The following is my original manuscript for my sermon over James 1:1-28 at Christ Church Leavenworth.
James 1:2-8
July 20, 2025
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OT READING: Proverbs 3:11-18
NT READING: Hebrews 12:1-11
"Trial and Error"
READING OF THE TEXT
Our text this morning is James 1:2-8, these are the words of God
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the Word of our God stands forever.
PRAYER
Our Father and our God, we come before You this morning through Jesus Christ, our Lord, and in the Holy Spirit. Everything we have comes from You: every good and perfect gift and every good and difficult trial. Give us wisdom to see Your goodness in whatever You give. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen.
INTRODUCTION
“Count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds.” All of it? Even the hard parts? Yes, especially the hard parts. Oof. Before we begin, we need to acknowledge that none of us, by nature, want to do this. No one drops their phone in the toilet and says, “Thanks be to God!” No one gets blindsided by a truck and thinks, “Highly Recommend: 5 stars”. At least I don’t think they do, ask Daniel. No, trials are hard and one of things that makes them so hard is how hard it is to see much good in them. As a result, “Count it all joy” can sometimes come off a little like a glib bit of lofty idealism. “Oh, count it all joy, is that all?” But do not blow past these verses the way you would one of those “TEAMWORK” posters in your boss’s office. You know, the one with skydivers all holding hands. These are the inspired Words of God, not some email with more than one FWD in the subject line. Yes, you have probably heard this before… so, how’s it going? Are you rejoicing in all your trials? If not, then maybe we need to pay more attention, not less. So, do your best to keep your soul from rolling its eyes and keep in mind the words of G.K. Chesterton who said, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.”
With that in mind, let’s look at James 1:2-8 and make a quick pass through the text before circling back to take our time to stop and smell the verses.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
(v2) When you are counting your blessings, do not forget to include your problems. It is easy to count them as curses and difficult to see them as blessings. But problems, troubles, trials, and tests are a part of life. You cannot graduate to the next grade without passing a test or two and God is too good a teacher to leave you where you are or to pass you along before you’re ready. So, stop wishing for less tests. That is like hoping for less love, not more. God’s tests always include some sort of problems. Just like a math test is full of math problems, so moral tests are full of moral problems and spiritual tests are full of spiritual problems. The problems may vary in format from true-or-false to multiple choice and they may vary in subject matter from math to money to morality. But whatever form your problems take, count them as pure joy.
(v3) These tests are the only way forward. They are not holding you back, they are being given to you as an opportunity to advance. Your Headmaster does not want you to fail. He wants you to pass and to prove that you’re ready to move on. One of the lessons we must learn, however, is the one that Shasta was taught in Lewis’ The Horse and His Boy, that lesson is that the reward for getting a passing grade is that you graduate to the next, harder grade. (v4) So, let steadfastness be your schoolmaster and sit through its class. Don’t zone out and don’t ask for a hall pass. Take heart and take good notes. If you can learn how to hold on to God through anything, there is nothing the world can take from you.
(v5) Now, this all sounds good in theory, of course, and looks even better on the side of a coffee mug, but it is much more difficult to do in practice, even after you’ve had your morning coffee. So, you are going to have to ask God to help you. You need wisdom all of the time and in everything you do, but especially when you’re having trouble seeing the will of God in things you wish you didn’t have to do. There are things you cannot just figure out and weights you cannot just lift. You will need godly people spotting you as you attempt to lift it, but more importantly, you will need the power of God in you. So, ask God and you shall receive. (v6) But only if you ask in faith. If you pray in a way that rhymes with, “what difference does it make?” you cannot be shocked when it doesn’t seem to make much of a difference. The man who prays like that doesn’t even know what he is asking for. In one mood he wishes God would just do it for him and in another mood he wishes God would just leave him alone. He is tossed around by his moods like a wave at the mercy of the wind. (v7) He doubts everything… except for his doubts. Those he knows are trustworthy. And so he has no room to receive anything from God because he is too full of himself. (v8) His head is like a house divided, and if he will not make up his mind, he will find it one day condemned.
THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS FULL OF TRIALS
When many of us hear the word “trial,” the first thing we think of is a courtroom. We can see the black-robed judge, the suit-wearing lawyers, and the wood-covered room. Thanks to courtroom dramas, most people have a pretty good idea of what they think a trial should look like even though most people will never be on trial. I had initially written, “most of us will never be on trial,” but then I remembered who I was talking about… and changed it.
Most other people will never be on trial. Beyond serving on jury duty, most people will never see the inside of a real, live courtroom, let alone observe an actual trial in progress. We did have a trial lawyer in our congregation at one point, but he apparently wanted to retain some form of plausible deniability and so, he moved. The point being most of us have some idea of what a trial should look like; and that is precisely why we miss most of the trials we face on a daily basis.
The trials that James is referring to do not look like the ones we’ve been discussing, although they do share many of the same components. We may not be wearing a suit and tie with our hand on a Bible swearing to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, but we are still expected to do so. The fact is, we are on trial all the time. Every hardship you meet is a trial of sorts and you are either telling the truth about it or you are lying about it. Maybe to others. Maybe even to yourself. Our troubles are calling us to testify. We are being called as witnesses in the way we deal with disappointment, the way we deal with success, the way we deal with compliments, and the way we deal with criticism. We are always on the witness stand. The apostles were the original eye witnesses and every Christian since is called as a character witness to the reality of Christ. But it is not His character that is in question, it is ours. Our behavior before we take the stand is testifying to something and everything we say or do can and will be used against us in the court of His Law.
Consider what Peter says in 3:15 of his first letter: “In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” If you are a Christian, you may be called to the witness stand at any minute. This should not surprise you. Yet how often are we surprised when something goes wrong? We act like it is the first time we ever considered that things sometimes break or that people sometimes sin. We typically think of defending our faith in terms of fielding questions from a curious co-worker or fending off the arguments of an angry atheist, but more often than not, it is acting like a Christian when something goes wrong. That moment is the trial. The questions come later. If you keep your head while everyone else is losing theirs, they will have some questions for you once they find their heads again. If you testify to Christ in your hard times, others are going to ask what your hope is. But they won’t think to ask if you act just like them.
Oswald Chambers said it this way, “We act like pagans in a crisis, only one out of a crowd is daring enough to bank his faith in the character of God.” If you freak out and act like a pagan when things go wrong, they won’t think to ask, “how do you do it?” But if you suffer well, people will start asking questions like, “how did you do that?” So part of testifying to Christ is preparing yourself to be admissible in court and that begins by being admitted to His courts by placing your faith in Christ. This is the first and best kind of prepping that you can do. You don’t necessarily need a basement full of ammo, although that’s not a bad idea, but you do have to have a bunker full of hope. And just like ammo, hope is something that you must stockpile before you need it because by the time you need it, it’s too late. So, conduct yourself in a manner that will hold up in court so that when you are called to testify, you are considered a credible witness. In your trials, you are always cross-examined. So, be a good witness in whatever you are going through. A trial is an opportunity to testify to what we believe. Your conduct in your trials proves something about you. So, the question is: what are your trials proving about you?
COULD YOU BE ACCUSED OF BEING A CHRISTIAN?
And if you were, would there be enough evidence to convict? Could a prosecutor find enough conviction in your life to convict you of Christianity in the first degree? Would a jury of your peers believe beyond a reasonable doubt that you are guilty of being a Christian? Consider what James goes on to sa in 2:19, “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” Believing in God does necessarily put you in the best company. Even the demons believe that, but no one is accusing them of being Christians for it. And that’s because being a Christian is more than just acknowledging that God exists. Anyone can say, “Christ is King,” but only a Christian serves Him. And that is why our problems are such a big deal and why it is something James focuses on in our text. How we respond when we don’t get our way is a great piece of evidence regarding our faith. Giving glory to God when things go wrong is one of the ways we differentiate ourselves from those who are cosplaying as Christians.
