DAY 323 ½

COUNT IT ALL JOY – REALLY?

James 1

This is the second of two posts for November 19

I love the Letter to James. People debate whether it was written before or after Paul’s letters. We know that Origen, a person who lived between 184/185-253/254 directly quoted it, and there is evidence the Irenaeus (an even earlier Church father) quoted it.

Over the next several days I will point out some of the things I love. The first is James straight talk about how we make mistakes—how we miss the mark—how we sin:

13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Ever heard people say “God is tempting me?” James would say, “No He is not!” I love the straight talk of James and the progression to sin that he shows—I find it true. James says, it is not God tempting us but: first we have some desire and linger on it. This lingering is shown by this idea of when it is conceived it gives birth—it takes awhile from conception to birth and so the point is, do not linger. Do you remember the story of David and Bathsheba? David was walking on the roof and looked in a window and saw Bathsheba. Now I can understand that he might have innocently looked in the window and saw a beautiful woman bathing. He should have turned away, but he did not, he lingered…and that lingering led to all sorts of trouble—how about you—ever linger? I have and it is not good.

James goes on from there, not leaving us with the negative, but pointing out:

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures… 22 But be doers of the word,

There is more, but I must circle back to the beginning where we read:

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

“Count it all joy”—really—even when terrible things happen? What does this phrase mean? I am divorced and it pained many people, including my children. Do I count that joy? I am burying someone this week—way too early in their life. Do I count that joy? I really believe the Bible, but these are the kind of phrases that we have to spend some time on, or we end up (as I have said before) picking and choosing and in the end not really being people who follow the Bible.

I am not the first who has tried to understand this specific text, and I pray that you won’t think me creating some logic that resembles a pretzel. When the Bible says “Count it all joy” I do not believe it is saying, “Gee, that really bad thing that happened was OK” nor do I think it means “God is not interested in your pain.” Now why do I say these things? Because I believe the Bible has to be consistent—it has one author, God, and if He is the author, then we should expect a consistent voice. God is not in the business of saying bad things are OK. We have been reading the Old Testament, people in those passages are doing really bad things—God certainly is not saying it is OK. Further God is interested in your pain and understands. Jesus says, “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest…” He cares. Plus He has felt, in fact born our pain.

So what does “count it all joy” mean? I think there are two parts. First is the “all.” I do not believe God is saying each of the individual bad things that happen to us are to be joyful. I think it means that when we view our life in total, the “all of it” that we have a choice on how to view it. That choice is the second part. I think we need to choose whether we go through life mad and angry about “all” that has happened to us, or we go through life and we choose to not let “all of it” own us and have power over us. I do not think it means that the moment something bad happens that you immediately say, “It’s OK, I will just count it joy.” That would be nutty. I do think that over time you need to get to the place where you are looking forward. An author I have read a lot, Max Lucado, of says it this way:

It's quiet. It's early. My coffee is hot.

The sky is still black. The world is still asleep. The day is coming.

In a few moments, the day will arrive.

It will roar down the track with the rising of the sun. The stillness of the dawn will be exchanged for the noise of the day. The calm of solitude will be replaced by the pounding of the human race. The refuge of the early morning will be invaded by decisions to be made and deadlines to be met. For the next twelve hours I will be exposed to the day's demands. it is now I must make a choice. Because of Calvary, I am free to choose.

And so I choose.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

To these I commit my day.

If I succeed, I will give thanks.

If I fail, I will seek His grace.

And then, when this day is done, I will place my head on my pillow and rest.

I think to be able to make that choice is to somehow count the sum total of your life a joy that lets you look forward—the only way I know how to do that is by drinking in God and His love and grace.