Count It All Joy!

“𝑴𝒚 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒏, 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒋𝒐𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒗𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒔, 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆.”  James 1:2-3

Trials and patience?!  When I first read these two verses my reaction was one of dislike.  I’m not sure I like these verses; how can you possibly be joyful in your trials, and I don’t like having patience or the process that produces patience! 

But then I realized that we need to see our trials through God’s eyes, to have a revelation of the potential and possibility they will bring.  A knowledge that this burden will take us deeper, deeper into the things of God and His will for our lives.  We do not need to be happy in our pain, but we need to have joy that the hard season we are in will ultimately bring growth to our spiritual lives and draw us closer to our Savior.

It is yet another renewal of our mind, a conscious decision, a choice, definitely not an emotional one!  “𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒋𝒐𝒚!”  Count meaning consider or have rule over.  Taking authority over the thoughts that make the trial big in our own eyes, the ones that consider the worst that can happen in any given situation!  Instead asking God for His view of our affliction, how can this bring growth and patience?  Having the faith to see the potential that this particular trial may springboard you into the plans our good Father has for us!  Taking those negative thoughts captive, seeing the things that are not as though they were.

How interesting it is that it is not a healing miracle or breakthrough that proves our faith but the trials we walk through!  1 Peter 5:7 puts it this way; “𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒖𝒊𝒏𝒆. 𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒍𝒅—𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒍𝒅. 𝑺𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒔, 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅.” 

Your faith is worth more than gold!!  Your faith brings praise and glory to the LORD.  We do not sit passively in our pain but believe fervently for that miracle, for the release, for the breakthrough.  We may not see the end product, the liquid gold that comes out of the refiner’s fire, no dirt left, pure, refined, filling our hearts with joy at the outcome of the test.  But we have faith to know that 𝘄𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘂𝗹, 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿!