Counting Your Joy

Behind the Name

I decided to name my blog “Count It All As Joy” because there is a great passage of scripture in the book of James that is always my go-to when troubles come my way. 

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”

James 1:2-4 NLT

I love the book of James. It such a encouraging book of the Bible to read and it has a lot of things we can apply to our life, in many aspects. 

When trouble come our way, we should consider it an opportunity for great joy. In the KJV it specifically says “count it all as joy”. 

When you just read the second verse you don’t really see the full picture of what James was trying to tell us. As you read on, he tells us that when our faith is tested we have an opportunity to grow. 

Grow in what? Grow in our faith and trust in God. 

Why would we grow in our troubles? When we go through situations and turn to God we know where to put our focus. We know that even if we continue to have bad days we are feeding our minds and souls with the word of God. And James continues to tell us that we should let our faith grow, because then we will be fully equipped and complete. 

Putting our faith in God is the best thing we can do in our time of need. No matter what the situation is, we should be able to trust fully in Him. We see that in His Word continually. 

“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.”

Jeremiah 17:7 NLT

“Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.”

Psalms 37:5 NLT

“They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.”

Psalms 112:7 NLT

These are just a few scriptures that tell us that if we trust in The Lord he will care for us and help us. Although it is easier said than done. As a lot of things are. It’s hard to automatically have joy in our dark times. But that’s why we have a God who helps us. If we were always happy and confident in our struggles then why would we need God to lean on? What could HE do for US? 

He wants us to lean on him and come to Him. He wants us to put our faith in Him. 

As you go through your days and struggles keep being thrown at you. Just remember that when you put your faith in God, you’ll grow stronger and stronger each day. Who doesn’t want to be strong spiritually?