I just couldn't resist adding this picture today.  Life gets sour sometimes, doesn't it?  But we've been told to consider the sour moments part of our joyful life.  For we know that without the sensation of sour, we'd never fully appreciate the wonderful taste of the sweet!  So we will "consider it pure joy when we encounter trials of many different kinds", trusting in God, things will get better...He has great plans for us....the greatest of which is our eternal homes that are being prepared for us in His presence!

I think we, the "we" being most 2012 Americans living in relative comfort, tend to trivialize "trials". I am not saying that we do not encounter times that truly test us, we have health issues, family issues, financial issues, relationship issues, all of which can range from minor to very major on our trial scales....but when James was talking to the scattered Jews of the first century A.D., they were encountering t-r-i-a-l-s!!

When we read James 1:1, he says, "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings."  When we read a verse like this, we tend to dismiss it...it is just the "lead in"...let's get to the meat of the message!  But to truly understand the intensity of James message, we need to linger on this verse for just a minute.  James identifies himself as a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.  He served God well during his earthly life...he was one of the stalwarts of the early church in Jerusalem.  But he didn't start out that way.  During Jesus' ministry on earth, James was not one of his followers, he was not the disciple, James.  That was John's brother.  No, James, this James, started out as a doubter of Jesus...this James was Jesus own half-brother, son of Mary and Joseph.  And he was a scoffer of his older brother.  Until Jesus came to him as His resurrected Savior.  In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul tells us,

"Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James..."

This is when James' life turned around...180 degrees.  And he never stopped preaching the message that he received from His brother Jesus until he died, a martyr of the faith, thrown from the top of the temple and then stoned and clubbed to death.  Do  you think he encountered trials along the way?

Now, back to the message...James addresses his letter to the scattered tribes throughout the nations.  These scattered tribes are Jews who have left Jerusalem and the surrounding areas, their homes, due to persecution.  Ever since the Babylonian exile, the entire twelve tribes of Israel had never been reunited.  At this time, further scattering occurred due to Roman persecution of both Jews and the growing number of Christian Jews.  As in the centuries since, the Jewish people have undergone persecution and scattering for various reasons under various regimes.  Not only were they being forced from their homes to move to lands unknown, to cultures very different from their own, along the way they faced the possibility of being imprisoned, beaten, or killed.  For those who stood firm in their faith in the face of the opposition, life indeed carried with it the possibility of "many kinds of trials."

Now - James presents to this audience, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds."  Are you crazy, James?  "Pure joy at the hands of my oppressor?  Pure joy when I may be beaten today for no reason at all?  Pure joy when my home and possessions are taken from me and I am forced to tell my wife and children that we are walking to...I don't know where...to do...I don't know what?" 

It puts a little different perspective on considering trials joy, doesn't it?  And yet, James says that these trials are not encountered without purpose.  Our next verses explore the result of trials, and just why we can embrace them with joy...no matter how intense. 

Thank You, God, that You are with us through every trial, through every moment that we are pushed to our limits.  You are there.  You know and You give us strength.  We can smile knowing that You are working within us to make us more like You and that no matter how dark the night, joy will come in the morning!  Thank You, Thank You, Thank You for Your continued faithfulness!