How do I consider my trials with joy?
Yesterday
We saw the 1st thing we are to ‘do’ to endure trials is to ‘consider it all joy’.
Today
We want to understand ‘how‘ to ‘consider it all joy’.
Open GODcha to the Book of James.
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As We Come To the Word Today, Let’s Pray
Oh Lord, what a privilege to be with You in James. Make us know Your ways, O LORD: teach us Your paths. Lead us in Your Truth, and teach us. For You are the God of our salvation. We will wait for You all the day, (Psa 25:5). Thank you!
Let’s Keep LOOKING 
Let’s Go to Our Road Map.
Open GODcha’s LOOK Section.
What’s your starting point?
Yes, Begin LOOKING by READING 
We want to hear God speak to us!
Read James 1:2-4 again, on your own, asking the 5W’s and H to put you in context.
It is really good to read aloud.
Hearing repeated readings will help store the Word in your memory.
‘How’ can we obey the command to ‘consider it all joy’?
Let’s Check Out
GODcha’s
Cross References (CR) 
Truth Explains Truth
FYI: These Cross References are not exhaustive, but they will help you in your understanding.
Try using GODcha’s Word Search.
You’ll find ‘joy’, ‘rejoice’, ‘rejoicing’ in other Scriptures in the Bible to give you further insight.
Video CR-Word Search Tutorial >
CR-Cross References-Word Search Tutorial.
Let’s Take a LOOK!
THINK and REASON by asking the 5W’s and H questions.
1. In the trial, what does Hebrews tell us to ‘do’?
We are to look to Jesus, FIX our eyes on Him. (Heb 12:2)
Understand: We must get our eyes off the circumstances and on to Jesus.
THINK: How do we do this?
We must immerse ourselves in God’s Word.
We must focus on:
Who Jesus is;
Where He is;
What He has done for us;
What He will do for us; and
His promises!
2. Who considered it joy? And why?
Jesus: looked ahead to the joy that was at ‘the end’.
‘The end’ was sitting at the right hand of God.
Therefore, He endured the cross (His trial). (Heb 12:2)
THINK: There was no joy in the torment of hanging on the cross.
THINK: Could there be a trial greater than the cross?
Understand: We who believe look ahead, as Jesus did, to our end.
3. What do you learn about ‘our end’?
a. Our end is God’s purpose and will to be perfected strengthened, confirmed and established. (1Pe 5:10)
b. Our final end is our hope that doesn’t disappoint, being with Jesus for eternity. (Rom 5:3-5); (Joh 14:3); (Tit 1:2)
4. Let’s LOOK at Paul, in Philippians, why was he able to rejoice, consider it all joy?
a. Paul: looked beyond his suffering in prison(his trial), rejoicing BECAUSE he saw Christ being proclaimed. (Phil 1:12-13, 18; 3:7-14; 4:10-11)
b. Paul: could rejoice BECAUSE what was once important to him became rubbish in light of his experience with Christ.
He counted (considered) all things loss. (Phil 3:7-14)’
THINK: How is Christ being proclaimed in your trials?
5. According to Romans, why are we who believe able to consider it all joy?
We can exult in our tribulations, BECAUSE we know they bring about:
perseverance,
proven character, and
hope that does not disappoint. (Rom 5:3-5)
6. Who does Peter say can rejoice? Why?
a. We who have been born again can rejoice.
BECAUSE we:
Have a living hope, and
Are protected by the power of God. (1Pe 1:3-9)
Oh, Understand: if we are now born again, (remember we are bond-servants), it should change how we view and respond to our trials.
b. We are to keep on rejoicing, SO we will rejoice when Christ is revealed in all His glory. (1Pe 4:12-13)
c. We are to rejoice as we share in the sufferings of Christ (trials),
BECAUSE afterwards:
God will perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. (1Pe 5:10)
We see: God is moving us towards perfection.
Do you see: He does this through sufferings?
7. What does Thessalonians tell us we are to ‘do‘?
We are to give thanks in ALL things. (1Th 5:18)
Great!
What Have We LEARNED?
Let’s Sum It Up!
We LEARNED:
In our trials we must:
Keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.
Consider = look ahead at the joy that is at the end of our trial.
That end is God’s purpose and perfect will: perseverance, proven character, being perfected, confirmed, strengthened and established.
James is NOT saying:
We get stuck in the midst of the pain, the suffering, the heartache, the agony and experience joy.
Or That,
We feel joy,
Or That,
Trials are a joy.
We LEARNED:
We can rejoice, if born again, because we have a hope and are protected by God’s power.
God is doing a perfect work in us and through us, and we can give thanks in ALL things.
We LEARNED:
Our Lord: looked ahead to the joy that was at the end, thus endured the cross.
Paul: counted all things loss, rubbish, and rejoiced because Christ was being proclaimed through his sufferings.
“Our values determine our evaluations.
If we value comfort more than character, then trials will upset us.
If we value the material and physical more than the spiritual, we will not be able to ‘count it all joy’.
If we live only for the present and forget the future, then trials will make us bitter, not better.” Warren Wiersbe
Stop and Take a Breath!
Do you see: how wonderful to slow down from the busyness of life, and be with Your Lord, letting Him teach you?
Are you amazed?
Do you see and understand how these References of God’s Word helped you to better understand what God means when He says, ‘consider it ALL joy’?
We see: It isn’t that you and I put on a happy face when we are hurting.
No, it is about us choosing to get our eyes on Jesus,
Seeing the hidden gems He is teaching us through the trial, and
Realizing the change and growth that happens to us in the midst of it all!
Are you like me, in need of an attitude adjustment?
Now that we know Truth, will you join me and immediately give thanks to the Lord and prayerfully adopt a joyful attitude?
Whatever your trial, 
meditate on what God is teaching you about ‘considering it all joy’.
“Let my meditation be pleasing to Him; As for me, I shall be glad in the LORD,” (Psa 104:34).
Save Your Discovery in Your Notes – Forever!
Save what you LEARNED in your Notes.
Writing or Typing what you have LEARNED helps you bury Truth down deep into your head and heart.
Video Tutorial > Notes Tutorial.
I also put the Definitions and Cross References next to these verses in my hardbound Bible.
Let’s Turn What We Have Learned into a Prayer
Perhaps….
OH GRACIOUS FATHER who art in heaven, we so thank you for Your Word of Truth. We thank you for making us know Your ways, for teaching us Truth. May these Truths today change us and transform us. Oh Father, help us not be distracted and discouraged and disturbed with trials that come. Help us to fix our eyes on You Lord Jesus at all times. Help us to look ahead at the joy that is at the end of our trial, knowing that end is your purpose and perfect will. Oh Father, would you sink down deep in our hearts that You God are in the business of bringing about perseverance and proven character in us. Oh may You be proclaimed in our trials! May we who are born again remember our hope in Christ, and that we are being protected and kept from stumbling and falling by Your power. May You keep ever before us that You are are doing a work in us, strengthening and establishing us, making us perfect and lacking in nothing. We ask these things in Jesus name. Amen!
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Next: Hear God speak to us personally about ‘considering it all joy’.
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