Charles Spurgeon Commentary James 1:2

"Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold temptations;" — James 1:2 (ASV)

My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations;

Or "trials." Do not be sorry about it; be thankful for it. The gold should be glad to be put into the crucible; the Christian should rejoice to be tested and tried. Not only count it joy, but count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations.

My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into various temptations;

Do not sorrow over your trials; do not look upon them as misfortunes and calamities. They are black vessels, but they are loaded with gold. Your choicest mercies come to you disguised as your sharpest trials. Welcome them; do not sorrow over them, but rejoice in them.

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

Or, trials.

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations;

Or, "trials." This is a strange thing to say, is it not? Should we not count it great joy when we escape from trial? Perhaps so; but we are expressly told to count, or reckon, it all joy when we fall into divers trials.

Have you never known what it is, in times of peace and quietness, to feel as if you missed the grandeur of the presence of God? I have looked back to times of trial with a kind of longing, not to have them return, but to feel the strength of God as I have felt it then, to feel the power of faith as I have felt it then, to hang upon God's powerful arm as I hung upon it then, and to see God at work as I saw him then.

I think the sailor at home must sometimes feel a kind of longing once more to enjoy a storm on the ocean, and to see how the good ship rides on the billows' crest. Life gets flat sometimes while all goes smoothly, and we need even the variety of a trial to bring us to closer communion with our God. It is so much for our good to be tried, it is so much for the glory of God that we should be tried, that we will read the verse again, and note what the apostle says: My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers trials. Be like the soldier who is not afraid of the shot and shell, and the turmoil and strife of the battle.