return to The Letter of James.