“Count it all joy.”  Easier said than done.  As I prepared to teach the Book of James in our church in January, I had to struggle with that statement from the beginning.  I was still hurting quite a bit from the kidney surgery I had in August.  And I was making daily 150-mile, three-hour round-trips five days a week to have radiation treatments for prostate cancer.  That aggravated the hurting and left me exhausted each day.  And I knew I might have to have surgery on my other kidney also.

    I wasn’t experiencing much joy.  And I wondered what James meant when he said to “count it all joy.”  I could see the accounting idea, and could picture writing in a ledger, putting the trials I was going through in the plus column.  But after I did that, I didn’t feel any better.  Certainly not joyful.

    As I continued to think about the statement, I realized I was making a mistake I often cautioned my students not to make when I taught high school English years ago.  I often told them to read to the end of the sentence.  A sentence can’t be understood until we read all of it.  The statement by James is part of a sentence.  And when I took the time to read to the end of the sentence, I saw things differently.

    James said, “Count it all joy...knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.”  There is the key -- knowing.  And I did know that God was busy in my life working for my good and His glory.  I knew it because the Bible says so in this passage and in other places, such as Romans 8:28-29.  But more importantly, I knew it from more than sixty years of personal experience.

    So I determined that I would not waste my time and energy complaining about my situation, but would simply do my best to prepare and share the Bible study, trusting the Lord to take care of every need while I was doing it.

    And as I did that, joy actually became my daily experience.  Studying James for an hour or more each morning became a joy, not a job.  And when I stood before the people to share, my heart was full of joy because the Lord anointed the sessions in an unusual way.  I have not taught with such force and authority in quite a while.  The people were unusually open and receptive to the Word.  And I finished each night with praise in my heart for how the Lord seemed to be using His Word in the hearts of people.

    I was still hurting.  I was still exhausted.  I still had many trips and treatments to go.  And I still faced surgery on my other kidney.  But the Lord was at work producing patience (endurance) in my life through these difficulties.  And I knew it.  So I could count it all joy.  And when I did, the joy came.

    But that’s not all.  James said, “But let patience have its perfect work...”  In other words, I am not finished counting it all joy because God is not finished producing patience and perfecting my life.

    Lord, Help me to hang in there, with joy, until You have accomplished Your purpose in me.