“The best a Christian can do in a trial is cope.”
Someone says this at a fellowship meet—during discussions, perhaps, about times of testing—sickness, money problems, broken families, the death of someone we love. Many heads nod. The statement sounds honest, humble, even biblical. It sounds realistic.
But what if the Bible does tell us we can do more than cope? That we can trust God, even rejoice? What if the Bible shows us coping is the start—the floor—not the end or ceiling?
God doesn’t only ask us to survive our trials. He invites—even commands—us to have joy in them. Not to sport fake smiles. Not to pretend the pain isn’t there. But to cultivate real, deep, God-given joy that can live right next to our tears.
First, What Do We Mean?
Before we go further, let’s define 3 simple words:
- Trial: any hard thing God allows into our lives that tests our faith. (The Greek word peirasmos can mean “test” or “temptation”. Here we mean a test.)
- Coping: getting through something hard mainly by holding on. The goal is to survive until things get better.
- Joy: a deep gladness of heart that comes from God. It isn’t just a happy mood. John Piper, a well-known pastor and author, describes Christian joy as “a good feeling in the soul, produced by the Holy Spirit”, as the Spirit helps us see how beautiful Christ is.
Coping or joy? How the two respond to the same trial
| QUESTION | COPING SAYS… | BIBLICAL JOY SAYS… |
|---|---|---|
| What is my goal? | Get through it | Know God and honour Him in it |
| Who is at the centre? | Me and my strength | God and His promises |
| Where does my strength come from? | Willpower, distraction, time | The Holy Spirit, God’s Word, prayer even with tears |
| How do I see God? | As a rescuer I’m waiting for | As a treasure I have right now |
| What do I do with the pain? | Push it down or wait it out | Name it honestly and bring it to God |
| What is the result? | Life goes back to “normal” | Stronger faith and deeper love for Christ |
To be fair, coping isn’t a sin. On some days, all we can do is cope, to hold on. And God is gentle with us on those days. But the Bible shows us a better way—and God gives us the strength to walk in it.
Our Anchor Text: 1 Peter 1:6–9
Peter wrote this letter to Christians scattered across what’s now Turkey (1 Peter 1:1). They were a small, hated group who lost friends, jobs and good names for following Jesus. If anyone had the right to say, “We’re just coping”, it was them. But listen to what Peter tells them:
1 PETER 1:6–9 (ESV)
“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
Let’s walk through this passage slowly. It gives us 5 truths that help build our case.
1. Joy Has a Reason: “In This You Rejoice”
The words “in this” point back to 1 Peter 1:3–5. There Peter lists what God has given us: a new birth, a “living hope” through Jesus’ resurrection, an inheritance kept safe in heaven, and God’s own power guarding us. Joy doesn’t come from nowhere. It’s the grieving heart’s response to real facts.
The word Peter uses for “rejoice” (agalliaō) is a strong word. It means to exult, to be very glad, almost to jump for joy. And it’s present tense: these believers were rejoicing now, in the middle of their trouble.
This is a pattern all through the New Testament. Joy is joined to knowing: “for you know” (James 1:3), “knowing that suffering produces endurance” (Romans 5:3), “since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession” (Hebrews 10:34). This is why joy can be cultivated. Just as we feed a fire with wood, we feed joy with truth. Specifically, with truth from Scripture.
2. Joy and Tears Can Live Together: “Though Now… You Have Been Grieved”
Notice, Peter doesn’t tell us, “Rejoice, so that you will not feel sad.” He says they rejoice and they’re grieved—at the same time. The apostle Paul says the same thing about himself: “as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:10).
Think of the sea in a storm. On top, the waves crash and roar. Deep down, the water is calm and still. Grief is like the waves. Joy is like the deep water. Coping only tries to ride the waves. Joy is anchored far below them.
That’s why the Bible is full of lament—honest crying out to God in pain. About a third of the Psalms are laments. Jesus Himself wept (John 11:35). Lament isn’t the opposite of joy. Lament is faith speaking honestly to God. Psalm 42 shows us the path: “Why are you cast down, O my soul… Hope in God; for I shall again praise him” (Psalm 42:5).
3. Our Trials Are Short and Have a Purpose: “For a Little While, If Necessary… So That”
3 small phrases change how we see our pain:
- “For a little while”: even a long trial is short compared with eternity. Paul calls his heavy sufferings a “light momentary affliction” that is preparing “an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17).
