Pure Joy

To arrive at your destination and have an eight-year old granddaughter come running at full speed towards you, to give you a bear hug and tell you how much she loves you and how much she missed you, that is pure joy! I had that experience yesterday.

There is something else that is pure joy, which I want to talk about now. James, the brother of our Lord Jesus, writes about it. And it is not something we might think of as pure joy.

James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
³ because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
⁴ Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

We should be happy when we are tested, when we face all kinds of trials! Why? Because the testing of our faith develops perseverance.

Abraham probably experienced one of the most difficult tests, when God asked him to sacrifice his son, the one he had receives at age 100, as a confirmation of a promise God gave him at age 75! First he waited 25 years to see the promise fulfilled, and then God asked him to sacrifice that dear boy.

This is the promise:

Genesis 12:2-3
“I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
³ I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”

How could he be a great nation when he had no son, and when his wife was barren? That’s the beauty of the miracle! Sarah became a mother at age 90!

Then came the testing! God already knew that Abraham loved him above all, because God knows everything. But Abraham had to make a visible show, to prove to himself that God was Number One!

Genesis 22:12
“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

A man that was tested beyond what anyone of us has gone through, I’m almost positive, was Job. He was stripped of everything—his children, his wealth, his health. He was so bad off his friends hardly recognized him. His wife told him he should just curse God and die!

The testing was to show Satan and his evil forces that Job’s love of God was genuine. Job stood the test. He recognized that it was a test. How could he consider it pure joy? Probably because he knew what the end result would be.

Job 23:10
But he knows the way that I take;
when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

I’ve repeated this to my heart’s content: “when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.”

Job poses an interesting question:

Job 7:17-18
What is man that you make so much of him,
that you give him so much attention,
¹⁸ that you examine him every morning
and test him every moment?

What are we, that God should give us so much attention? Compare this to what the writer of Hebrews reminds us.

Hebrews 12:4-7
In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
⁵ And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
⁶ because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”

⁷ Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?

Hebrews 12:11
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

James, who starts his letter by telling us what pure joy is, reminds us that we are blessed if we persevere under trial.

The testing of our faith develops perseverance. In Romans 5:2-5, the apostle Paul reminds us that we should “rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” But not only for that reason; we should also rejoice in our sufferings. Why?

• suffering produces perseverance
• perseverance produces character
• character produces hope

It’s like a circle. Do you see it? The suffering is encircled by hope.

“And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us” (verse 5).

Who is our Hope? Jesus in us is our hope of glory (see Colossians 1:27). That’s why we can consider any test with pure joy. Jesus is our hope!

There is so much to say about the subject of counting it pure joy when we are tested. Maybe this introduction to the subject will inspire you to do a study of your own. Look back on your life. I’m sure you will see how the trials and tests you have gone through have brought you closer to God.

Reflect on the Circle of Hope I have drawn. In the midst of suffering you are encircled by hope. And hope will  not disappoint you.

The sons of Korah wrote a psalm when they were feeling low, asking why they were so downcast? The answer was in hope!

Psalm 42:11
Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

That’s the answer in any circumstance. We need to appreciate the times of testing.

As a final note, let me give you a prayer, in which King David asks God to test him. Let’s make it our prayer. Maybe you’ve already prayed that prayer.

Psalm 139:23-24
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

I hope you can consider it pure joy when you are tested. Keep in mind, you will come forth as pure as gold!

(Scriptures taken from the Bible New International Version)