Joyful in suffering Pt. 2: Encountering the trials of others

In the previous blog post, I discussed the hard-to-believe idea that, in fact, you can be joyful in your suffering. I encourage you to go back and take a quick look at the case I made for the fact that you can have joy in the midst of suffering and why you should work toward that. In this newsletter, I will talk about another aspect of being joyful in suffering—but not your suffering.

The material we discussed in the previous newsletter was from the book of James in the New Testament. Very early in his letter, he tells his audience to:

Consider it pure joy when you encounter (or face or experience or meet or fall into) all sorts of (various) trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything. (Jam. 1:2-4)

Here, I’d like to begin by highlighting the verb James used in relation to “trials.” The word in Greek is περιπέσητε, which is translated “face,” “meet,” “experience,” “fall into,” and “encounter.” Why is this important? Think about your trials. These verbs can, and do, apply to them. But they also apply to trials that others face which affect you and, in a sense, becomes a shared trial. Imagine that your sister is diagnosed with cancer. It is her trial but, because you love her, hurt for her and, if you live close enough, will be sacrificing your time, energy, and money to aid her, you share her trial with her. In both of these respects, you “face,” “fall into,” or “encounter” the trial and the verses, undoubtedly, apply. 

Now let’s consider a slightly more removed example, which is common to us all. Consider someone you care about who is experiencing a trial, but it is not a trial which directly affects your time, energy, or money. This might be a friend or relative whom you love. They are, themselves, facing a trial, i.e., suffering. There is nothing that you can do to materially help, however. Perhaps they are prideful and refuse help from anyone. Perhaps they do not understand the true cause of their trial and, therefore, what (if anything) might be done about it. Or, perhaps they are in the process of harming themselves with their poor decisions and your aid will, in fact, harm. Even though there’s nothing you can (or should) do to alleviate their suffering, you are hurting because you are witness to their trial. Have you, then, “encountered” a trial? Let us stipulate that, even though their pain causes you pain, it is still their trial exclusively. James tells us to count it joy when we “encounter” trials, but he doesn’t specify that they must be trials we, ourselves, are facing.

Why should we care about this? Well, if this applies to a trial you encounter, he says your faith (i.e., trust) is being tested, producing endurance, resulting in your perfection (reaching your goal), complete, and deficient in nothing. The suffering in this circumstance is valuable. If this is a trial you encounter, and your faith is being tested, and it produces endurance, and endurance has its full effect (i.e., being perfect, complete, not deficient in anything), wouldn’t you want to press into that?

The experience of hurting when others hurt can range from sad to agonizing. But if we take James’s advice, something greater could come of it. We can be honest that, when we see suffering in the world, particularly when those closest to us are experiencing it, it is difficult for us, and we might begin to question God. How many times have you heard someone in such a situation (perhaps you?) say, “Why didn’t God prevent ___?” or “Why doesn’t God ___?” or “God could have ___. Why didn’t he?” Your loved one’s trial—which you, too, are encountering—can, indeed, test your faith.

But if the testing of our faith produces endurance rather than weakness, and if that endurance results in us reaching our goal, becoming complete (whole), and not deficient (lacking) in anything, that process and result, it seems to me, is something worth counting as joy. I might add: what is the alternative? Anger? Bitterness? Choosing valuable joy over bitterness which corrodes is a no-brainer.

May I encourage you? Be attentive to the opportunities which you may not have previously recognized as opportunities. When you face a trial, or when someone you love faces a trial and it directly affects you, those opportunities to choose joy at the refinement may seem clear. But when you encounter a trial that someone adjacent to you is experiencing, it may not seem obvious that it, too, is a trial you are encountering. If it tests your faith and has the potential to produce endurance in you and (if you will permit it) let it finish its work, making you perfect (reaching your goal), complete (whole), not deficient (lacking) in anything, then embrace the work it can do in you. Don’t be passive in the process, allowing it to make you sad, angry, or bitter. That is a waste of a trial that is occurring anyway, which you can do nothing to stop. You can either (passively) let it have its way with you like an ocean wave crashing over you or you can (actively) embrace the fact that you are encountering a trial and (actively) choose to count it joy that, through it, you will gain more endurance and be transformed further into the person you are supposed to be. Choose joy.