No one wants to go through trials and suffering. But for the Christian we are able to do the most unworldly thing imaginable – we are able to rejoice in our suffering. And since the Bible tells us in (James 1:2): “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,” and in (1 Thessalonians 5:16): “rejoice always,” it must, therefore, be possible. But how is this possible?
Well, in the natural this is indeed not possible, but as Christians we are able to put on the supernatural through the working of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit and show the world that we can indeed rejoice in suffering. I like what John Piper shares on this point: “People are not prepared or able to rejoice in suffering unless they experience a massive biblical revolution of how they think and feel about the meaning of life. Human nature and American culture make it impossible to rejoice in suffering. This is a miracle in the human soul wrought by God through His Word.”[1]
While our feelings will not always be positive as we endure various trials and sufferings, joy is so much more than good feelings. I like to define joy as that calm assurance that we know deep in our soul that God is working all things for good for His children as we walk in obedience to His will. Joy believes that God knows best how to use us to bring glory to His name. Joy views problems as opportunities to bless others and showcase God’s goodness to a broken world. And joy comes about as we focus our attention on the treasures we are accumulating in heaven as we go through suffering.
And not only can we rejoice in suffering but having the knowledge that joy is often a by-product of suffering can help motivate us to continue to endure the trials we go through in life. We see a great example of this in the life of Jesus. For we read in (Hebrews 12:2): “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Here we see that Jesus looked down the corridor of time and saw how His going to the cross would bring salvation to millions. As a result, this awesome joy gave Him the strength to go to the cross.
My friends living with continual joy is not only possible but for the Christian it is the essential fuel we need to provide us with the strength to endure the trials of life. While we can’t always be happy since happiness is based on positive circumstances, we can always be joyful since joy is based on our obedience to the will of God. I also believe that as we manifest a life of continuous joy, we will attract others to Christ because they will want the joy and peace, we as believers in Christ manifest to a world lacking both of these precious fruits of the Spirit.
[1] People are not prepared or able to rejoice in suffering unless they experience a massive biblical revolution of how they think and feel about the meaning of life. Human nature and American culture make it impossible to rejoice in suffering. This is a miracle in the human soul wrought by God through His Word. – Grace Quotes
When Joy Bleeds Through the Cracks: Rejoicing in the Gethsemanes We Never Asked For. …..M.R. Neveu
Christians don’t rejoice in suffering because pain is pleasant. We rejoice because God has rewired suffering in Christ. Our Gethsemanes become places where prayer, obedience, and supernatural joy converge into strength the world can’t explain.
Scripture doesn’t ask for polite positivity. It commands joy: “Consider it pure joy… whenever you face trials of many kinds” (James 1:2), and again, “Rejoice always” (1 Thess. 5:16). If God commands it, it must be possible. But it isn’t natural. It’s supernatural.
Curt Blattman puts his finger on the nerve. Joy in suffering is not a temperament trick. It’s the Word and the Spirit rebuilding how a believer understands life. Human nature clings to comfort. Culture trains us to treat suffering as meaningless interruption. Grace teaches a different grammar. Joy under pressure is not denial of reality, it is evidence of a deeper reality than circumstances.
Joy, then, is not a mood. It is settled confidence. It is the calm assurance that God is working all things for good for His children as they walk in obedience to His will (Rom. 8:28). Feelings may revolt, and in trials they often do. Joy doesn’t pretend the emotions are tidy.
Joy refuses to let emotions be sovereign.
Joy says, “God knows what He’s doing with me, even when I don’t.” Joy can treat problems as opportunities to bless others, to display God’s goodness, and to store treasure where suffering can’t touch it.
This is why Christianity can be brutally honest about pain without being swallowed by it. It doesn’t minimize suffering. It places suffering inside a story that ends in resurrection. Happiness depends on circumstances, so it evaporates when circumstances burn down. Joy depends on obedience to God, so it can endure in the ashes.
Gethsemane sharpens the point. It wasn’t a poetic backdrop. It was a press. Luke describes Jesus’ agony so intense that His sweat fell “like drops of blood” (Luke 22:44). And in that crushing, He prayed His way into obedience: “Not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). Prayer did not remove the cup. Prayer aligned the Son with the Father.
Hebrews tells us what carried Him through. Jesus endured the cross “for the joy set before him” (Heb. 12:2). Joy didn’t cancel suffering. It fueled endurance. Jesus looked beyond the horror to the harvest: salvation purchased, sinners gathered, the Father glorified. That future joy didn’t make the nails less sharp. It made faithfulness possible.
We don’t bear the weight of the world’s sin, but we know our own presses: loss, betrayal, illness, financial collapse, loneliness that feels like a room with no doors. Those places are not proof God has abandoned you. Often they are the places He is shaping you, producing something in you that comfort never could.
Prayer is the tool Jesus used in His crushing. Prayer is the tool He hands to us. Not a magic wand, a lifeline. Prayer steadies us, keeps us awake to temptation, and aligns our will with God’s when our will is screaming for escape.
Here’s the apologetic punchline.
A worldview that can name suffering without trivializing it, redeem it without romanticizing it, and produce joy without denying reality doesn’t come from human optimism. It comes from a crucified and risen Savior.
Christianity doesn’t promise a life free of Gethsemanes. It promises a Lord who entered His first, so He can walk with us through ours. And that is why we rejoice.
Joy isn’t what you feel when the crushing stops. It’s what God produces in you while the stone is still pressing.
thanks, Curt.