“Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials.”  James 1:2

Who considers a trial to be a joy?  Who joys over a wayward child?  Who smiles at an emergency surgery?  Who bubbles up when the days are too quiet and too lonely?  Who can’t wait to face scary with no one along side?  Who, in the whole world, considers the death of a beloved, best-friend husband, a joy?

Uh… not me.

Then what is joy?  By the way?  It can’t mean birthday-cake joy,  littlebear-snuggles joy,  an adventure-to-a-beautiful place joy, a new swallow-me-up chair joy,  I-have-great-friends joy.   Notice… these do not inherently capture the true meaning of trial.

So what is trial joy?  A few things it is not:  an aching heart, a soaked pillow, too many by-myself trips, a still Sunday afternoon.

I’m tempted to say it means peace, because I know a current of peace can flow through a current of tumult.

But James says joy.  Joy.

James’ joy must mean something different.  For now, James, I think we should take it down a notch and call it “glad.”  I think glad should actually be a different word like, “slad.”  Slad means I am glad that God is Lord even over sad.  Slad means I am very glad that God promises to grow my faith even in the deep sad.  Slad means I know I will be glad for who I’ve become through the sad.  Glad and sad together.

The truth is, Heaven is only ultimate, over-the-moon James’ joy.  That’s when joy will mean… joy!

Until then, James knows best.  I don’t understand, but I choose it and will call it joy.