James 1:2 Count it pure joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
When we fall into a trial the Bible tells us to count is pure joy. What!?Why!!!? Because that trial is and opportunity for our faith to be put to work to see another miracle in our lives and bring us into a greater level of completeness. So if I am sick, am I supposed to count that pure joy? No, don’t count the sickness pure joy, that didn’t come from God, rather the opportunity to now work your faith to the point where you will definitely see a miracle of healing, and a lesson in healing - count that pure joy! And the same with something like financial lack. Poverty is not pure joy. You’d have to be crazy to think that! But the opportunity to see God manifest heavens wealth in your life is a pure joy! How do you have joy when you have financial lack or sickness? By seeing what others can’t see. When people look at you they may see you sick or in lack but when you look at yourself you see heavens health and wealth flooding your life! By faith, you see in the realm of the spirit, yourself healthy and in financial blessing. The reason you have joy is because you can see that!
The trial is tempting you out of faith to try and get your eyes and heart to believe the lack you see, but when you see this testing as pure joy it produces patience in you that will bring you to the successful ending of the trial i.e. “perfect and complete, lacking nothing”. It’s interesting that James says, “The testing of your faith produces patience”. Why patience? Why not “stronger faith” or “unwavering faith”? Well that’s really what that patience is. Its a strong unwavering faith that doesn’t give up until it gets what it sees in the spirit! That’s why the testing of your faith is a pure joy because its producing in us an ability to endure not seeing the manifestation of healing or heavens riches right up until we do see it manifest! That’s called faith-filled patience. It means you will get what you see in the spirit!
“But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
You can be in joy even in sickness or financial lack or any other trial knowing by faith that you will receive the very thing if you keep aggresively seeing it in the spirit that its yours – it will be complete and you will not lack those things! A sign of that faith is joy.
A loss of joy regarding your trial is a sign that your patience is failing because you no longer see the completion in your heart. But the promise is that we will have patience if we count the testing of our faith pure joy and that patience will bring us up to the completion of the trial to which we will receive the very things we have seen in the spirit by faith all throughout the trial! So here’s the thing, continue to see that the testing of your faith is a pure joy and that you will be made complete because it’s all already yours through the finished work of Christ!
- Ryan Rufus
