I love the book of James. It is practical. It describes life as I see it. It is theological, but it always looks to the reality of our lives. It is a book about God’s wisdom for living the Christian life. Today I am starting what I hope will be a series on the book of James.

It does not take long for James to get right business. In verse 2 he is telling us how to live: Consider it pure joy, my brothers whenever you face trials of many kinds. James is a man who knows my life. The first thing he talks about is trial. Have you heard the song, I am a man of Constant Sorrow? Do you ever feel like that is your theme song? We have trouble of our own making. We have trouble of other people’s making. We have trouble thrust upon us. James is speaking about all kinds.

Some of our trials have to do with temptation to sin. Temptation is powerful and sneaky. Sometimes temptation gets the upper hand and we fall into sin. And this brings more trial. We get tempted to abuse alcohol and other drugs. We get tempted to abuse our friends and loved ones. We get tempted to abuse our freedom and turn it into license. These temptations wear us down. And when they win, we get hurt. And so do others.

Some of our trials have to do with the actions of others. They do or say something without thinking about you, your concerns, your feelings—and you get hurt. That is a trial. Sometimes they do these things without meaning to hurt. But it still hurts. Sometimes they do it meaning to hurt. That hurts too. Sometimes your trial is trying to put things back together after someone has blown them to bits. Sometimes you face a situation that you don’t know how to begin to do that. That is a trial.

There are trials that are thrust on us. Little things like being caught in traffic when you are in a hurry. Big things like pain and disease and loss. These may not be caused by anyone directly, but they invade and interrupt our lives.

James has an answer. Consider it pure joy. We reply, "are you nuts?" I don’t like this one bit. I did not ask to have this trial. I have tried my best to avoid trials like these. And then we remember that joy does not depend on the circumstances. Joy is a gift from God in spite of the circumstances. Paul wrote Philippians (the letter of joy) while he was in prison. James knew what trial was like.

The secret of counting trials pure joy is to not focus on the trial, but on what God is going to do through the trials. God is at work through the trials we face. God will use them for our good. Look for the hand of God. Is the trial temptation? Look for the hand of God for deliverance. Is the trial someone else’s sin? Look for the hand of God to work in you—or perhaps even through you. Is your trial in sickness or grief? Look up to see what God is doing through you. When the trial comes look to the source of pure joy and you will find joy.

Your trials will move you to a new level of your faith. Your trials will produce perseverance. Other translations would say patience. Patience is a fruit of the Spirit of God. It is what we expect to see if we are God’s children. This is what you need for the long haul. The Christian life is a long haul. We need to persevere.

We need wisdom in order to look at life this way. God tells us to ask for it. This begins when we ask Jesus to be our Lord and Savior. We realize that we cannot get to heaven on our own. We don’t know how. We are tired on our feet. We ask Jesus to take us in, and take us home. He tells us, "Follow me. I know the way. I am the way. I have prepared a place for you."

But when we ask, we must follow. We are not to be double minded. God’s wisdom will bless us if we use it. You can’t ask for God’s wisdom and then bail out and try something else. God does not offer you bits and pieces of wisdom to help your life. He offers new life in Jesus.

So here is the question. Do you really want to follow Jesus? Are you serious about turning your life over to Jesus as your Lord? Or do you want to follow Jesus and the gods of this world? That won’t work. If you try to live in two worlds run by different rules—one by the things of the Lord and one by the things of the world—you will go nowhere. You will not receive anything of the Lord if you don’t believe. You know that what God has for you. Ask, receive, believe and follow. Your greatest adventure is at hand.