Wisdom for Every Trial
James Bible Study
The Trial of Joy
Everyone experiences trials and life. Christians deal with trials differently than the world. We see God’s process for maturity through the trials. We learn to trust Jesus as we walk through each trial. We approach trials with joy because we know God is working out everything for our benefit
James 1:2-4
1:2 Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you run into various trials, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith is producing endurance. 4 Now let endurance have its full work so that you become mature and complete, lacking in nothing.
Thought Flow
James describes the attitude and mindset Christians should take toward trials. We should take the posture of joy for each trial. We can see God’s eternal purpose in strengthening our faith through endurance. Endurance results in Christian maturity and completeness.
Surrounding Context
In the opening verse, James described his audiences be part of the Diaspora. This is a group of Christians who have had to flee from their homes and everything that is comfortable and familiar for them to face persecution abroad. This factors into James prepares them for their trials.
In the section after James 1:2-4, he will prepare them further by describing the wisdom they must have for each trial and how to ask God for wisdom.
Dig Deeper
James’s message about how to approach trials to Christians living in the world among the nations resonates. We are all going through trials and suffering until the Lord takes us home. Let’s follow his pastoral teaching to prepare us for trials.
James 1:2. James starts with a command to consider everything pure joy in trials. He uses a lot of imperatives (commands), 55 times in 36 verses. That’s 3.38 % of his letter, the highest of all New Testament books. This word means to consider or regard, to set your mind. It’s natural to emotionally respond to your trial. But James calls us to think it through and set our mind on joy. God has a deeper meaning for trials and suffering.
You can see what James emphasizes about trials in the original language. The first words are “all joy” before he mentions trials. “Trials” is also before “encountering.” He is really focusing on our mindset. How we think about or trials is how we will react. We do not seek out trials and suffering. James describes it as “encountering or falling into” trials. They happen to us.
There are various kinds of trials. They could be temptation, persecution, challenges, and situations that cause us emotional, physical, relational, and spiritual pain. James spends the rest of his letter talking about some of these various trials.
These are not trials we make for ourselves. Our colorful personality, harsh approach to people and situations, and ungodly choices do not count as the kinds of trials James talks about.
James 1:3. James told us at the beginning of verse 2 to approach trials with joy. We can do this only because we know God has a higher purpose than pain and suffering. Verse 3 starts with a causal participle (-ing verb) that tells us why we can be joyful. We know that God has a process for our trials.
Every trial is a test of our faith. God does not cause our trials, but He can use them to increase our faith and strengthen our character. You can change your perspective at the beginning of each trial. See it as a way for God to transform you closer to Jesus’s image.
This is the way God uses trials for our benefit. The word for testing here you means to be approved by God through testing. His process is like metal refined in the fire and coming out pure. He uses the hardship and pain of the trial to strengthen our faith and trust in Him. The result of this testing produces endurance, which is key to being more like Jesus. Endurance is just what we need to survive and thrive in this world.
We live in between God’s promises and their fulfillment. We need endurance to stand the test of time. Endurance is our mindset and attitude. When I have heightened nerve pain or am uncomfortable in my position as a quadriplegic, I must wait for someone to help me. If I know my help comes soon, it is easier to endure the pain until then. This should be our mindset during our trials.
Tell Me More
The word for endurance gives us a powerful picture of the weapon Jesus gives us to outlast our trials. It means to bear up under weight. Picture a pressure-treated post you place between the floor and roof. Because it is pressure-treated, it can withstand the weight of a heavy roof. Jesus gives us the power of endurance, pressure treating us to stand under the weight of our trials without breaking.
We can endure trials, the wickedness of this world, and our process of transformation until Jesus returns for us. James uses this word three times in his letter. You see it in 1:3, 1:4, and at the end of the letter in 5:11. It opens and closes the letter, suggesting we need endurance in every situation James addresses.
James 1:4. As we suffer through trials and learn to be patient and endure them, and even to grow in them, our hope grows in God. We must allow endurance to work into our character and mind. The purpose for allowing endurance work into our character is maturity and completeness.
The words for maturity and completeness here gives us the reason for joy and a positive approach to trials. The first word is a word used for completeness and perfection. Jesus tells us that we must be perfect like our Father (Matthew 5:48).
It is a high standard to meet. We can only achieve it with the Holy Spirit’s help. The second word describes something that is whole, having all its parts intact. He clarifies by saying there is nothing lacking.
