<strong>Trials and Temptations </strong>
2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
12Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
When I consider this passage, I must admit that I have struggled with the concept of considering my trials with “pure joy”! when I think of the word pure I think of something really good, excellent, awesome, quality etc. Lets see what the dictionary says about these two words.
Pure; adj., pur·er, pur·est.
1.Having a homogeneous or uniform composition; not mixed: pure oxygen.
2.Free from adulterants or impurities: pure chocolate.
3.Free of dirt, defilement, or pollution: “A memory without blot or contamination must be . . . an inexhaustible source of pure refreshment” (Charlotte Brontë).
4.Free of foreign elements.
5.Containing nothing inappropriate or extraneous: a pure literary style.
6.Complete; utter: pure folly.
7.Having no faults; sinless: “I felt pure and sweet as a new baby” (Sylvia Plath).
8.Chaste; virgin.
9.Of unmixed blood or ancestry.
10.Genetics. Produced by self-fertilization or continual inbreeding; homozygous: a pure line.
11.Music. Free from discordant qualities: pure tones.
12.Linguistics. Articulated with a single unchanging speech sound; monophthongal: a pure vowel.
13.Theoretical: pure science.
14.Philosophy. Free of empirical elements: pure reason.
Joy-
1.
a.Intense and especially ecstatic or exultant happiness.
b.The expression or manifestation of such feeling.
2.A source or an object of pleasure or satisfaction: their only child, their pride and joy.
v., joyed, joy·ing, joys.
v.intr.
To take great pleasure; rejoice.
v.tr. Archaic
1.To fill with ecstatic happiness, pleasure, or satisfaction.
2.To enjoy.
Wow! two pretty powerful words! Put them together and you get magic! Other worldly. beyond our comprehension. That’s just like God to mix it up. To introduce a concept of pure joy in relation to trials. At first glimpse, they seem to be polar opposites don’t they? Of course, our natural tendency is to complain, grumble and have a bad attitude towards the trial and ultimately toward God. “How could a loving God allow such a thing to happen?” I think one of the keys to viewing trials in this light and beginning to grasp the “pure joy” concept is- Our view of God. Do we see Him as a loving, compassionate, merciful God or a mad and angry taskmaster. Someone whose love is conditional on performance. Now i don’t know where you are in your faith walk but I have been a Christian for 35 years and have plenty of biblical training. From high school to college to ministry. I “knew” it all or so I thought. I think as we age and mature and experience trials our faith that came easy, that child-like acceptance, becomes challenged by the “heat” of the fire. I think that this process is the “working out of our salvation”-Philippians 2:12 -that head knowledge versus heart knowledge concept. i don’t know about you, but i do know that as my life got more challenging I have had numerous opportunities, to pack it in so to speak,and not follow my “beliefs”. you begin to ask yourself,”if i really believe these “absolute truths”, why am I having such doubts?” To me, the working out is the purifying of my faith and the weeding out process. So, I believe that the only way to have Pure Joy in trials is to 1) Know the character of God,and 2) know his promises/truth. Jesus knew the outcome and He knew the character of the Father. Without these we most likely will fall away. Over the last 10 years I have said on numerous occasions, “I don’t understand but I trust you Lord”! I let go and let God- in essence- not my will but thine be done! Jesus, even knowing the outcome pleaded with the Father….”I don’t want to drink this cup of trials”! Jesus basically said that in the garden. Is it not interesting that the King of Glory was in a garden when he struggled with the cross. Hmmm. I know someone else who struggled in a garden… I wonder what the correlation is? In conclusion, here is what i know… 1)Jesus told us we will have trials but take heart for we know the outcome! 2)He works all things together for our good and His glory. I think that if we are expecting the trials, not specifically of course, but have that warrior mentality that goes out each day with an attitude of expectancy. “I am trained to do battle and the Lord thy God is with me where ever i go”. Would you rather hit the battle head on or be ambushed? Jesus expected the battle and had his sword ready! Let’s get ready to rumble for we are in a war and our enemy is fierce! But, take courage for the Lord your God is with you and He will fight on your behalf. He will go out before you on your wings of faith. I can’t say that I have got the pure joy thing down patt. But I sure understand my heavenly Dad better and how his spiritual economy works. Jesus loves me this I know for my renewed and healed heart tells me so!
