Deal With It – Part 3
1. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
2. My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into various temptations.
3. Knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience.
4. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
5. If any of you lack wisdom, let them ask of God, that gives to all men liberally, and does not reproach; and it shall be given.
James 1:1-5
Trust Proclamation
Trust preparation focuses on joy that comes from God even before the crisis or trial takes place in the believer’s life. God, the Holy Spirit, produces the joy fruit in the heart of the child of God. The only way to bring forth that joy is that a circumstance ignites the fire of joy, and it is manifested in the face of trials. For example, when the children of Israel left Egypt, many were elated about leaving bondage, but they did not have joy to endure the journey to the Promised Land. As a result, they complained, grumbled, and doubted God’s promise, scoffed at His provision, and denied His presence. They did not have the joy-filled attitude as Joshua and Caleb. This resulted in an entire generation missing out on entering the place of promise. God desires to give us joy that is not depended on mountain-top experiences, or things going our way. Real joy is in every child of God and is produced on demand. This summarizes the trust preparation where the Holy Spirit provides His joy.
When we consider the trust process, God grows us spiritually so that joy moves us to our next phase of spiritual maturity. Think of it this way, if you never had the crisis to enter your life, your faith would not mature. Thus, it is a process when we count it all joy when you fall into various temptations. This leads to an increase in our knowledge of God and how He is working to produce something fabulous. Knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience … But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. This verse confirms that we lack something. God is working in us to fill what we are lacking and grow us to the point of full development in Christ.
While these two principles shed a great deal of light on “how we deal with” the crisis and problems of our life, it does not provide the complete picture of what it means to “count it all joy.” Its as if, God has layered these principles so that we move from one degree of grace to another. I certainly am grateful for the Holy Spirit empowering me with joy for each onslaught of problems. That is one way of dealing with it.
Then, from the moment of impact to the duration of the test, God graciously grows us in patience and knowledge of His goodness so that we lack nothing. All of this works for our good and for our God as He pours into the believer more than the world is pouring on them through adversity. We deal with it because, the crisis is actually making us strong in the Grace of God and in the Power of His might. That is how we deal with it.
Yet, there is another even more powerful principle of dealing with crisis. Please note that the other principles are more than sufficient to overcome hardships. Here is the point, God does not simply want us to become problem solvers or spiritual heroes with the ability to take on life situations. While that makes for great Hollywood movies, our goal in life is to glorify God and to become all that He has created us to be. As it states in 1 John 3:2, now we are the children of God and it does not appear what we shall be but when He (Jesus) appears, we shall be like Him. Another verse also reminds us that as Jesus was in the world, so we are also to be like Him. 1 John 4:17. This is referred to as the trust proclamation. In short, this is the decree that we make when we count it all joy. Your life and my life becomes a testimony of our authority in Christ. Let me explain.
We make a statement to the world either for good or for bad as we face life’s challenges. We testify that we either trust God or distrust God. We testify that we are following God or our own actions. When believers count it all joy, they testify that God is in control, that life is not left to chaos and chance, and that ultimate good will come. When believers count it all joy, they start a process that completes them in their faith and provides knowledge that honors God and helps us live for God amid life’s storms. This is how we count it all joy. This is how we deal with it. A classic example of a trust proclamation comes from the author Psalm 27. He wrote, the Lord is my Light and my Salvation, whom shall I fear … The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid.
You Name It – You Live It
When God created humans, He made them in His image and gave them authority over every living thing. So far as I have read, God never revoked that authority. We know that Satan stole that authority and is now on a campaign to destroy, deceive, and defeat humans through sin. Yet Jesus changed the outcome through the Cross. It was there that He cried out “It is finished.” The authority has been restored through Jesus Christ. We may now reclaim our rights to govern as God directs us. We may now resume our living by the Spirit because we have been restored to the Most High God. It is through that authority that we can better understand the command to count it all joy. It even becomes the focus of our testimony and trust proclamation to count every circumstance as all joy.
If something horrendous happens, we should not count it total disaster or total defeat. Why? It is because God the Holy Spirit, will use that trial for our victory. If sudden calamity falls upon the child of God, should they give up and say, “life is meaningless?” Absolutely not! When we “count it all joy” we name or label the situation in order to see and experience it from God’s perspective. If we label or name the circumstances as evil, we give credit to the Devil. That is certainly not what we want to do. So, when we count it all joy, we honor God and give permission for Him to move in the chaos of calamity and produce the outcome that brings glory to His Name. That is how we deal with it.
