“Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you meet with various trials,

(Jas. 1:2-4) James says that Christians should welcome trials and be joyful about them because they help us to produce endurance.

Recall that James wrote: “Consider it all joy.” That may not be easy to do, inasmuch as physical suffering or mental anguish may be involved. But remember that future life is at stake. An experience of the apostles helps us to see how we can rejoice during sufferings. The account is found in the book of Acts, and it reads: “They summoned the apostles, flogged them, and ordered them to stop speaking on the basis of Jesus’ name, and let them go. So they went out from before the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy to be dishonored in behalf of his name.” (Acts 5:40, 41) The apostles understood that their suffering was proof that they had been obedient to Jesus’ command and that they had received Jehovah’s approval.