How to Count It All Joy

But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; (Matthew 20:24-26).

We are familiar with passages of Scripture and modern proverbs that tell us how to endure tough times. We have shared a lot of those already in this blog. What we are going to talk about here, however, might have escaped our notice before.

Tough times are tough and no one of us should pretend otherwise. James does write that we should count it all joy when encounter various trials, to be sure (James 1:2). Jesus does say that we are in good company when people persecute us and say all kinds of evil against us on account of Him (Matthew 5:10-12). But how do you actually develop the kind of attitude to do those things? How is it possible to actually love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:44)?

The only way it can be done is to sacrifice yourself and your feelings. Please accept this in the spirit it is intended. A lot of our complaints about having to endure suffering come from the attitude that this isn’t fair. I shouldn’t have to suffer like this. I need someone to remind me that God is always with me. Now, maybe what you and I are suffering really isn’t fair. And maybe we shouldn’t have to suffer like this. And maybe someone does need to remind us that God is always with us, but did you catch who the center of attention in each of these complaints is? It’s me...or you...whoever is making the complaint.

Before I can obey the commands to “count it all joy...” or love my enemies and pray for those who persecute me, I’m going to have to make a decision. I am going to have to decide that I am not here to be served, but to serve. Was it fair for Jesus to die on the cross in your place? If you hesitated to answer that, let me give you the unequivocal answer: NO!!! It was not fair, but Jesus made the decision to serve, rather than to be served.

Let me leave you with this thought to begin your week. If you make the decision to be great by becoming a servant to all, or to be first by making yourself last (a slave), some unfair things might still happen to you today and this week. On the other hand, you will have much more strength to overcome the things that will threaten to overcome you. A young lady I was about to baptize many years ago, made a startling statement to me. She said she was afraid that if she went through with her baptism, the devil might get her. She was not aware, yet, of passages like James 4:7 which tell us that if we resist the devil he will flee. She was afraid of a very real enemy. I could not lie to her and tell her the devil didn't care whether or not she was baptized. I could tell her this, and I want you to know it, as well. Once she became a member of the family of God, she would have at her disposal a much more powerful arsenal and an army of brothers and sisters to back her (not to mention the King of kings and Lord of lords) in order to overcome evil with good.

It is hard to die to self, but that is the only way we can live. Look up at that cross in your mind’s eye right now. See the love on His face as He stretches out His hands and dies for you. Then, follow His example and win an eternal victory! God loves you and so do I.