James 1:2

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,”

James opens his letter in a very warm and loving way.  He addresses the scattered children of Israel as his brothers.

He then gets right into his message with such a difficult verse.  It is not difficult to understand what he says, but very difficult to wrap our minds around and to put into practice.

The word for “trials” means “an attempt to learn the nature or character of something; a test, a trial.”  At times, the word has to do with the temptation or inducement to do evil.  But it always includes the concept of “adversity, affliction, or trouble.”  There are many different kinds of trials we will face and they vary on an individual basis.

It does not say “if” this happens, but “when” this happens.  We shouldn’t be surprised when trials occur.  They are going to happen.  That is a part of what we should expect as Christians.

The difficult part, is what James says first, “count it all joy.”  “Count” means to “engage in an intellectual process, think, consider, regard.”  When we go through trials, we are supposed to conclude, by logic and reason, they are for our benefit, they are to produce something good in us.  They are to be a reason for joy.  Not just a little joy, or joy when the trial is over, but “all joy,” “complete joy.”  A type of joy that is not mixed with any kind of sorrow.  That is difficult for us to wrap our minds around because we are emotional beings.  We easily see the pain, the heartache, and the hurt caused by trials.  But we cannot lose sight of the overall plan and purpose of God, and what trials should be producing in us.  That, we will see in the next couple verses.