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Joy in troubles



Perhaps one of the most misunderstood verses in the New Testament is found at the beginning of the book of James. I love how this leader of the early church, who was also the half-brother of Jesus himself, dives right into one of the most baffling ideas about faith -- the hardest thing to understand, and also the hardest thing to do: to walk through the darkest of times with your joy intact.


Like most profound truths, this is, to use one of my husband’s favorite terms, “better felt than telt.” In fact, it seems almost heartless to say it to someone who is going through a crisis--it’s hard to even read it for ourselves.


Faith exists in a realm that is completely opposite of what we call reality. All our lives, we learn to trust the tangible, to rely on the factual. We cling to the lifeboat we can recognize and touch, rather than leaning on God, whom we cannot see or feel. But when our hearts are breaking, when our world is shattered by death, betrayal, or distress, when the storms come, if we have put all our confidence in a manmade vessel that is vulnerable to damage and destruction, we will soon find out that it is not enough to keep us afloat.


When the disciples thought they were doomed to sink and drown in a boat violently rocked by a sudden storm, it was only when they abandoned their own futile efforts and asked Jesus for help that they found hope. To their astonishment, all He had to do was command the storm to be still, and suddenly they were safe again. If they had not experienced the storm, they would have never seen the miracle. 


The early Christians endured violent persecution, imprisonment, and death to the greatest extreme, yet they were sustained to the end by the joy of knowing they were holding fast to their faith, and that God was holding them in His hand, no matter how it ended. It is a response completely opposite of what would be expected -- what we see and often feel when things go horribly wrong in our lives. We want to be angry -- at anyone and everyone -- even at God. We feel betrayed, let down, forgotten…all of these are completely natural. But that’s where we go wrong: being natural, following our human instincts, instead of stepping out into the intangible, incomprehensible realm of faith. It’s a completely opposite place from our human emotions.


But that’s where faith--and being a follower of Christ -- resides: in a completely opposite place.

  • Jesus told us to value the intangibles over material things, to “lay up treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:20)

  • He commanded us to love our enemies, not to hate them (Matthew 5:43).  

  • He taught us to pursue peace, not revenge, (Matthew 5:38-39); 

  • to yield humbly, in kindness and love, rather than “sticking up for ourselves” (Matthew 5:40-42). 

  • He showed us that the one who is really the greatest is the one who makes himself a servant to others. 

  • He taught us that truly loving God is proven not by religion or ritual, but by purifying ourselves on the inside. (Matthew 15:16-20) 

  • He told us to be more like our Heavenly Father, to seek Him first, and His standard of righteousness, rather than to pursue “finding ourselves,” as we so often set out to do. (Luke 12:31, Matthew 5:48)


“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen,” says Hebrews 11:5. The mystery deepens!


So how do we get there -- to this mysterious place of faith that lies beyond our intellect, but is more real than things we’ve always considered “real?” “So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Word of God,” explains Romans 10:17. The secret lies within the very pages of the book that has sold more copies than any other publication, yet is so rarely opened. In 2022, I commit to digging deeper to find the meaning of the scriptures, and to explain them one by one, beginning with the Book of James, to do my part in helping you find the truths hidden within. 


#BackyardDevo


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