Counting God’s Way

Pastor Dave, seated on the stage, was watching as the Wednesday night crowd eased into the auditorium for worship. Lewis, a fairly new believer and member of the church especially caught his eye. Normally Lewis was full of cheer and mingled well with everyone. Tonight though, he was clearly troubled and took his usual seat without saying a word to anyone. After the service, Pastor Dave asked Lewis if he wanted to talk. Pastor, I am so confused and afraid, Lewis confessed while looking at his shoelaces. He went on without pausing, “I know that God promises to meet all of my needs and I believe Him, but right now He doesn’t seem to be doing that. This month I have not been able to pay my mortgage because of no business and the month is half over. I am fearful of getting behind and never catching up. People are losing their homes in record numbers and I am afraid I might join their ranks. Pastor Dave, do you think I have done something wrong and God is making me suffer for it? Is it possible that I went against His will when I quit my job and went into my own business? Please help me understand Pastor, I am really worried.”

Sound familiar? Are you afraid that you have done something wrong, missed God’s will, made the wrong move or your secret sins are coming home to roost? Does God withhold provision from His children because they disobey? Is adversity in a believer’s life a sign that God is disciplining them? Has God been waiting on the right time to “get you” for your past or even present sins that nobody knows about? An age-old question the bible asks and answers is “why do believers who are growing in grace go through suffering?”

We are not the first believers to ask these questions or be discouraged by difficult circumstances. In the 1st century, many Jewish believers had been scattered into different places by extreme persecution. They were losing their homes, families, being put in jail and even being martyred for their faith. They were also very confused about why God, who professed to love them was allowing these things to happen. Was He tempting them to fail by overloading them with adversity? Every day someone was coming to James, the pastor in Jerusalem, hurting and complaining. Some were struggling with doubt as the pressures of persecution mounted. Others were abandoning their professions rather than lose their families or lives. In response to these times, James wrote a letter that was circulated among these Jewish believers, explaining God’s purpose for adversity in their lives. His surprising conclusion is a little more optimistic than we might expect. He says that adversity is really our friend, to be embraced with joy and to be faithfully endured like riding a bull because of what it produces in our lives. I tell you, this preaches easy but lives out hard.

Let’s look a little closer at his explanation and draw inspiration from his words.

James 1:2-4
JAMES 1:2 COUNT IT ALL JOY, MY BROTHERS, WHEN YOU ENCOUNTER VARIOUS TRIALS, 3 KNOWING THAT THE TESTING OF YOUR FAITH PRODUCES ENDURANCE. 4 AND LET ENDURANCE HAVE ITS PERFECT RESULT, THAT YOU MAY BE PERFECT AND COMPLETE, LACKING IN NOTHING.

The first word count, is a word for reaching a conclusion and it is a command. The conclusion reached by James, the half brother of Jesus, is that when adversity comes, it is a reason for pas chara – pure joy based on God’s grace with no sorrow.
The command here is corrective and is addressed to believers who are complaining and worrying. James says that when we complain about adversity we have reached a wrong conclusion and need to rethink the situation. God is helping us not hurting us. Is this you?

Second, this blessing is only for brothers meaning fellow believers. God only makes all things work for good (Rom 8:28) for His children. The unbeliever is on his own in this harsh, devilish world and is to be pitied.

Third, the word encounter means to be suddenly surrounded like the man who was surrounded by robbers in the parable of the Good Samaritan (when it rains it pours). The word various means different kinds indicating different areas of life. God allows us to be tried in every area of life to prove that His grace is sufficient for everything in life. Don’t be alarmed when many areas turn south at once.

Fourth, the word trials, peirasmos can mean temptation indicating the desire to sin or it can mean the difficulty itself that gives occasion for the temptation. Here it means all kinds of difficult circumstances like they were enduring. Difficult situations do tempt us to doubt God’s faithfulness and His promise to provide.

Let’s summarize the first phrase of verse 2

1. At any time, different kinds of adversity can come into our lives.
 Each of us is dealing with some difficulty right now
2. When adversity comes, God commands us to evaluate the reasons He allowed it and come to a spiritually based conclusion.
 The Aorist Imperative is corrective and indicates that God knows we have been complaining about the situation.
 He wants us to stop complaining and rethink the situation
3. His command is for us to believe that the adversity He has allowed is a reason for us to rejoice
 God commands us to become aware of our beliefs and change them
 The adversity is intended to cause good in our lives, not bad.
 If we embrace God’s purpose for the events we will be greatly benefited
4. God commands us to change our minds about what brings happiness to the believer’s life.
 Commands that we reject the lie that true happiness is situational
 Commands that we embrace the truth that true happiness is found in Him

Conclusion: Whatever difficulty you are facing right now, put your complaining on hold and tell yourself that God has provided a new way of thinking about your life. Tell yourself that God knows exactly what has happened and He knows you are in great pain. He is going to comfort your pain but not by making the adversity go away. He is going to do something much better than just give you relief from your difficulties. He is going to build into you the strength to endure any difficulty with honor and integrity and enable you to be at peace within your heart in spite of any situation. God wants to make you stronger than anything the devil can throw at you so that you can face every hardship in life and come out a winner. God’s plan is to make you stronger than life and is a reason to rejoice in adversity.

In our next discussion, we will look at the next phrase and dig into how God accomplishes this in us.