September 16, 2026

The Joy of the Lord

What is the first thing a person does after they fall? Often, instead of checking to see whether all their limbs are moving properly, they look around to see who witnessed it. Falling can bring us to remember: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” Nobody likes to suffer. Especially when it feels like it comes from nowhere or when it never seems to stop. Every time you turn around, it’s something. And then James looks you in the eye and says to consider it “pure joy?” Ok, James. But here’s what he’s not saying. He’s not saying smile through your pain or pretend everything is fine.

The joy isn’t found in the suffering itself; it’s found in knowing that God wastes nothing. Whatever you are walking through, He is using it. Refining you. Shaping you into someone who looks a little more like Him. And that’s not punishment; that’s love. When we’re hurting or suffering, our first instinct is to find the fastest way out. We reach for whatever will make us feel better right now.

But James is asking us to resist that. To let perseverance “finish its work.” Because it’s only when we stop running from the pain and start asking God what He’s trying to reveal to us through it that our faith actually grows. The trial doesn’t create your faith. It reveals it. And what gets revealed through the testing and the fire is a version of you that is, as James puts it, “mature and complete, not lacking anything.” That’s worth the wait.

Reflection: What is your go-to when life gets hard, and what would it look like to bring that same urgency to God instead?

Prayer: Honestly, Lord, we don’t like the fire. Forgive us when we allow our first instinct to be relief and not surrender, and for running from the very moments You designed to shape us. Teach us to stop reaching for the quick fix and start reaching for You instead. Remind us that You waste nothing; that every trial has a purpose. Help us to let perseverance finish its work in us, so that we come out on the other side more complete, more like You, and more deeply rooted in a faith that cannot be shaken. We trust you with the outcome. In Jesus’ name, Amen.