2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
Have you ever been just traveling though your life and unexpectedly get stuck in a trial, a struggle in your faith-journey? It is almost as if you were on a ship headed for that perfect desert island and whammo, a sandbar keeps you from reaching your destination. You get stuck within viewing distance of your goal. And the captain won’t let you swim for shore. And now you are stuck on the ship, running out of food and supplies with an ever increasingly grumpy crew. Nothing you say or do can make the situation better. You must just endure it. Or do you? James calls us to do more than just endure it. He calls us to joy! How in the world can we be filled with joy in the middle of an exam? This trial, this exam is a process by which we learn the character of something by submitting it to a thorough and extensive testing process. We are the object being tested. Will we be proven to be what we claim to be? The TV show CSI demonstrates this process whereby evidence is closely examined to solve the crime. Even the smallest detail is scrutinized in order to get at the truth. Often times only slight differences in evidence, carpet fibers for instance, is enough to lead to the perpetrator of the crime. Our lives get this level of examination when we go through trials. Is our faith genuine? Does it permeate our being all the way to the core, or is it just airbrushed on the surface? Are there areas of our lives that we have not yielded to the Lordship of Jesus? Trials will get to these questions. Trials act like the microscope of the scientist carefully examining the deepest structures to get at the truth. That is how James can face trials with joy. He sees trials as the way our lives can be purified. Trials open us up to the presence of Jesus in newer, deeper ways. But we must view trials from this perspective if we are to receive the benefits. If we face trials kicking and screaming, then trials cannot do their work.
The Arnold Journey 