Fresh Brewed Sundays: Count It All JOY

 Photo credit: smenzel

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."  

(James 1:2-4)

This morning, the kids and I were still so sick from lingering colds, so we were stuck at home instead of attending church service.  While the kids watched a movie and coloring some activity pages I had printed out, I listened to a sermon online that was the first in a series our Pastor is doing on the book of James.   He talked about how some people say everything happens for a reason, but he disagreed after studying this passage.  Because God does not cause bad things to happen.  Bad things happen because there is sin in the world and often there is really no one to blame.

Life is just hard and things happen that we can't control.  But God does work all things together for good.  He talked about how the phrase count it all joy is really an attitude change, "an internal decision to make a positive response to the negative happenings in life".  He went on to say that faith that works believes that life's trouble produce spiritual goods, that we should consider trials an opportunity  to, by faith, find joy in what God is doing inside of you and that we should pray that our faith would be refined through the trial and made complete.

I've been pondering these truths all morning and then, just now, I read an update from my friend, Dale, about the brain tumor doctor's discovered causing his wife's migraines just over four years ago that resulted in an emergency c-section of her daughter and subsequent brain surgery and radiation to remove most of the tumor and shrink the remaining pieces of it.  Last week, after years of positive reports that the tumor was not growing...an MRI revealed that it is growing again.  Radiation is a definite once again and surgery could still be a possibility once they determine how much it has grown again.  And, since she is pregnant with her sixth child, there is a possibility she would have to be induced early.

My heart broke as I read his words, because I remember falling to my knees in tears as I prayed for her that first time...and I feel like it's all happening again.  But then I remembered we serve a God who is not surprised by these trials.  He doesn't cause them, but He knows what the future holds and He can and will work all things together for good.  Whatever the future holds, He knows and He has not left her side.  So, while my heart is still breaking, I will choose to find joy in what God will do through this trial and pray that each of us would find that our faith has been refined and made complete in the midst of this trial. 

Linking up with Barbie for Fresh Brewed Sundays.