CHRISTIANS MUST LEARN HOW TO COUNT
The word “count” in our passage is a translation of the Greek word “hégeomai” (hay-GEH-oh-my) and it literally means “to lead” or “command.” We get the English word “hegemon” from it which means “leader.” So in our context, James is saying that we must take control of our own accounting. Christ is the Lord of all so everything counts. But it will not count itself. You must weigh and measure and render right judgment like a good and godly leader does. When something goes wrong, a lot of thoughts happen all at once and if you do not step in, they will simply brawl it out in your brain until the loudest one wins. But if you take a breath and take a minute to get them in order, you can decide who gets the microphone. In other words, James is saying you must have self-control. But you cannot do that without God’s help. Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. So, you’re going to have to humble yourself and ask for help. And if you, He will help you. A Christian should expect trouble and he should expect help. By using the word “count,” James is telling you that with God’s help you can tell your feelings to pound sand.
THIS IS CASE FOR WHATEVER KIND OF PROBLEMS YOU MAY RUN INTO
As Dr. Bill mentioned last week, this letter was written as a general epistle to the Jewish Christians who had been dispersed all over the world as a result of various persecutions. In other words, anyone reading this letter was getting used to a new address. If you’ve ever moved, and many of you have, you know how disorienting it can be to get used to a new home or a new town. Moving is enough of a trial on its own between packing, cleaning, and loading. And that’s true when the move is voluntary. How much more so when it’s involuntary? These people were forced to move because of persecution which means they had to pick up and go in a hurry. So, James here is most certainly asking them to look back on all that and be grateful that they got out in time. “If you are reading this letter, you are one of the lucky ones who made it.” That said, James is also asking them to look ahead. Problems are a part of life. Just because you’ve survived something doesn’t mean you won’t have to endure something else. As we’ve noted before, the reward for good, hard work is better, harder work. Too often, we are tempted to think of it the other way around. We assume that getting through a hard time means that we have earned a stay on easy street. But there is no such thing as Cruise Control Christianity. There is no “set it and forget it” kind of faith. God has designed the world in such a way that you cannot live a day without faith.
Yesterday’s faith is never enough for today’s troubles and tomorrow’s troubles are always too much for today’s faith. Each day has enough trouble of its own and today’s faith is all that God requires. Problems are a part of life and one of our biggest problems is thinking that we shouldn’t have to have any more of them.
Everything has problems. And as James points out, part of being alive means meeting all kinds of various trials. The only way to avoid problems in this life is to have a different problem – you’re dead. No matter who you are or what you do, wherever you go, you will have problems. If you are single, you will have the kind of problems single people have. If you are married, you will have the kind of problems married people have. If you are tall you have the kind of problems tall people have. If you are short, you will have the kind of problems short people have. Problems are just a part of life and this is from God and it is good.
In the beginning God created a perfect world and called it “very good.” But perfection had its own problems. God gave Adam the problem of taming the world, naming the animals, and being alone. Then He gave Adam a wife. Getting married is a good thing, but it comes with its own kind of problems.And if all that were not enough to tackle, there was a dragon on the loose. God gave Adam the problems of a difficult mission and a dangerous enemy and He called it all “very good.” The Fall of Adam did not create the first problem, but it definitely added to them. Sin made taming the world even harder, leading Eve more complicated, and resisting the devil more difficult. But God gave Adam the Gospel and a good pair of work clothes, then He sent him back into the world of problems.
All of that to say, God likes problems. If we miss this, we will find ourselves constantly praying for God to get us out of things He wants us to get through. Notice that James says, “when you meet various trials,” not “if you meet various trials.” This is going to happen. If it’s not one thing, it’s going to be another. Problems may come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, but, rest assured, they always come. Why? James tells us, in order to test us.
THE TESTING OF YOUR FAITH
In John 15 Jesus invites us to imagine a vineyard. Picture the vinedresser pruning the vines. If you didn’t know what he was up to, it might look like he was trying to destroy the vineyard. And if you’re the vine, it hurts either way. So, does it make a difference whether it is a careful cut from someone who loves the vineyard or if it is a haphazard hack from someone who hates it? Of course it does. Pruning produces more fruit. God sends tests to force us to grow where we’ve grown too comfortable and He prunes us back in order to make us more fruitful. Knowing that there is a purpose makes it possible to say, “Thank you” even if you’re also saying, “Ouch.” The various trials you encounter are shaping you. They are trimming back some dead ends and helping some productive ends to be even more productive. To be loved is to be shaped. These are the kinds of problems Christians have. So, how are you handling the cuts?
