The first comma is so important. We don’t rejoice in the suffering. We rejoice in the fact that when Jesus is revealed our faith will have been so refined that it will result in praise, glory and honor.
It’s the endurance that we witness with and that will get us to our end goal. The pushing through. And yes we are to consider it joy but he doesn’t say we have to BE joyful all the time. Fake joy is not a witness.
I’m not going to smile through every workout, but I am going to smile when someone says to me after weeks of working out, “wow you look good!” And I’m not going to lie and tell them it was so fun and easy because then they will try it and fail! And then I can’t be trusted!
Being a Christian doesn’t solve all our problems or guarantee us a life of ease. Only by enduring the trials and never letting go of our Hope can we be a witness and reach our end goal.
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