Count It ALL Joy

James 1:2-4. "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."

Before my car accident, I thought I knew what these words meant. I thought of this verse in regard to my homework in college, finding a job, and preparing for a job. I needed to count these trials as joy. The words that I actually didn't fully understand in this verse was "various kinds". I had no idea as to the wide range of trials I might one day have to count as joy. 

There was one night while I was at the hospital that I was sobbing from the pain. The pain felt as though someone was digging into my leg with a razor blade and it felt, at the time, that it was never going to stop. The only thing that could ever calm me down when I was feeling overwhelmed with the pain was the reading of scripture. The students at our church knew this and had made a box of their favorite scriptures for me to read in the hospital. The last verse my brother, Hunter, read from the students was this verse in James. So, as my brother read these words of the Lord, I cried more and more and couldn't stop. 

I then asked Hunter to read to me off of my John Piper devotional app. John Piper puts a different devotion up every day and this day was about joy. The verse of the day was, “So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”John 16:22. 

“No one will take your joy from you because your joy comes from being with Jesus, and the resurrection of Jesus means that you will never die; you will never be cut off from him."-John Piper.

After Hunter read this, I cried to him and said, "It's so hard to not let the devil take my joy!" I had never been through such suffering. I wanted so badly to count ALL my various trials as joy so...I looked to the cross.

Through this suffering, God gave me the ability to see that if I end this trial without looking more like Christ at the end of it, then what was the point. I should have died the day of the accident instead of surviving if I was not going to take this opportunity to give the glory to The Lord. 

So let it be known that my God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob saved me from death on August 14th. He continually draws me near to Him through this trial. He gives me joy through my current suffering. My hope is in the Lord. The Holy Spirit reminds me continually of the sacrifice God's son, Jesus, gave through the cross that he carried, the blood that he shed, and the pain that he endured for me.

Now, it is time that I carry my cross. As I look to the one that saved me, I know...I KNOW that he will see me through this suffering and produce in me steadfastness causing me to look more like Christ.

I may not always be able to do this, but my prayer for myself and for you, is that through various trials, we would both know that the end goal is not only to get through it, but to resemble our savior, Christ.