“My Brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.” – James 1:2-3 (NKJV)
Like many Texas guys, I grew up playing football. I love it too – hitting, running, game time, even two-a-days. I liked everything but the weight room. While most guys enjoyed lifting but avoided the sprints, speed drills, or calisthenics…I loved all those things…but I hated lifting weights. It didn’t matter if it was off-season heavyweights, in-season light weights, or any season any weights…to me it was a torture chamber of iron. The sign above the main door said it all, “No Pain, No Gain”. It might as well have said, “Trespassers will be shot on sight” because I didn’t belong there.
I guess my first reaction to James 1:2 was pretty much the same, have joy in trials…yeah, not my kind of club. It just didn’t make any sense. I mean, if I’m going through something, I don’t want to hear this. Tell me it gets better; tell me to keep my head up, or at least tell me, you feel my pain. Whatever you do, just don’t tell me to count it all joy. Have you ever noticed that this is one of those verses Christians love to use at the craziest times, like when they bump you in the church parking lot or snag the last of the cherry cobbler at the potluck dinner! Imagine you’re in the prison Commissary Line (store) and the lady chunks your ID back at you because you have no money. You can bet your bottom dollar that super Christian will be right behind you quoting, “Count it all joy Brother”. If you are like I was, you probably find this verse frustrating due to a misunderstanding of the role of Christian suffering.
When things really get bad, we can even begin to look at this world like I looked at that weight room, like a giant torture chamber. Instead, we should see it as God does…as a place of preparation. You see, the same principle of life that guides the weight room also guides the Christian walk…the principle of purpose. In the weight room, you go through pain for the purpose of getting physically stronger. In life, we go through trials for the purpose of getting spiritually stronger. Without the one, your muscles will never grow, but without the other, your faith will never grow. It’s true, the pain is never fun at the moment, but the purpose is always worth it in the end.
Do you feel like you are in the biggest fight of your life? Take heart, because you are on your way to your biggest blessing. Does life keep hitting you head-on? Stand up and hit it back. Never run from your struggle, instead, run to it. Approach each problem like you would a square business workout. With stone-cold focus, push through each exercise; with dogged-determination fight through each set; and with the shout of a winner, count each rep. Be the Champion you are.
Next trial you face – count it all joy and rep out your faith!
