James 1:1-4

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:
Greetings.
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
(Emphasis added)

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James (Jesus’ brother, not the apostle) begins by letting us know to whom he is addressing his remarks. After the stoning of Stephen the Jewish believers began to face extraordinary persecution; so James is writing to the “scattered” Christians living throughout the world after having been forced to flee Jerusalem in fear for their lives.

Notice in verse 2 that James does not say “if” you have trials, but rather “whenever”. For the Christian, trial or adversity are a given fact of life and James doesn’t beat around the bush about it. He flatly proclaims it to be true. So, why then does he begin by instructing “Consider it pure joy, my brothers”?
James is not saying here that we should be happy about our difficult circumstances or problems. He is not saying that we should rejoice when bad things happen to us for the sake of rejoicing in the bad or as a sort of pious flogging of our psyches.
James is saying that we ought to view our trials as an opportunity to grow spiritually closer to Godliness or Holiness and there is certainly joy in the prospect of growing more intimately related to our heavenly Father. Whenever we respond properly and with God’s perspective on the trials that we face there is a certain and specific type of growth that takes place. One of the results of this growth is that we become more and more able to persevere through trials one after another after another as with each individual trial comes a greater ability to overcome or “get through” the next one in honor and glory to God! This helps us as we travel through life with its ups and downs to be the witnesses for the Kingdom of God here on earth that He has called us to be. People see our spiritual growth and maturity and this is what prompts them to ask us about the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15) which has the effect of advancing God’s kingdom by producing the fruit that we all are called to produce. In the end, our maturity in spiritual growth leads us right to where God wants us and that is what in scripture is known as Sanctification, without which we cannot enter into the very presence of God as we enter the kingdom of Heaven. So, this perseverance through trials that inevitably come our way brings us a joy in that we know God is getting us ready to meet Him face-to-face. How great is that?!