Let me explain. One of the assignments given to Adam was naming or labeling all the creatures that God had made. Genesis 2:19 reveals that God brought the creatures to Adam to see what he would call them: and whatever Adam called every living creature, that was the name it was assigned. Adam named fish and mammals and birds and bugs in such a manner that displayed his authority over those things. God approved this process for Adam and sanctioned what Adam had called the creatures. What does this have to do with counting it all joy? It has everything to do with naming the situations that impact our life in order to deal with them according to God’s plan. If you call every crisis evil, then you are anticipating an evil outcome. If you name the situations as impossible, you are saying there is nothing that can be done. If you say “this is a mess” then you will have the very mess that you proclaim. With your own words you will be either justified or condemned; it all comes back to the words you use. This gives a whole new meaning to the Sunday School lyrics, “Be careful little mouth what you say.” What comes out of your mouth will either direct you to God’s plan and provision or it will direct you to disaster. So, when you say, “I will count this all joy” you have verbally communicated to do things God’s way and have chosen His plan of action. That is how we deal with it.
The word “count” in the Greek means to command. When you are considering it all joy, you are actually naming the situation by its good name. You are governing the trouble by telling it what you plan to do about it. The quicker you bring it under God’s control and authority, the better things will be for you. This is why James closes his letter with the same joyous admonition. Is any among you afflicted? Let them pray. Is any merry? Let them sing psalms. If any are sick among you let them pray. James 5:13-14. When you count everything that happens as all joy, you are saying regardless of the pain, this is still going to work out for good and for God’s glory.
In the business world, those who come up with a new product will do a couple of things before they release their products to the market. First, they get a patent or copyright for the exclusive use and production. Second, they develop a marketing strategy so they can let everyone know that this is their new product line. Third, they have a distribution process developed to make sure they can deliver what they promised. This same approach can be used by believers when we count it all joy.
The proclamation of joy establishes the fact that we have gone to God in prayer over the problem and properly registered it before His Throne. Counting it all joy is the seal that we have been approved by God to use the proper name over everything that may impact our life, and to turn it around for God’s glory. Our marketing strategy going forward is not to tell everyone that this is something terrible, but to tell them “God’s going to work this out.” It may be a challenge right now, but everything is under God’s control. Then as the distribution process moves forward, James tells us that patience is employed. Things begin to fall in place. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
Believe it or not, this is the strategy that all of the apostles, including James, followed as they moved forward proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They refused to allow their troubles to hinder their work. They knew that God would provide for their needs and give them victory in spite of their suffering. This approach was patented first by the Lord Jesus as He faced the greatest challenge of all times. When He faced the crucifixion, Jesus counted it all joy. He dealt with it. Hebrews 12:3, consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds. What did Jesus do. He dealt with it, for the Joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the Right Hand of the Throne of God. That’s how Jesus dealt with it, and He left a great example for us in dealing with life.
Scientist and innovator, George Washington Carver serves as a great example of someone who learned to deal with it. Born in Missouri, a slave state, Mr. Carver witnessed his share of tragedies. His father died before he was born. He was abducted by slave raiders who took his mother but returned him to the farm. He was frail in his early years so he could not work the fields but helped out with household chores. He could have just counted it all problems. Instead, young George took an interest in plants where he gained the nickname of “Plant Doctor.” He went on to overcome obstacles and barriers because he had the attitude of a champion, not just for himself but for others. His inventions helped farmers produce crops and learn new methods in agriculture. He taught at Iowa College and later at Tuskegee Institute. The world did not know the “peanut” and what it could do until George Washington Carver shared his research. From the time he arrived on earth in about 1864 to the time he departed in 1943, Mr. Carver was about a good work. He counted life as something worth living. He dealt with life in a good way. You and I can do the same.
Finally in closing, there are three ways to deal with life the same way you deal with water. In a large body of water, you can float, you can sink, or you can swim. Sinking takes no effort – just give up and it will happen. Floating takes a little skill – you just try to stay up or simply try to survive. Swimming is a challenge, but it is the only option that will produce good results in life. When you learn to deal with it – you learn to swim.