- “If necessary”: trials don’t come by accident. God is sovereign—that means He rules over all things. He allows only what is truly needed.
- “So that”: trials have a purpose. They show the “tested genuineness” of our faith. The Greek word (dokimion) describes something that has been tested and proven real, like a coin that passes inspection.
Peter uses the picture of gold refined in fire. A goldsmith heats gold in fire until the dirt and impurities rise to the top and can be removed. The fire doesn’t destroy the gold—it purifies it. And Peter says our faith is even more precious than gold.
Joni Eareckson Tada, who has lived in a wheelchair since a diving accident at age 17, puts it this way: “Sometimes God allows what He hates, to accomplish what He loves.”
4. Our Joy Is in a Person: “You Love Him… and Rejoice”
This is the heart of the matter: our joy is in Jesus. “Though you have not seen him, you love him.” Our joy flows from our love for Christ.
Peter calls it “joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory”—joy too big for words, with a taste of heaven in it. The prophet Habakkuk knew this joy. He pictured losing every crop and every animal, and still said: “yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation” (Habakkuk 3:18).
REMEMBER…
We don’t rejoice for the trial. We rejoice in Christ in the trial. A trial may take away our health, our money or even the people we love. It cannot take away Jesus, our Lord.
5. Joy Looks Ahead: “Obtaining the Outcome of Your Faith”
The “outcome” is the final goal: “the salvation of your souls”. One day we will see Jesus face to face. But Peter says we’re already “obtaining” it. The joy of the future reaches back into today, like the appetising aroma of a meal reaches us before we sit down to eat.
Jesus Himself lived this way. Hebrews 12:2 says that “for the joy that was set before Him [He] endured the cross”. Our Lord didn’t merely cope with the cross. His sorrow in the garden of Gethsemane was real: “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death” (Matthew 26:38). But so was the joy set before Him. Sorrow and joy, side by side—the same pattern Peter gives us.
Peter Isn’t Alone: The Bible Commands Joy in Trials
Is Peter describing super-Christians? No. Look at the ordinary believers these words were first written to:
Bible passages that call suffering believers to joy
| PASSAGE | WHO WAS SUFFERING | WHAT IT SAYS ABOUT JOY |
|---|---|---|
| James 1:2–3 | Poor, scattered Christians | “Count it all joy… when you meet trials of various kinds” |
| Philippians 4:4 | Paul, writing from prison | “Rejoice in the Lord always” |
| Colossians 1:11 | A young church under pressure | Strength “for all endurance and patience with joy” |
| 1 Thessalonians 1:6 | Brand-new believers facing attack | Received the word “in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit” |
| Acts 5:41 | Apostles who had just been beaten | “Rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer” |
| Hebrews 10:34 | Christians who lost their homes and goods | “You joyfully accepted the plundering of your property” |
Here’s the key point: if God commands joy in trials, coping cannot be the best we can do. God never commands what He will not help us accomplish.
Look closely at Colossians 1:11. Paul doesn’t pray for endurance or joy. He prays for “endurance and patience with joy”. The Greek word for endurance (hypomonē) means staying under a heavy load without giving up. In the Bible, endurance is never joyless.
JOY IN THE FIRE: BELIEVERS WHO DID MORE THAN COPE
- Around AD 50: Paul and Silas, beaten and chained in a jail at Philippi, sang hymns to God at midnight (Acts 16:25).
- 1630s: Samuel Rutherford, sent away from his church for his faith, wrote letters full of delight in Christ. He said that in the dark cellar of suffering he looked for the Lord’s finest wine.
- 1873: Horatio Spafford lost his four daughters in a shipwreck. Soon after, he wrote the hymn “It Is Well with My Soul”.
- 1800s: Charles Spurgeon, the great London preacher, battled pain and depression for years. He said, “I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages.”
Why It Matters: God Is Glorified When We Are Satisfied in Him
Peter says our tested faith results in “praise and glory and honour” to Jesus (1 Peter 1:7). How does our joy in trials bring glory to God?
This is where Christian Hedonism helps us. “Hedonism” means living for pleasure. Christian Hedonism is the belief that God made us to find our greatest pleasure in Him—and that this pleasure honours Him. John Piper sums it up like this: “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.”
Think about it this way. If a friend only stays with us while we’re rich, his friendship isn’t worth much. But if he stays when we lose everything, we know his love is real. Similarly, when we lose good things and still say, “God is enough”, we show the world God is worth more than everything we lost. This is how Paul could say, “to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).