DO NOT DISCOUNT YOUR DIFFICULTIES
Sometimes instead of counting our trials as joy, we try to discount them as “not that bad.” How many of you, for example, when facing a difficult situation, attempt to get through it by reminding yourself that it could be worse? Things are crazy at work, but at least you have a job. Things are crazy at home, but at least you have a family. In other words, “things could be worse.” Now, you’ve probably tried to comfort yourself with a thought like that before, been told something like that by someone who was trying to comfort you before, or even said something like that to someone else who was going through a difficult situation. And as far as it goes, it is not always a bad idea. Sometimes a better perspective on things really is a good prescription. Sometimes you need to get over yourself and reconsider how hard things could be in order to appreciate how good you actually have it.
I do not want to discourage you from doing that. I bring it up, however, to point out that doing that is not the same thing as what James is telling us to do. That is not “counting your trials as pure joy,” it is counting hypothetical trials as pure hell and counting yourself blessed not to have those problems. Or we look around and see other people who seem to have it worse than we do and think, “well, at least I’ve got it better than them.” But Christianity is not a comparative religion. Your problems cannot be solved by focusing on someone else’s.
You have the problems that you have, not the ones you don’t. God is calling you to say, “Thank You” for your life, not calling you to say, “Thank goodness I don’t have that life.” Spending your time thinking about how much worse someone else’s situation is than yours does not make their load any less heavy and it does not make yours any lighter. So. do not wear yourself out thinking about a worst case scenario that you don’t have or you won’t have enough left to get after the difficult thing that you do have.
DO NOT COVET OTHER PEOPLE’S PROBLEMS
Another way we often avoid “counting our trials as joy” is the photo negative of what we’ve just discussed. Instead of being grateful that we’re not in someone else’s shoes, we are jealous that we’re not in them. We see the difficulty of our trial and instead of throwing our energy into overcoming it, we spend our energy thinking about how much easier life would be if we had someone else’s problems. We see them cheerfully enduring and think, “I’d be joyful too if I had their problems.” But that not only robs them of the credit they deserve for obeying where God has put them, it also credits your account with an obedience you don’t actually have to do. You just assume that you’d do the right thing if you had different things to do. But everyone has to do hard things. Some things that are easy for you are hard for others and some things that are hard for you are easy for others. But everyone has hard things and everyone has to do them.
Envy is an attempt to grab someone else’s grace. You are jealous of what God has given to them and so you grab at it. But James is telling us to find joy in our own troubles, not in wishing we had someone else’s. Do not be so quick to see God’s grace in someone else’s ordeals and so slow to see Him in your own. Envy is the opposite of joy. Joy rejoices with those who rejoice and mourns with those who mourn. Envy mourns when others rejoice and rejoices when others mourn.
So, be thankful for the shoes you have on, not just thankful that you’re not in someone else’s. Being a Christian does not mean that you have to pretend that hard things are easy. Christianity honors the dignity of reality by allowing you to call things what they actually are without leaving you overwhelmed by what they sometimes feel like. Hard things are hard. You don’t have to pretend that they aren’t. You do not have to discount your difficulties.
That said, you do have to do something difficult. You have to humble yourself and ask for help; and then you have to stay humble enough to receive the help you get.
WISDOM IS SEEING YOUR TRIALS AS GOD’S SERVANTS
You will not be able to see the point of your problems with your own wisdom. You can look at them, but you cannot look with them. Your problems are like a pair of glasses that God gives you to help you see the world. Problems provide perspective and they make it easier for you to read His Word. And just like glasses, one prescription does not fit all. Your problems help you see more clearly, but someone else’s might make it harder for you to see. So, do not envy other people’s problems. Your problems were prescribed for you. If you’re having a hard time seeing, please consult your Heavenly Physician.
