Come Into The Word with Sarah Christmyer | Bible Study | Lectio Divina | Journals | Retreat

  • About
  • Blog
    • Scripture Reflection
    • Prayer & Lectio Divina
    • Bible Reading & Study
    • Holidays and Holy Days
    • Discipleship
    • Women of the Bible
  • Resources
    • New Release
    • Books & Journals
    • Bible Studies
    • How-tos & Reading Plans
  • Speaking
    • Speaking Topics
    • Schedule
    • Testimonials
    • Reviews & Interviews
    • Past Events
  • Contact

WISDOM FROM JAMES: When the Rubber Meets the Road (1:26)

October 10, 2014 By Sarah Christmyer 5 Comments

If you’ve been following this blog, you know James says to “count it all joy…when you meet various trials.”

Not only did I read that, I memorized it.  I meditated on it.  I taught it to my Bible study class.  By the time I was done, I knew all there was to know about counting it all joy.

And then I went home.

I felt like I was drowning in responsibilities and deadlines and worries and I couldn’t see a way out.  I was doing my favorite thing when I get overwhelmed, which is to pace around the house eating and yelling at everybody else to do what they’re supposed to be doing but somehow had forgotten.  And this little voice came into my head:  “Count it all joy, when you meet various trials….”

This isn’t a “trial,” I told that voice.  It doesn’t count.  Nobody’s sick.  There’s money in the bank.  This is my own problem. It’s just me doing too much and then having to deal with it.  It’s not a “trial”.  No way am I going to count it all joy.  (Snarl, snarl, eat some more chips, rant at the kids).

“Count it all joy, Sarah, when you face various trials” I heard again in my ear.

“I know, I know!  I know all about that.”

“So why don’t you do it?”

And another verse from James popped into my head, James 1:26:  “If anyone thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this man’s religion is vain.”

If I think I’m religious (in the best sense of that word), but then I stomp around yelling at my kids and stuff my face because I can’t count my trials as joy, and if I know that God gives me the power to face them with joy, then my religion is vain.  (I looked up synonyms for vain:  it doesn’t mean “not true,” but ineffective.  Hopeless.  Unsuccessful.  Unproductive.  Futile.  Useless.  Worthless.)  If I can’t count my trials joy, my religion is worthless to me.

Hey, I wrote a bible study on that.  I know what to do.

It doesn’t matter.

Jesus came to re-create us with his word.  To give us life.  To restore his own life in us, to make a difference in the self-centered, proud, noisy, angry, selfish lives we live.  Not to teach us nice things to think about so we can think we know the answers.

When I heard that little voice in my head again, I had to take a deep breath.  I had to go into my room, sit down, ask forgiveness and pray for help, so I could count it all joy, and act like it in front of my kids instead of making everyone else suffer for my problems.  God’s word is not just words.  It is living, active, life-changing.  But we have to make room for it to work in our lives, and act on it.  Only then will we find “pure religion” and be conformed to the image of our Lord.

 + + + + + + +

Read my other posts on James here (the links will become live as they are posted):

  • “Count it All Joy” (1:2)
  • “Mirror, mirror” (or, what it means to be a doer; 1:22-25) – on the Bible Study for Catholics blog
  • Show No Partiality (2:1-13)
  • Patience vs. Grumbling (5:9)

Study James: Pearls of Wise Living in your home group or parish.

Filed Under: Scripture Reflection

Comments

  1. Arlita Winston says

    October 10, 2014 at 9:52 am

    Words pulsating with life, Sarah!

  2. Barbara Ann Baugh says

    October 10, 2014 at 12:55 pm

    I had not realized that one must give one’s trials back to God before they can be counted as joy. If we go it alone we are only acting in a prideful manner

  3. Mitch Carroll says

    October 13, 2014 at 11:46 am

    Do your kids understand? Sounds like your husband must be a saint! Just kidding. This really struck home at a time I needed it: Count it all joy. I look forward to meeting God so he can explain it all to me, but at the moment, is it tough. Thanks for the encouraging words from our Lord via James.

  4. AL says

    March 23, 2020 at 10:42 pm

    I am impress about how you interpret the bible. I like it.
    This is all new to me. But I like it. Hopefully, I will get the hang of it.
    Thank you for your insight. God Bless

  5. Sarah Christmyer says

    March 24, 2020 at 10:54 am

    AL, Thank you. And I’m sure you will get the hang of it! Keep reading and praying, reading and praying. See my “resources” page if you’d like some help.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

 characters available

Sarah Christmyer writes and speaks about Scripture and the Catholic faith with the goal of helping people meet Jesus in his Word. “The Bible isn’t just a book about God or instructions for a good life; it’s a place to meet God and be changed by him,” she says. Her love of Scripture fuels her writing of Bible studies and related books; her teaching of Philadelphia seminarians; her speaking at conferences and retreats; and writing for blogs such as this one. “Come Into the Word” draws people into the Bible and encourages and equips them to explore it on their own.

Subscribe Here

Sign up to receive new posts and news via email. (Add sarah@comeintotheword.com to your address book to make sure mail arrives in your inbox!)

Search Come Into The Word

Categories

Recent Posts

  • TRUST IN GOD; HE’S GOT YOUR BACK
  • FINDING JOY AT CHRISTMAS
  • FOCUSING ON THE CHRIST CHILD with the O Antiphons
  • THANKSGIVING PSALMS: Drowning grief in gratitude
  • YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU: How to fill your heavenly “handbag”
  • RETURNING TO GOD…AND PRAYERS FOR UKRAINE

Archives

Recommended

  • Integrated Catholic Life – Catholic blogs and resources
  • Lux App and Lux University – online faith hub for women
  • Peter Kreeft – featured writings and audio
  • The Sacred Page (Michael Barber, John Bergsma, Brant Pitre, John Kincaid) – blog
  • Scripture Speaks (Gayle Somers) – commentary on the Mass readings
  • Speaking of Scripture (Mary Healy, Daniel Keating, Peter Williamson, et al) – blog
  • Women in the New Evangelization (WINE) – women’s ministry, book club, blog

 

We engage in affiliate marketing whereby we receive funds through clicks to our affiliate program through this website. This disclosure is intended to comply with the US Federal Trade Commission Rules on marketing and advertising, as well as any other legal requirements which may apply.

 

Let’s Connect

mailfacebook instagram pinterest

Subscribe Here

Sign up to receive new posts and news via email. (Add sarah@comeintotheword.com to your address book to make sure mail arrives in your inbox!)

MENU

  • About
  • Blog
  • Resources
  • Speaking
  • Contact
  • Home

Copyright © 2023 Come into the Word LLC | Site designed by Cynthia Oswald

  • About
  • Blog
    △
    • Scripture Reflection
    • Prayer & Lectio Divina
    • Bible Reading & Study
    • Holidays and Holy Days
    • Discipleship
    • Women of the Bible
  • Resources
    △
    • New Release
    • Books & Journals
    • Bible Studies
    • How-tos & Reading Plans
  • Speaking
    △
    • Speaking Topics
    • Schedule
    • Testimonials
    • Reviews & Interviews
    • Past Events
  • Contact