Rejoice in Our Trials?

“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;”

James 1:2

Dear Friends,

Nobody that has ever lived on this earth has ever experienced a problem-free existence. Now to be sure, the Christian who is serious about their faith and lives a biblically-centered life has less of some types of troubles, such as marriage, but tough times come to all. In this small verse, tucked away in the epistle by James, it is significant that God uses the word when not if we would face adversity.

It also says that many times we fall into trials, implying that difficulties arise often unexpectedly. I also notice it is divers (many different types) trials that we will experience. Can we actually learn to rejoice in these times? Now, to actually enjoy difficult times, you’d have to be a strange person – so how can a Christian follow Scripture and rejoice?

There are several ways. We can rejoice in the strength that God gives, we can rejoice that God is a prayer-answering God and we can rejoice in the closeness we feel with God during these tough times. Actually, there are many things to rejoice in while not rejoicing in the trouble itself. Dear friend, let God use the tough times in your life to draw you closer to Him.

Rejoicing,

Dr. Tim Pollock, Senior Pastor