Joy (In The Cross)

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. [James 1.2-8]

How stable are you spiritually speaking? 

Did you know the Bible tells how to measure spiritual stability? In fact, James revealed it in the passage above. The amount of joy we have is the amount of spiritual stability we have!

Joy is not to be confused with forced laughter (as if to generate joy). There is an eternity of difference between forcing laughter in the midst of troubles of any kind and finding the Lord's joy in the midst of troubles of any kind. Surely someone would have recorded it if Jesus or the disciples had utilized forced laughter before, or for that matter, after performing some of their most profound miracles! But we have no such record. Instead, we have Jesus portrayed with seemingly unemotional resolve to approach and leave every circumstance as if He had other things on His mind... 

Jesus did have other things on His mind. Well, He had another "thing" on His mind. It was the Cross. The Cross would bring Jesus joy.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. [Hebrews 12.1-2]

Three key root words should be considered when comparing Hebrews 12.1-2 with James 1.2-8: Joy, endurance, and faith. (Please take a moment to read both passages looking particularly for those words)

Now it becomes quite clear why James would write:

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. [James 1.2]

Troubles of any kind are what a genuine Christ-follower has the opportunity to take to his or her own cross every day (keeping their eyes on Jesus), and there, find joy. 

Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed? If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels. [Luke 9.23-26]

If, in troubles of any kind, a person does not experience unforced joy, then that person most definitely is a person with divided loyalty ...as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. This is a faith problem that forced laughter cannot fix.

This gives continuity and understanding then as to why the apostle Paul would give the following instruction:

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. [1 Thessalonians 5.18]

In summary, a believer's joy is the measure of their spiritual stability. Spiritual stability (directly tied to wisdom) is the result of singular, undivided faith in God alone. Genuine joy can only be measured in the midst of daily troubles of any kind (the cross). 

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. [James 1.2-8]

Father, I have employed many fruitless tactics to have spiritual stability most of which avoided the endurance of "my cross." I find myself indicted by my condition as I have looked to everything except my cross to find peace, growth, and true joy. May my focus be transformed to be like Jesus - steadfastly looking to my cross every day because there, and only there, is true joy. And then, from my cross (where I am most like Jesus), free from fear and worldly concerns, may my life powerfully bring Your will to the earth - to the people by whom I am surrounded. So be it.