Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into various temptations,
James opens his letter. Before anything else, he tells believers how to read the hard things happening to them. He does not tell them to endure trials, or to explain them, but to count them. That raises two questions: what kind of trial he means, and how anyone can call it joy.
Trials from outside, not enticements from within
Older translations use the word "temptations" here, where the ESV has "trials of various kinds." In this chapter that word covers two very different things.
We have to remember that a believer meets two kinds of temptation. One kind comes from trials outside us. The other comes from sin within. James puts both before us. First he says, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds." These are trials from outside. Through them the enemy tries to turn us away from our heavenly calling, and to stop us from pressing on to the rest God promises. Then James speaks of a very different kind. He says, "But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire." That is temptation from sin within.
Faith is worth testing
We can welcome these testings because of what they test, and because of the value God puts on it.
The temptations he speaks of are the things that try us and put us to proof. Sometimes they take the form of enticements that spring from our own desires, as verse 14 shows. Sometimes they do not. God never entices us. But He does allow, and even send, many testings from outside. These work "the testing of your faith" — they put faith to the proof. Anything of value has to be tested, and God sets great value on faith.
What faith sees, and what self-will refuses
The same trial meets two entirely different responses, depending on what the heart believes about the One who allowed it.
In this world of sin and ruin, God works in grace. He also disciplines souls. He turns trials of every sort into an occasion of blessing for all who acknowledge Him and seek His guidance. Self-will hardens itself against each trial, or gives way to discouragement and even despair. Faith recognises the love that never changes. It judges the self that resists His will or despises His word. As faith bows, it gains, and it grows by knowing Him.
Kelly is also clear that this does not mean feeling nothing:
Christians are not spared sorrow — far from it. Nor should we stop feeling that sorrow, any more than we should forget God's grace. So the trial throws us back on Him. Not a sparrow falls to the ground without Him, and He has numbered the very hairs of our head.
Beyond quiet resignation
There is a way of taking trouble well that still falls short of the verse.
People are meeting these hard times, we believe, with real courage. But that could be said of anyone. Is our courage Christian in character? Does it come from knowing the riches we have in Christ? We are thankful to say we have not heard grumbling and discontent: there has been quiet resignation and acceptance of what God has permitted. This is good, but it is not what James speaks of. So often we are resigned and quiet and even trustful; yet not marked by JOY.
"All" joy — the measure is total
The word "all" is not decoration.
The goal in view is that we may be "perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." That is worth wanting. Keeping it in view we shall be able to rejoice in some measure. James is not satisfied with some measure of rejoicing. He says, "Count it ALL joy." It would be no small thing to count it fifty percent joy. But he calls us to count it one hundred percent joy! That is a high standard — but the faith of Christ always sets perfection before us.
What the testing produces
Joy is possible because the trial is going somewhere.
James urges his readers to count persecution as all joy, as Paul had done in Romans 5, and for the same reason Paul gave. The testing of faith works patience. It breaks a man's will. He has to wait for God to act. He feels how much he depends on God. He learns that he lives in a world where God alone can bring about what is needed, and God alone can overcome and stop the power of Satan.
James is not saying this alone
The same lesson turns up in other letters.
We turn to Paul's letters. Romans 5 says in other words very much what James says here. Turn to Peter, and his first letter has more about suffering than any other letter. "And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you." Peter speaks of sufferings, Paul talks about tribulation, James talks about temptations — but note, they all tell us of the great value that lies in these things.
Summary
- Tested — the trials here come from outside, not from our own desires. God never entices. He does allow and send testings, because faith is worth proving.
- Counted — joy here is a verdict, not a mood. Faith sees unchanging love behind the trial. Self-will hardens or despairs.
- All — not fifty per cent; quiet resignation is good, but it is not yet the joy James asks for.
- Endured — the testing works patience. It breaks our will, and we learn to wait on God instead of acting apart from Him.
- Complete — the aim is a believer lacking nothing, and Paul and Peter say the same, so this is no isolated demand.