But do not merely ask Him to get through them, but to see through them. Your troubles were meant to help you see Jesus. If the goal of life is to be conformed to Christ, and it is, then it stands to reason that we may need to suffer more, not less. But we often feel the weight of the glory faster than we see the glory of the glory. God is not some sadist who enjoys hurting people for the sake of hurting people and He doesn’t want you to be some masochist who enjoys getting hurt just because it is Him who is doing the hurting. If you do not understand what is going on, pray to the One who does. But pray like you believe there is a reason and that He knows it. Do not doubt that God knows what He is doing. If you pray that way, you should not expect a satisfactory answer. You cannot doubt that God is good and then wonder why His answers don’t do it for you. Ask God to show you the good that is not only in spite of the hard thing, but the good that is a direct result of the hard thing. Do not wonder if there is any purpose in what you’re going through. Know that there is and then sleep like a Calvinist. If you question your faith every time something goes wrong, you need to be as careful to question yourself as you are to question Christ. How is it that your jury is still out on Him? How can you suspect Him who sent His only Son of holding out on you? We are too quick to trust in our hot takes and too slow to trust His eternal purposes. You cannot expect to get much out of something you don’t much believe in. You cannot get a sturdy resolve out of a lame effort. If you are holding out on Him, you will suspect He is holding out on you.
A BOY WHO HAD MUCH CANDY AND A GIRL WHO HAD MANY MARBLES
There once was a boy who had much candy and a girl who had many marbles. They met one day in an open field on a summer day. They both enjoyed showing off some of their respective collections and hearing about the merits of the other’s. They were both so compelling, in fact, that they decided to swap collections. Since, however, they only had a sample of their treasuries with them, they each had to head home to gather up the rest. They each gathered up their own eagerly as they imagined what they would be receiving in return from the other. The girl who had many marbles, however, saw a few of her favorites as she was packing and she paused. Surely the boy would not miss a marble or two considering how many she was going to actually give him. These were special to her and she had not specifically mentioned them when she described her treasure. So, she set a few of her favorite marbles aside. These looked like little worlds and she could not bear to part with them. The boy, meanwhile, packed up every last bit of his candy and headed back to that spot in the field where they had agreed to meet. The girl showed up with most of her marbles and they made the trade. Each one was eager to explore their new treasures and so they raced back to their respective homes. The boy opened up the bag and giggled with excitement as he took out each marble and gazed at it until he had taken the chance to enjoy each one. He then gathered them back up, had his supper, and slept well with that contented sleep of someone who has had a good day and is not worried about tomorrow. The girl, meanwhile, began sorting through the bag of candy she received. The boy had not been embellishing. There were chocolates and sweets and suckers of all flavors and sizes. It was as good as a Halloween haul and here it was in her hands with the long days of summer to enjoy it. She set aside some of her favorites that she intended to save for last, but decided to sample one that looked particularly good. It was delicious. She ate her supper and went to bed, but she could not sleep. She loved her candy and was looking forward to having more tomorrow, yet that was not what kept her awake. She laid there, staring at her ceiling because she had a sneaking suspicion that the boy had held out on her. If he had been willing to part with that much candy, what goodies must he have held back from her.
God is not holding out on you and the reason you sometimes suspect that He is is because you know how much you’re holding back from Him. Psalm 84:11 says, “No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” Is it possible that at least some of your problems are partially your fault?
CARRYING ON IN CHRIST
Listen to the clouds of witnesses around you and lay aside your sins which so easily trip you up. Believe their testimony and look to Jesus. If He can find joy in going to the Cross, He can help you to find joy in whatever you’re going through. Jesus did not like the Cross. He despised it. Having joy in hard situations is not a matter of pretending that heavy things aren’t heavy or that painful things aren’t painful. Jesus carried His Cross all the way to the finish line. Why? Because of the joy that was set before Him. He carried joy with Him as He carried His Cross. Even though He hated the road to Calvary, He chose it and He endured it. He remained under the weight of glory until God lifted it off. That is how He became the founder and the finisher of our faith and that is why He can help you finish well. Consider Him who endured such things, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your own struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. If you can hear me, you are still alive. You are still in it. So, hold on tight. It is for discipline that you have to endure. For the moment it may seem painful rather than pleasant, but later it will yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, as we reflect on these things, may the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who taught us to pray…
