Joy in Trials
Notes
Transcript
Handout
James 1:2-4
We are going through a series on How to Have Joy.
Today we are going to address having Joy in Trials.
How can a Christian rejoice in the midst of suffering?
Do you remember what it was like being 17 years old, full of life and dreams?
For one young lady she was full of dreams when in an instant, everything changed.
That was the reality for Joni Eareckson Tada.
In 1967, Joni was an athletic teenager who loved riding horses, swimming, and playing sports.
But one summer day, while diving into a shallow bay, she misjudged the depth and struck the bottom headfirst.
In that moment, she became a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the shoulders down.
Can you imagine the despair, frustration, and questions that flooded her mind?
She admitted to struggling with deep depression, anger, and even thoughts of suicide, wondering why God would allow such suffering.
But in time, she came to see that her trial was not a punishment—but a platform.
Joni learned to trust God’s purpose in her suffering and choose joy in her pain.
Instead of growing bitter, she used her testimony to minister to millions around the world.
She learned to paint by holding a brush in her mouth, wrote over 40 books, recorded Christian music, and founded Joni and Friends, a ministry serving people with disabilities.
One of her most powerful statements is:
“The greatest good suffering can do for me is to increase my capacity for God.”
Joni’s story beautifully illustrates the truth of James 1:2-4—that trials, though they are painful, can produce endurance, character, and a deeper joy in Christ.
When James tells us to “count it all joy” in our trials, he isn’t saying we should enjoy suffering itself.
Rather, he’s teaching us that we can rejoice in what God is doing through our suffering—refining our faith, drawing us closer to Him, and making us more like Christ.
So, the question for us today is: How will we respond when trials come?
Will we resist them in frustration?
Or will we, like Joni, embrace them as part of God’s greater plan for our lives?
Every person will face trials in their life, it’s not a question of if, but when.
Trials and joy seem incompatible, and yet God through the Apostle James calls us to “count it all joy.”
God uses trials to strengthen our faith, develop our character and produce steadfastness in our walk with Him.
Let’s take a look at this passage together and see what God is trying to tell us today.
I. The Command to Rejoice in Trials
I. The Command to Rejoice in Trials
2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
This is a command from God, and therefore it not impossible to obey.
It will be just a matter of will we obey?
First we see
A. The Reality of Trials
A. The Reality of Trials
“When ye fall into divers temptations…”
Trials are inevitable.
Peter tells us this too, I think in a little bit of a humorous way!
12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
It sounds like he is saying, “You think it’s weird or strange that you have trials?”
This is the norm!
The word diverse here in James 1, speaks of various or different kinds.
sickness
Financial struggle
persecution
Pain
Disabilities (Like Joni)
Anxiety
Depression
Grief
Tests of Faith
Poverty
Relational struggles
Life transitions
etc.
They come to all of us.
Don’t think it’s something strange when you fall into trials and temptations…of course they’re coming…that’s life.
Many times, however, they tend to come suddenly.
The phrase “fall into” has the implication of the trials coming unexpectedly and suddenly.
They have a tendency to surprise us.
But remember in those times…It’s When not if…they come.
But then notice…
B. The Response of Joy
B. The Response of Joy
“Count it all joy”
The word Count is translated from the Greek word Hēgeomāi.
This word is in the Aorist Tense, in the Middle voice, in the Imperative mood.
what does that mean?
The Aorist Tense speaks to a definite and deliberate Decision.
This means that James is not suggesting an ongoing, gradual attitude shift but rather a firm, decisive choice to view trials through the lens of joy.
When trials come you must make a deliberate conscious choice to rejoice rather than waiting for the feelings to come.
It is in the Middle Voice - A personal responsibility.
The Middle voice in Greek indicates that the subject is involved in the action and the benefits from it.
This means you must choose joy for yourself—no one else can do it for you.
Joy in trials is not an automatic response; it requires intentional effort on your part.
You are not a passive victim but an active participant in how you respond.
Then the word is in the Imperative Mood—A Command, not an option.
