James 1:2-3, The Trial of your Faith
James 1:2-3, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.”
The joy of a trial is not the trial itself, but it is God working in our lives.
“Count it all joy.”
The Christians to whom this letter was directly written were familiar with trials. We notice in verse 1 that this letter is to “the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad.” Not all Jews were scattered, just those that followed Christ. Acts 1:8 describes the time: “And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.” We learn also in verse 4, “Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.” Praise the Lord that while being persecuted and driven from their homes they could preach God’s Word. But these were people who understood diverse temptations. They were driven from their homes, separated from their culture, separated sometimes from their family, imprisoned, tortured, seeing friends martyred, and more than we can only imagine. Yet here, James tells them to “count it all joy.” I believe the only way you can continue God’s work in the middle of a trial is to count the trial as joy, knowing that God is working.
“The trying of your faith.”
But joy in a trial? Rejoice over some difficulty for which I never asked but I fell into it? How is this possible? Understanding that God is working all things together for good is easy when life feels good, but our faith in God’s promise is tested when we cannot see the good in a situation. A loved one passes away, a job falls through, an expected and oversized bill shows up, a frightening medical condition is discovered—the diverse temptations really put our faith to the test. But it is when our faith survives these trials that the reality of what we believe becomes even more clear.
When I lost my best friend, knowing he was with our Savior made Heaven that much more real. I already knew by faith the reality of eternal life in Heaven with Jesus, but knowing my best friend was right there was a glimpse of when faith becomes sight! My faith was tried and strengthened, not because I am strong but because God is good and faithful. He used a trial to do a work in me. We can count the trials all joy because we can trust our loving God.
Let it be clear, it is our faith that is being tried in these temptations. Faith does not follow understanding; instead, we understand by faith (Hebrews 11:3a, “Through faith we understand…”). Our faith being tried produces patience in us. Our attitude becomes, “Lord, I don’t understand why I am going through this, but I know you are working and I trust that You will are working for good. I will wait for you as you do a work in me.” When we don’t understand and don’t know what to do, we are most ready to learn to wait on the Lord. We have to understand that we are at the end of ourselves before we further learn to trust God. God has used various financial trials in my life to show me time and again that He will always provide. And every time I trusted in the Lord, not only did He provide but also He showed me that I can trust Him more. Now, as a pastor, I am learning to trust Him not just for my own provisions but also for the provisions of an entire church body. Had the Lord not tried my faith, I would not have the patience for this new trial. We need the trials to teach us to trust Him more so that He can use us for even greater things. And through it all, we can do nothing but point to “God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13)
