Like many of you I love those Scripture verses that bring us deep comfort and hope and even make us feel like we are wrapped in a safe and loving God-hug. Then there are those passages that leave us scratching our heads with our mouths hanging open and perhaps even an eye-roll thrown in for good measure. James 1: 2-3 is a doozy! “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.” Wait. What? You’ve got to love James here. Basically he says hello to everybody and then dives straight in to the above statement. He is my kind of guy! No time for small talk but instead an urgency to present a deep truth. Is it too deep though? Are we just going to sigh and scratch our heads? I don’t think so.

Notice the first two words of his bold statement, “consider it”. He knows that his opening salvo is huge. He has no expectation that anyone would just respond to those words with, “Okay, cool. Got it”. We need to ponder, roll the words around, soak in them, consider them. Consider them for not a day or a week or a month, but for all of our lives. They will become richer and more savory as time marches on. I have considered them for a long time and here is what I think.

Happiness is a feeling and feelings are immature and evaporate at the hint of discontent. Happiness is always dependent on an external motivator and can never stand as a foundational truth of our lives. Joy is something different entirely. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. In other words, joy is produced as we live our lives under the direction of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives within each born again believer. What happens when a piece of fruit falls to fertile soil? It begins to put down roots and grow. Roots provide stability and carry weight. Roots help to survive storms. James is not telling us that we should “react” with joy in response to the trials we face. We would all fail at that. He is instead telling us to let the fruit of joy take root in us. And then we can consider letting more fruit of joy take root in us. Joy isn’t a feeling and it is not of this world. It is a characteristic of God Almighty. It transcends the hollow things of the world. It is the assurance that when difficult things and times come, there is Another who will never leave us or forsake us and will carry us through the difficulty. We don’t feel joy. We know joy and trust joy and bask in joy. We don’t feel joy, we know joy. We let it take root in us over and over and over again. We don’t need to look around us and find “reasons for joy” because joy isn’t a reaction. It is a fruit of the Spirit.

Let the fruit of joy fall into the fertile ground of your realtionship with Jesus and take root. You may not feel it when struggles come but you will know it and joy will not leave you. Claim this truth. Don’t let your feelings decide for you.