Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
James 1:2-4
This passage always bothered me. Though I read it with my eyes and brought it into my mind, it has always been a Scripture that never made sense to me.
“Consider it PURE JOY… whenever you face trials of many kinds.” I am to have pure joy in the midst of trials. I read it with my eyes, I try to construct it in my mind and even though I am anxious, worried, and afraid – I am supposed to have pure joy! So I am supposed to put on a smile and not let trials bring me down. I am supposed to show pure joy!
What a phony. What a fake. Pure joy cannot be faked.
As I sat on a bus in the middle of Disney World, I received a dreaded phone call from our business mechanic . He told me that with the current repairs on our food truck, the best case scenario is a $50,000 repair and the worst case scenario is a $170,000 replacement with 1 year of downtime. With such a trial, I am supposed to have PURE JOY! I was at Disney World; I must have pure joy!!
As I looked across the bus from me, I saw Hope & Mercy goofing around and they made a funny face to me. I heard the Lord ask me, “Do you trust me with your children?” And I responded, “Of course I do. All I can do is trust you with my children!“. Then He said, “Will you trust me with the business? How much more precious are your children than the business?”
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Later that week, I felt the Holy Spirit fall upon me as I was driving. He began to show me the things He had been working on me this year. One of the biggest ones was trusting Him with the business.
I realized that the trials were not meant for anxiety, worry, and fear. They were meant to make me turn from my ways and trust in the one who holds the whole earth in the palm of His hand. To trust the King of Kings. I began to weep, because the creator of the universe loved me enough to save me from the pitfall that I was walking towards. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords loved me enough to correct my ways before causing devastation.
I wept and I smiled because I found PURE JOY in the King who loves me so.
Pure joy cannot be faked, but it can be found in the King.