He didn’t say, “Try to find joy in trials if you can.”
No, he commands us as believers to count it all joy.
Obeying this command requires faith, trusting that God is in control and is using trials for his purpose.
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
The verb being in the second person is telling us that it is directed to YOU.
Trials requires a firm decisions to rejoice (aorist)
You must take personal responsibility for your response (middle voice).
Choosing joy in trials is a command, not a suggestion (imperative).
This applies to all believers, including you (Second person plural).
Imagine a soldier in battle.
He doesn’t wait until he feels like fighting—he chooses to obey the commander’s order, trusting the mission’s purpose.
In the same way, When trials come, we don’t wait for joyful emotions but choose joy in obedience, knowing that God is at work.
We talked about Paul and Silas last week.
They found themselves in chains in prison, yet they chose to sing praises.
Trials are not joyful in themselves, but we can choose joy in what they accomplish.
Then let’s continue on to verse 3, and see what we can learn there.
II. The Cause of Joy in Trials
II. The Cause of Joy in Trials
3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
How can we have joy in trials?
Knowing this…
He is reminding us of something we already know as Christians.
A. The Purpose of Testing
A. The Purpose of Testing
“Knowing this, that the trying of your faith…”
The word translated knowing has the meaning of understanding something with certainty—joy in trials comes from what we know, not how we feel.
Many, many times in our Christian lives we have to replace the lie that our heart is telling us with the truth of God’s Word.
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
The heart lies, so we need to replace the lie with what we know!
But what is it that we know?
We know the trying or testing of our faith does something.
Trying something speaks to refining it.
Much like fire purifies gold, trials purify faith.
7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
Once we are through the fire, purity of faith comes out.
and what does it accomplish in us?
So, the Purpose of Testing is to accomplish something…
B. The Production of Patience
B. The Production of Patience
“the trying of your faith worketh patience.”
The word translated worketh means something is produced by it, something is actively accomplished.
What?
Patience - Not an active waiting…but an active endurance.
We use the word Perseverance.
3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
When I was in Bible college I had a job in downtown Chicago that I walked all over the downtown area.
I remember one day in 94° weather I had to push this cart full of 15-20 boxes full of legal briefs up Randolph Street to this big glass building that seemed to just reflect the heat as I was trying to make the last few steps.
My legs were aching, my back hurt, every ounce of energy was sapped.
I wanted to just quit and just roll back down the hill all the way back to N. Wabash Ave.
But I knew I had a responsibility, and I knew I had to deliver those boxes with a smile.
A drenched in sweat smile, but a smile nevertheless.
So I had a choice to make, and I made it.
I ended up getting a pretty sizable tip, which we didn’t usually get any tips!
The next time I ended up having to make that trip, I knew I could make it.
If I could survive what I went through before…I can make it again!
Every hardship we endure strengthens our spiritual stamina for the future.
William — Pain is weakness leaving the body.
But Endurance is not the end goal—God has something greater in mind.
Trials do more than just teach us to persevere; they are part of God’s refining process, shaping us into mature, Christlike believers.
Patience is not merely about surviving trials, but about what those trials produce in us.
James doesn’t just call us to endure—he calls us to let endurance have its full effect so that we may be spiritually complete.
That brings us to the final truth in our passage—trials are designed to bring us to maturity in Christ.
Let’s look at verse 4 and see how God uses trials to make us “perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”
III. The Completion of Maturity through Trials
III. The Completion of Maturity through Trials
4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
Trials have a purpose!
And that alone helps us endure!
Knowing that they serve a purpose helps us deal with them.
Notice with me…
A. The Goal of Endurance
A. The Goal of Endurance
“Let patience have her perfect work”
The word “let” implies a willing submission to God’s refining process.
9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Spiritual growth is stunted when we resist trials instead of yielding to God’s work in them.
Many Christians become bitter because they falsely believe that because they are Christian trials should not me to us.
Oh, We may not say it that way.
But that is still what we are saying.
