Count It All Joy!

Many of you have already read this article and have provided very helpful comments on it, much of which I appreciate as this article is extremely transparent. For those of you who are just perusing through Blogger or check out my blog from time to time, know that I wrote this approximately December of last year and God provided some healing through it. Yes, it's all true and it's still healing me now. After this is up for a while, I've got some testimonies that I'll post that relate to the challenges my family was facing when I wrote this article. It was featured on www.blackgospel.com for about six months. Enjoy.

Yes! It was me. I admit it. I’ll be honest and candid. I won’t hold anything back, I won’t omit anything, and I’ll willingly provide a full confessional, the no-holds barred, unabridged, full-length version for your reading pleasure. Here goes: I got angry reading the Bible.

Okay, I said it. I got angry reading the Bible. Yes, the Bible! It was an unexpected eruption of emotions that dared to confront the belief system that I have adhered to unquestioningly my entire life. Unbeknownst to me, I had now officially entered a crossroads, a defining moment, the proverbial turning point, the colossal dark tunnel, where only definitive, hard-nosed decisions, based on faith, and irrespective of facts, can be made.

Before you examine me with your spiritual stethoscope, open the Jesus Pharmacy, and write enough scriptural prescriptions to induce a Holy Ghost overdose, allow me to explain myself.

Imagine your sister being sick with three (3) known diseases and two (2) unknown diseases, she’s rushed to the emergency room seventeen (17) times in one year, your mother is on the verge of being put on the street, your wife just gave birth to your child and the company she works for downsizes and lays her off, overtime is eliminated at your job, there’s a three-day eviction notice on your door, your mother-in-law is in her second battle with cancer, your doctor tells you that in your late 20’s you’ve got an enlarged prostate, you’re getting collection notices every other day in the mail, you’re borrowing food from friends, you receive cut-off notices for your electricity, gas, and water, financial promises are broken, outright lies are being spread about you, your best friend won’t return your calls, and then one day you read the book of James, chapter 1, verse 2, and a volcano of suppressed emotions erupts in a landslide of molten rock anger.

I can’t believe James had the audacity to say what he just said. I felt like asking, “Where are the cameras? Is he serious? Is this for real? Is this a cruel joke?” I sat there and shook my head in dismal disbelief. I distinctly remember silently shouting to the top of my soul, “Is this all? Is this the answer you have for me?”

For those of you who are not aware, in the Bible, in the New Testament, in a book called James, chapter 1, verse two, this apostle, who is believed to be the half-brother of Jesus Christ makes a statement that I’ve read a thousand times before, but this was the first time it induced anger.
I read it in the King James Version and it said, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations.” When I read it I didn’t like it. It didn’t at all appeal to me or seem to be an immediate remedy to my situation. So I thought, “Let me read it in another translation and maybe that will help. So I read it from the New Living Translation and this is what it said, “Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. That didn’t quite hit the spot either, so I decided to give it another try with another translation. Three times a charm, right?

This time I picked up the New International Version, the good ole NIV. This is what it said, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.”
I said to myself, “Okay, Okay, this is wearing a little thin. I’m running out of patience. My back is against the wall. It’s been one thing after another. I’m broke. I’m all out of ideas and I don’t know what to do. I need an answer and I need it now.” Something inside of me said, “Read the next verse.” And so I did. I read it in the New Living Translation and this is what is said, “For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.” I was taken aback and so I read the next verse and this is what it said, “So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.”

As I sat there I began to ponder over what I had just read. Was James really suggesting to me that this enormous, gargantuan predicament that has blistered me from all sides should be considered something to be joyful about?

The answer came back to me, “Yes.” I said, “Yes?” The answer came roaring back, “Yes, be joyful…about ALL of it.” For some strange reason I started to laugh out loud. The proposition seemed so preposterous that no other emotion seemed to surface other than laughter. Then it hit me. I had allowed every other emotion to rise to the forefront including anger, fear, regret, bewilderment, doubt, terror, dread, apprehension, and even pride, but I suddenly realized I had never let joy have an opportunity to have a say. I went to the door of my soul. All of the lights were out. It was pitch black, the darkness revealing the decadence that had consumed me. I peeked through the peephole to see if joy was still there. She was. I became excited and so I tried to open the door and it wouldn’t open. I tried again. Nothing. I tried again. Nothing still. I became frustrated. What was going on? I read the scripture. I got message. What’s wrong? How do I let joy in?

I heard something whisper, “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and enter his courts with praise.” Now, I don’t want to be too preacher-esque, I just want to tell you what happened. I didn’t feel like praising God and I didn’t want to either, and I didn’t necessarily find the situation that I was in joyful, but I just considered it joy anyway. To be honest there really wasn’t anything left to do; I had considered it pain, trouble, heartache, struggle, unfairness, mistreatment, and anything else negative my mind could think of. And at the time that’s all I could consider it because I was considering what I was experiencing in the present tense and not in the future tense of what God was doing

I never considered that God was working, that it was a test to bring me to another level, that it wasn’t a demotion, but a promotion, that the nest of my life was being shaken like a baby eagle, because it was time for me to fly, that God wasn’t angry with me, he was pleased with me and was using trouble to promote me. Have you ever considered that? If you do, you may find that you will be able to consider everything that you’re going through as joy. You may find that when you focus on what God has promised you instead of your present circumstances it will give happiness because regardless of the present situation, it will work out for your good. Count it all joy. I know it’s nothing to smile about, but smile anyway, the best is yet to come and the storm is almost over. Count it all joy. I know the easiest option is give up, but trust God anyway and you’ll discover that you will come out on top. Count it all joy. God will give you patience to endure. He’ll give you a second wind and most importantly he’ll give you peace as you go through it.

So start adding up all your troubles, all your pain, all your disappointments, all your heartaches, all your trials and tribulations, consider them joy because soon they will only be a memory that reminds you of how powerful, merciful and gracious God is.

Remember what the apostle Paul said in Romans 8:18, “Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later.”


Count it ALL joy.