James
1:2 NIV “Consider it pure joy … whenever you face trials of many kinds.”
James
1:2-4 KJV “Count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations, knowing this
that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But Let patience have her
perfect work, that ye may be perfect entire, wanting nothing.” The word, count
means consider.
In NIRV quote, “… You will face all kinds of
trouble. When you do, think of it as
pure joy. Your faith will be put to
test. You know that when that happens it
will produce in you the strength to continue.
The strength to keep going must be allowed to finish its work. Then you will be all you should be. You will
have everything you need.”
Isn’t
this awesome translation? So clear in our language! KJV sometimes are difficult to understand so
this translation brings its clear meaning. I was impressed how simple! Tony
asked me from time to time, “What’s the purpose of being here?” Tony was not
able to go back to work at Taco Bell as he like to do something. He wants to be useful. He is aware of it. It seems like God want to give an answer
through James 1:2-4.
I
would like to share some part of my personal Journal I wrote the other day. I
had a deep mediation about this devotion. It starts with James who wrote to the
twelves tribes who were scattered around because of persecution. James encouraged them to look at their
persecution as a challenge “to count it all joy.”
Why
was it important “to think about trials as a joy?” NIVR gives a good answer: “You
know that when that happens it will produce in you the strength to
continue. The strength to keep going
must be allowed to finish its work. Then
you will be all you should be.” The key word: produce … God is producing in me. Now when I think of it . . . it is a joy to know that God is at work in me. So
trials are a joy to know that it is God producing in me, working in me.
When
God is producing in us … it based on our attitude, the way we think toward
trials really test our perspective. This word means “point of view.” It is the
power to understand things in our true relationship to each other, (trials and
me). In another words, trials are our friends because it causes us to depend on Jesus all
the time.
It
is what we see things that are happening to us.
It is to be able to see what God is doing in our every day lives. It is God using our struggles to produce
maturity in our faith. It is the
attitude and perspective as the saying goes, “LIFE is 10% is what happens to us
and 90% is how we react to it.” (Part from Daily Bread)
It was a mind blowing to me! Do I get it? Yeah … either we get joy or we pout?
Ouch! 10% what happen to us and 90% how
we react to it. Truly it is a big
challenge of 90% of our action that speaks louder than 10% of what happen to
us.
This
is what James tried to tell us. Count it all joy when trials come. Have a good attitude toward the trials. This is one of the mystery of God’s way of
producing us to maturity, to be like Christ who gladly bear the cross and to
save us from sins. Christ count it all joy when He faced the trials of
suffering. (It’s goose bump for me to think of all the suffering He had gone
through and count it all joy.)
Oh
the song, it will be worth it all . . . I like the verse that says: Often times
the day seems long, our trials hard to bear. We’re tempted to complain, to murmur
and despair. But Christ will soon appear to catch His bride away. All tears
forever over in God’s eternal day.
Song: When We See Christ
It
will be worth it all
when we see Jesus;
Life’s
trials will seem so small
when we see Christ;
One
glimpse of His dear face,
all sorrow will erase;
So
bravely run the race
till we see Christ.
(Esther Kerr Rusthoi, Sing
His Praise)
May
the Lord bless you today!
Dorothy
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