It had been a particularly difficult week – nothing earth shattering, you know, just one of those weeks when the stresses of life heap up like coals. A friend with an ill parent. A child worried about school. Concern over Church – me the Church, local Church, global Church. Stress at work – too much work, not enough work, staffing the work, personnel issues. Hurricane Harvey. Hurricane Irma. You know. Nothing in particular – just everything. One of those weeks when you start to look for things to be overwhelmed and stressed about – as if you didn’t have enough! Battered, blown and a flappin in the wind and my attitude certainly reflected that, unfortunately. The Fruits of the Spirit were evading me. Frankly, they didn’t even enter my mind. But then He spoke.
I had a moment on King Street Hill. You know those moments when you have complete clarity – when God speaks and you get it? Mine happened on King Street Hill on the way to work. My Spirit was restless with all my troubles, real and perceived. The pressure of those troubles was building. As I say sometimes: “Stand back, she’s gonna blow.” On my way to work I started complaining to God. All the way into town I complained: I’ve got this to do… I need to check on so and so… I have to take care of this… I have to run here… I have to make sure this gets done… I have to… I have to… I have to…But then He spoke.
On the way down King Street Hill, He said: “Now you know how I feel. Handle it the way I handle it.” Slap. My initial thought was “What the heck does that mean? I’m not You.” I pondered. Revelation. I certainly had not been handling my trials, troubles and stresses with a Godly attitude. I allowed those troubles to dictate my attitude, not God.
But you see God was listening to me that morning with all my stuff. At the same time, he was listening to everyone else in the world that was calling on His name. He has many things to handle for many folks. What is His attitude? If we are His we are to follow His example. How does He do it? Love. Joy. How am I supposed to be joyful — I’ve got me some troubles going on? James tells us:
This letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is written to Jewish Christians scattered among the nations. Greetings! Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.
James 1:1-4
The Jewish Christians that James wrote about would have been less than sympathetic had they heard my whinings. You see the Jewish Christians knew what trouble was. These folks were scattered among the nations. Living in lands not their own. Living among people not their own. Living in cultures not their own. They had been split up. They had experienced The Diaspora, the dispersion or exiling of the original twelve tribes for religious, political, and economic reasons.
Yet James tells them to let the trials of their lives be an opportunity for joy. These folks were not just having a bad day, they were having a bad week, some may say a bad life. I’m sure it took them a bit to digest the joy-part. These people had experienced physical pain, fear, hunger, separation from loved ones, persecution, death. These people knew trouble – they experienced trouble. Not so different from us. We too have physical pain, fear, hunger, separation from loved ones, persecution, death. We too experience trouble. Yet we are to “count it all joy.”
You see our lives will be tested, troubled. We live in a fallen world. How we handle the troubles and activities of our days is what James is talking about here. We may not have a choice about all the troubles we have coming in a day, in a week, in a life – some we do – but we do have the choice of how we will handle them. Will we follow His example or will we handle them as if we don’t have faith, we don’t have hope, we don’t have God? Will we handle them in a way that causes our faith to grow, shines the light of hope, points to God?
In addition to the “little” troubles, we also experience deep, painful, “big” troubles. But we are to “count it all joy” because we do have faith, because we do have hope, because we do have God and nothing else matters. Life is difficult, there’s no question. It is not always happy but it can always be joyful. How? When our faith is tested — God is there! When we are stressed by life – God is there! When we are ill – God is there! When our feelings are hurt – God is there! When the car won’t start – God is there! When we lose some one we love – God is there! When we are suffering – God is there! When we are down and out – God is there! God is there! God is there!
Joyful, joyful, we adore You.
God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before You,
Opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness (in our tests, trials, troubles, stress);
Drive the dark of doubt (unGodly attitude) away.
Giver of immortal gladness (Joy)
Fill us with the Light of day!