Consider it all joy?

There's a verse in James 1 that I've tended to skip over when we're talking about why God allows chronic illness and pain in our lives:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds. - James 1:2

I guess none of us have quite liked that scripture, and I didn't know what to do with it. Then the other day, I was listening to the Janet Parshall's America. Janet was interviewing Dr Gary Smalley who said something that really caught my attention:

When I find myself facing a new trial, I find myself getting excited about what Jesus is going to do. [not an exact quote]

In our chat today, none of us could say we were glad we're ill! But we do know joy in our lives -- some examples:

• We have all experienced His Presence in a way we never knew before -- that is amazing and we are grateful for that!
• We can slow down and have long lunches with friends.
  
• Slowing down also means noticing more of God's world -- some of us take photographs.
• We have more time to read.
• Trials bring God's glory.
• We can serve others who are suffering because we know & understand what they're going thru; God gives us a heart for them.

Being ill requires a lot of adjustments and we (and our spouses!) miss our old selves. I worry about what I can't do for my son because of being ill. This verse comforts me:

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. - 2 Corinthians 12:9

Though I don't always see Him working, our weaknesses do cause us to lean on Him which we often don't do until we get to the end of ourselves! Sometimes we are helped to see how God works by reading Christian fiction, especially when we know of people with similar experiences. Sometimes we see better that God is working when we look back. One chatter said:

God is changing my hopeless thoughts into a burden to share and help others living with illness locally as well. [...] That is my joy now, serving others and letting them know I am here and understand.

But it takes time; we take one step at a time. Sometimes, we get depressed and struggle with understanding why. Other times, we know God's precious Presence in such a way that it's easy to trust Him. And we know it's Him working in us cause when we're sick, we really know we couldn't do it without Him.