Five Indispensable Reasons to ‘Count it ALL JOY!’
The Lord directs us in James 1:2-4: “Consider it PURE JOY, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”[1]
So, here are FIVE Essential reasons to ‘Count it ALL JOY’ in the midst of terrible trouble or set-backs.
First of all: this is God’s COMMAND; NOT His SUGGESTION!
(Obedience is to make US happy; God is already happy!)
Secondly, counting it all JOY can bring a minor (or even major) miracle, or break-through—in our circumstances.
Indeed, having this heart-attitude—’jet-sets’ us into God’s presence. Once in His presence, we will experience that “peace. . . which surpasses all understanding,” which “guards (our) hearts and minds. . . ”[2]
Further, in God’s presence—our problems may no longer be needed—since ‘transporting us into God’s presence’ is a major reason God allows a problem in the first place! (Our sanctification is second reason for our problems)
In future blogs, I shall be recounting personal testimonies on this principle.
Thirdly, Isaiah 55:8-9 tells us: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your”[3]
Thus, we discern the great distance between our perspective on what is happening in our lives, and God’s perspective. (More on this in Part 2 of this blog.)
Fourthly, counting it ALL JOY brings us a SPIRITUAL PROMOTION.
James 1:3-4 point out that this develops perseverance or endurance in us, and these lead to being mature and complete. These qualities, in turn, lead to our experiencing ‘not lacking anything.’
Can we arrive at any better state than ‘NOT LACKING ANYTHING?’ (This is similar to Apostle Paul’s ‘learning to be content in whatever situation he was in!’ [4]) ( More on this in Blog 3.)
Lastly, the JOY of the Lord is essential, because (Satan) thrives on the opposite.
As author Michael Brown writes: (Satan) “thrives in an atmosphere of fear and intimidation, and fear always points to something bad in the future.
If you’re sitting at home and suddenly feel fearful, it’s because you think something bad is about to happen. A family member or friend is about to get sick or get into an accident; a murderer is going to break into your house; your roof is going to fall in, etc.
Fear torments us with negative thoughts about the future. And how do we fight it? How do we fight lies that we can’t prove are lies? That’s where we need the confidence of God, and there’s no better place to get that . . . than in the JOY of the Lord.
As the Word declares, ‘In His presence is fullness of JOY;’ and ‘The JOY of the Lord is our strength!’[5]
That’s when it struck me so clearly: the JOY of the LORD drives out fear, which is always prophesying failure to us. God’s JOY gives us a glimpse of what He has in store for us, and it is glorious beyond words!”[6]
[1] NIV
[2] Phil. 4:7 NIV
[3] NIV
[4] Phil. 4:12
[5] Psa. 16:11; Neh. 8:10
[6] Michael L. Brown, Jezebel’s War with America (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2019), Kindle edition, pg. 166-169.