Count It All Joy

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials (James 1:2).

Trials come in various shapes and sizes, ranging from minor disappointment to major trauma.

The natural human response to such trials is built in to our bodies. When threatened by trouble, we are flooded with adrenalin which prepares us to fight or flee. Anger and fear go with the territory. Often trials can bring discouragement or depression in their wake. 

The Apostle James was well aware of all this and yet he urges us to count it all joy. Humanly speaking, this seems impossible. But the grace of God in Christ enables us to rise above our natural human responses.

The key to understanding what James means is the word “count” which, in the original Greek, means to reckon or evaluate. In other words, when we find ourselves facing a trying situation we need to evaluate it from God’s perspective, or in the light of his higher purpose for our lives. What is this higher purpose? Trials, according to Scripture, are the tools God uses to form us into the image of Christ. Thus something very important and Christ-like is happening to us when we experience trials -- and that we can count as joy.

A trial is never pleasant. But properly evaluated, the results of the trial under God’s hand are truly an occasion for rejoicing. God is working for our good even in the midst of painful circumstances. Let us ask God for the grace to count it all joy.

Praying to the Father in Secret

But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

                                                Matthew 6:6

It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of prayer in the Christian life. If we neglect it, we do so at great cost ourselves. As the hymn writer put it:

                  O what peace we often forfeit,

                  O what needless pain we bear,

                  All because we do not carry

                  Everything to God in prayer.

In the Sermon On the Mount Jesus gave us some very simple but essential instructions about prayer.

First: when you pray go into your room. Every Christian needs a special place where they can commune with God in prayer. It could be a bedroom or a corner of the house. The point is, it becomes a sacred space set aside for you and God.

Second: shut the door. This means we need to be free from distractions. Most of us are constantly bombarded with noise. This noise pollution prevents us from hearing the still, small voice of God and experiencing the gentle stirrings of his Spirit. We need to “shut the door” on this noise and bathe our souls in silence.

Third: pray to your Father who is in secret. How wonderful that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us, cares for us, and knows what we need even before we ask. He desires nothing more than that we should come to him with child like faith and pour out our hearts to him in secret.

If we take these three simple steps, says Jesus, our Father who sees in secret will reward us. God cannot always give us what we want in the way we want it, but he always rewards those who pray with blessing upon blessing. To fail to pray is to forfeit the blessings. Prayer is not a burdensome duty but a joyful, rewarding privilege. May we never neglect it.