Where maturity uses time and circumstance to come to fruition, this completeness refers to no parts lacking. Jesus is making us all that He has declared us to be. Among other forms of character development and faith building, trials are an effective tool to get us there.
In a Word…
The Greek word τέλειος (teleios) can mean perfect, mature, end, complete, and goal. James uses it five times in his short letter (James 1:4, 17;, 25; 3:2). It is used 19 times in the New Testament. When you see the description of "perfect" for a Christian, it does not refer to not making mistakes. It refers to maturity or being at the highest level of effectiveness, reaching a desired goal. Until we have fully endured each trial, God is not finished with us, but we are getting closer every time we pass the test.
What's James Saying?
Although James gives us a shocking command to be joyful in trials, he backs it up with a good reason. God uses trials in our lives to strengthen our faith. We are tested through the fires of persecution and other tribulations that come our way.
While we cannot discount the fact that the devil may be involved in causing some trials, we also can see how God can take a bad trial and turn it into increased faith and stronger character. If your God isn’t bigger than your trials, He’s not the God of the Bible. God is so great that His overpowers the evil in your situation (Genesis 50:20). He changes its purpose and you actually gain strength from it!
This is why we can view trials in a positive light. Our faith is increased because it is exercised in endurance, much like our muscles are also strengthened through the adversity and weight we put on them. Although trials aren't fun, they are useful for us to grow spiritually and please God.
James's Themes
Everything James teaches for the rest of his letter will be about trials of various kinds. While we will not see the word for trials very much after this first section, James gives us examples of trials through the rest of his letter.
In the Bible
Trials The Bible is full of trials and tests for the righteous. Every person’s story in the Old and New Testaments shows how they respond to trials .God tested Abraham’s faith in the promise, making Abraham believe Isaac would still fulfill God’s promise even if he had to sacrifice him (Genesis 22).
Joseph must have scratched his head through most of his life. He did the right thing but endured trial after trial from being falsely accused to spending time in prison. He stood the tests and came out a powerhouse for God in a foreign land. Everyone from Moses to David and beyond in the Old Testament endured trials.
In the New Testament, Paul dealt with false teachers, Jews who wanted him dead, Christians behaving badly in Galatia and Corinth, and many other trials. Jesus suffered trials with grace, teaching us how to suffer well. The apostles suffered trials at the hands of the Sanhedrin in Acts.
Character Chains. James also uses a character chains to show the development God is speaking in our lives as we trust in Him. He has a program for your progress as His disciple. He is developing you into the image of Christ (Romans 8:28-30). Character chains show the progression from one state to the next, from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18).
You can find character chains in James 1:2-4, Romans 5:3-5, Colossians 3:12-14, 1 Corinthians 13, Matthew 5:3-12; Galatians 5:22-24;, 1 Timothy 6:11, James 3:17, 1 Peter 3:8, and 2 Peter 1:5-7. These attributes are also called virtue lists. Jesus is working these essential qualities into our personality and character.
Wisdom for Today
Christians are not exempt from trials. We still get sick, suffer loss, and go through trials in our lives that we can’t explain. When trials happen, draw close to God and look to Him. Don’t suffer alone. Let fellow Christians pray for you and help you.
When trials and troubles come your way, instead of trying to get rid of them or blaming God or the devil for them, see how God is using them. What we do with our trials, how we think about and approach them, is the true test.
It’s easy to look back on God’s hand in your life in the past, but when it’s happening right now, we tend to not see it. We don’t understand now, but we will later. God is preparing you for something great, and He is using everything in your life: the joys, the trials, the good, the bad, and the ugly to bring you closer to Him, His will, His heart, and His purpose.
Ask yourself these questions to make sure you approach trials in a joyful way that sees God’s hand at work in your life:
- Ask God how He is using the trial. Is there a lesson to learn, a principle to practice, faith to exert, or faithfulness to display?
- How can you serve Jesus during this trial?
- Is Jesus drawing you closer to Him in prayer and presence? Should you devote more time to spiritual disciplines like fasting, meditation, silence and solitude, or others?
Starter Prayer
Lord Jesus, increase my faith and strengthen my trust in You. Build my character and make me more like You. I know You’ve got this. Give me the patience and endurance to see this trial through to the end. Walk with me through this journey and keep me on your path of progress You have marked out for me. Draw me closer to You through this experience.