Consider It All Joy - iBelieve Truth: A Devotional for Women - March 17, 2025
"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 (NIV)
When I first started suffering from reproductive issues, I had no clue it would lead to a diagnosis of Stage 2 Endometriosis. I'd always thought my pain wasn't normal, but then again, I was dismissed by nearly every medical staff I met. As the severity of the pain grew, however, I asked God again and again to take it away.
Like Paul, I remember calling out to my Savior for strength. And yet, more than three times, I felt my pain wasn't answered. For years, I wondered if God heard me. I wondered if He cared about my pain and saw me. I wondered when and how he'd heal me. Why I was chosen to suffer (2 Corinthians 12).
Since having surgery, I've learned that God not only heard me then, but that He hears me now. He is El Roi, the God who sees me, no matter where I am or what I'm doing (Genesis 16:13). I learned that He cares about my pain when healing comes and when it doesn't. These are re-affirmations I tell myself daily.
I may not be pain or symptom-free, but I've learned that if God can use my pain to serve and help others, then so be it. Not because it makes the pain any easier to experience and live with, but because I have an eternal point of view.
In James 1:2-4, Jesus reminds us to count trials of any kind as joy. At a quick glance, this seems crazy. Why would pain, sorrow, and difficulties be seen as good? More so, how could they be viewed in this light? How do we consider it all joy when the pain ceases to exist?
The beauty of verses like this is that we aren't necessarily rejoicing for our pain but for the spiritual growth that results from the pain. Enduring this fire of sorts not only refines our spirits but helps us become more like Jesus. It points us to the cross of Christ and enables us to focus on His sacrificial character, even amid our pain and suffering.
1 Peter 1:6-9 says it this way: "In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls" (1 Peter 1:6-9, NIV).
Thinking in this way doesn't ask us to ignore our pain—Jesus cares about our pain and suffering. Why else would He die on the cross in the way that He did? But, thinking in this way asks us to shift our perspective.
God uses these trials not to punish us but to refine our faith. And, of course, because we live in a fallen world, many things happen to us that He didn't intend (like pain). But praise the Lord that we serve a God who can use all things for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28). Consider it joy, my friends, that God works this way.
Let's pray:
Dear Jesus, Embracing pain and trials of many kinds is never fun. When we face these things, please remind us that you do see our pain and care about us. This pain is not a punishment from God. But, God can give us the power and strength to overcome the pain. Even if the symptoms and circumstances remain, please give us the strength and resilience to carry on—not by our strength or power but by yours within us. Help shift our perspective to see these challenges from an eternal perspective and give us the power of your presence to carry on. In Jesus' Name, we pray, Amen.
Agape, Amber
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/olegbreslavtsev
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