Many years ago there was a blacksmith who had been a devoted Christian for many years. He was faithful in prayer, served in his church, and did his best to honor God in his life. Yet, despite his faithfulness, he went through one hardship after another—his wife fell ill, his business struggled, and his own health began to decline.
One day, a customer who knew about his troubles came into his shop and said,
“I don’t understand. You serve God, you’re a good man, yet look at all the trials you face! Why does God allow this to happen to you?”
The blacksmith thought for a moment, then took a piece of iron and placed it in the blazing forge. As the fire heated the metal, he pulled it out and began pounding it with a hammer. Then he plunged it into cold water with a loud hiss before putting it back into the fire again.
He turned to the man and said, “You see this piece of iron? If I just left it the way it was, it would be weak and useless. But when I heat it, hammer it, and temper it, it becomes strong and valuable. I know exactly how long to keep it in the fire. If I pull it out too soon, it won’t be shaped properly. If I leave it in too long, it will be ruined. I carefully shape it into something useful.”
Then he looked the man in the eye and said, “I trust that God is doing the same with me. The trials I face are not proof that He has abandoned me; they are proof that He is shaping me into something stronger and more useful for His purpose.”
Many Christians become bitter in trials because they falsely believe that following Christ means avoiding hardship.
Jesus never promised a trial-free life—He said…
33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Instead of seeing trials as a sign that God has abandoned us, we must see them as evidence that He is shaping us.
If we resist, we grow bitter; if we submit, we grow stronger.
don’t resist the work that Christ is doing in us.
If we yield to His work, we will see…
B. The Growth into Christ-likeness
B. The Growth into Christ-likeness
“That ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”
The translation into the word perfect comes from the Greek word teleios it means mature and complete…not sinless perfection.
Trials develop maturity…wholeness— no weak spots in our character.
A young boy was flying a kite on a windy day. As the wind picked up, the kite soared higher and higher. But the boy grew frustrated, thinking, “If only this string wasn’t holding it back, it could fly even higher.”
Determined to set the kite free, he let go of the string. Instead of soaring higher, the kite immediately began to spiral downward, crashing to the ground.
A nearby older man, who had been watching, approached the boy and said, “The very thing you thought was holding the kite back was actually what kept it in the air. The tension from the string gave it stability against the wind.”
Many Christians believe trials are holding them back, but in reality, they are what strengthen their faith.
Just as the kite needs resistance to stay in the sky, believers need the tension of trials to develop endurance and spiritual maturity.
If we cut ourselves loose from God’s refining process, we don’t soar—we fall.
Trials are not meant to destroy us but to lift us higher in faith.
When we embrace trials, we allow God to grow us, mature us and to shape us into the image of Christ.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Trials are often seen as obstacles, roadblocks that hinder our joy and make life more difficult.
But James 1:2-4 has shown us a different perspective—one that calls us to embrace trials as a tool in God’s hands, shaping us into something far greater than we could be on our own.
Think of a skilled potter at his or her wheel.
As they works the clay, they apply pressure, spinning, shaping, and molding it with care.
Sometimes, they presses harder.
Sometimes, they smooths with a gentle touch.
But always, they have a vision in mind.
If the clay could speak, it might say, “Why is this happening? Why am I being pushed, stretched, and reshaped?”
But the potter knows—the pressure is necessary to form something beautiful and useful.
God is the Master Potter in our lives.
He allows trials, not to destroy us, but to shape us—to smooth out our rough edges, to make us stronger, to prepare us for greater use in His kingdom.
The question is: Will we submit to the Potter’s hands?
Will we trust that our trials are not random, but refining?
Will we believe that God is not punishing us, but preparing us?
Will we choose joy, knowing that the fire of trials is making us more like Christ?
If you are in a trial right now, don’t let bitterness take root—trust the Master’s process.
If you have come through a trial, recognize how God has grown you and use your story to encourage others.
If you fear future trials, remember that God is already there—and He will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5).
5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
James tells us to “count it all joy”—not because trials feel good, but because we know that God is at work.
So today, I want to challenge you: trust Him, endure with faith, and allow God to finish His perfect work in you.
