“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” (James 1:2–4).
God’s Promise in Jeremiah 29:11
Who doesn’t love the promises of God? I do!
Jeremiah 29:11 is a favorite of mine: “For I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
My Instagram is chock-full of these sorts of reminders—inspirational quotes and Scriptures, pretty posts, and sweet devotional thoughts.
But if I’m honest, sometimes they run a mile wide but barely an inch deep.
If perchance you are facing difficulties, promises like these don’t resonate much. We wonder, do we still have God’s attention?
It is so easy to pull out a Scripture like this: “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” (James 1:2–4).
Listen, I can easily “count it all joy” when the worst part of my day was getting the wrong coffee order in the drive-through.
But what about the hard trials that are taking so long? Or the ones that hurt us so badly? Or the ones that are devastatingly permanent?
Facing Hardship
Maybe the situation you are facing today is not one that you would consider joyful. That is why I’m grateful James, in his epistle, doesn’t tell his fellow persecuted believers to feel joyful about these trials they’re going through. Rather, we are to count them all joy, knowing that the testing of our faith produces things we cannot see immediately.
It’s okay to feel the pain, and it’s okay to be honest with the Lord about how hard it is. But, at the end of the day, we can look at the trials and declare that God is good, even through it. That He is doing something we cannot see. He is moving and changing us through them. He has a plan and a purpose for it all, far beyond anything we can see.
More Than a “Feel Good” Verse
When we view our hard seasons through that lens, Jeremiah 29:11 cuts deeper: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you … to give you a future and a hope.”
It’s not just a “feel good” verse, it’s a verse to stand on and declare over our trials. It is a verse that can remind us, no matter what, that God is for us.
It’s time for us to take facts over our feelings. We can count it all joy, even when we don’t feel it all as joy.
I invite you to pray with me:
Lord, You know how hard this is. My heart aches, my soul cries out for some relief. But through it all, You are Lord, my God. You have promised that You have a plan, purpose, and future for my life, and I declare that over this situation, this heartbreak. I pass it on to You, out of my hands. Thank You for using every bit of my life for Your plan and Your purpose. In Your Name, Jesus. Amen.
First published here. Used by permission.
