Consider
it pure joy, my brothers,
whenever
you face trials of many kinds.
James 1:2 NIV
History recounts that in 47 AD, Emperor
Claudius celebrated the 800th anniversary of the founding of the
city of Rome. Records indicate that in 49 AD he passed an edict expelling all
Jews from Rome, and in 50 AD he adopted Nero as his heir. During this period of
constant change and turmoil in the Roman Empire, the first century church faced
its own struggle—the merging of Jews and Gentiles.
The Jews believed that Gentile converts
to the faith should be circumcised and follow the Mosaic Law. The Gentiles were
not anxious to be entangled with all of the rules and regulations of Judaism—especially
circumcision. (Acts 15:2-35) Conflict followed and a delegation led by the
Apostle Paul was sent to Jerusalem. James, Jesus’ brother, was an influential
leader in the Jerusalem church and after much discussion the conflict was
resolved and a letter which included these words was sent to the Gentile
believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:
“You are to abstain from food sacrificed
to idols, from blood, from the meat
of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid
these things.” Acts 15:29 NIV
It was around this time that James wrote
to “the twelve tribes scattered among the nations…” I find it both interesting
and timely that his first instruction to the church was “consider it pure joy,
my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds…” That is a head scratcher!
Joy and trials are not words we generally see in the same sentence. But here
they are; written by a man who surely knew much about both.
Why did James say that, and how does that
apply to you and me today? He continues by telling the Jewish Christians
residing in Gentile communities that the testing of your faith produces
perseverance. In James 1:12 we read, “Blessed is the man who perseveres under
trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life
that God has promised to those who love him.”
James did not say if you face trials but rather when
you face many kinds of trials. He is not writing to those early Christians to
say when bad things happen just put on a smile and pretend to be happy. Instead
he is encouraging the church to have a positive attitude in the midst of trials
in order to profit or learn from the bad and use it for good. I suppose you
could say it is the ancient version of, when life hands you a lemon—make
lemonade.
It may seem easy to be a man or woman of
faith when life is good and trusting God comes naturally. However, what we do
with the trials of life that inevitably come to each of us is the true test of
our character.
Little did James know that in a few short
years Nero would become emperor of Rome and the persecution of Christians would
rise to a new level. But God knew, and through James He was sending a message
to the early church to trust Him in the trials of life, to face those trials
with the right attitude and to learn from the immediate in order to persevere
through the trials on the horizon.
This message is as timely today as when
James wrote it almost two thousand years ago. Trials will come. But we have
been given the recipe for making it through the tough times. When life hands
you a lemon, through faith in God make lemonade, and consider it pure joy.
©
Joyce Powell
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