So here’s the hidden problem with the “just cope” view. It quietly suggests God is enough when life is good, but not when life is hard. Joy in trials says the opposite: God is enough even here, even now.
The Westminster Shorter Catechism (1647) says our chief purpose is “to glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever”. Trials don’t cancel that purpose—they’re where it shines brightest. As CS Lewis put it, our problem isn’t wanting joy too much: “We are far too easily pleased.”
Answering the Hard Objections
- “You can’t command feelings.” Yet God does—He commands joy, love, thankfulness and fear of Him. That’s why James says to count trials as joy. As David Mathis notes, we reckon them as joy because we don’t “simply feel them naturally to be so”. We use God’s means, and the Holy Spirit produces joy as His fruit (Galatians 5:22).
- “Isn’t this just positive thinking?” Far from it. Positive thinking denies the pain. Biblical joy names the pain honestly, laments, and then looks to God. It isn’t built on “things will get better”, but on “God is good, even if they don’t”.
- “Isn’t chasing joy selfish?” Not when the joy is in God. Treasuring God makes Him—not us—the centre of our thoughts and our lives.
How Do We Cultivate Joy?
To “cultivate” means to grow something with care, like a farmer. A farmer cannot make a seed grow. But he can plough, plant, water and pull out weeds. Then God gives the growth (1 Corinthians 3:7). Joy works the same way. John Piper calls it a fight—the subtitle of one of his books is How to Fight for Joy. Here are 10 ways we fight:
- We feed on God’s Word: joy grows on truth. “Your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart” (Jeremiah 15:16).
- We pray for joy: we ask God for it directly. “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days” (Psalm 90:14). Tim Keller wisely said God gives His people what they would have asked for if they knew everything He knows.
- We talk to ourselves: Martyn Lloyd-Jones warned many of us are “listening to ourselves instead of talking to ourselves”. We preach God’s promises to our own heart (Psalm 42:5).
- We give thanks in everything: not for the evil, but in it. “Give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
- We remember God’s faithfulness: “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope” (Lamentations 3:21). Write down what God has done for you before.
- We sing: like Paul and Silas at midnight. Singing truth moves the heart.
- We stay close to God’s people: God comforted Paul “by the coming of Titus” (2 Corinthians 7:6). Don’t suffer alone.
- We look ahead: today’s sufferings are “not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).
- We care for our body: before God spoke to the tired prophet Elijah, He gave him sleep and food (1 Kings 19:5–8).
- We comfort others: God comforts us so we can comfort others (2 Corinthians 1:4).
Conclusion: More Than Coping
So, is coping the best a Christian can do in a trial? No. It’s not the best God has for us.
Coping keeps us going. Joy keeps us worshipping. Coping waits for the storm to pass. Joy finds Christ in the storm. And when we find our joy in Him, even in the fire, our faith comes out like gold—and Jesus gets the glory.
If you are in a trial today, don’t aim only to survive it. Ask God to help you love Christ more in it. That is where real joy begins.
Tough Questions, Honest Answers
What’s the difference between joy and happiness in the Bible?
People often say happiness depends on what happens, while joy depends on God. There is some truth in this, but we should not push it too far. The Bible does not look down on happiness. The word “blessed” in the Psalms and the Beatitudes can also mean “happy”. The key difference is the source. Worldly happiness rises and falls with our situation. Biblical joy is rooted in God, so it can stay steady when life is shaking. “In your presence there is fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11).
Why does God allow trials in a Christian’s life?
The Bible gives several reasons. Trials make our faith stronger (1 Peter 1:7). They teach us to depend on God, not ourselves (2 Corinthians 1:9). They shape us to be more like Jesus (Romans 8:29). They train us as God’s children, “that we may share his holiness” (Hebrews 12:10). And they prepare us to comfort others (2 Corinthians 1:4). We may not know the reason for a particular trial, but we know God never wastes our pain.
What’s the difference between a trial and a temptation?
In the Greek New Testament, the same word (peirasmos) can mean both. The difference is in the purpose. God tests us to strengthen our faith. But God never tempts anyone to sin: “he himself tempts no one” (James 1:13). Satan and our own sinful desires tempt us to destroy us. The same event—like losing a job—can be a test from God and, at the same time, a temptation to grumble or doubt. How we respond decides which one wins.
Is it true God never gives us more than we can handle?
This popular saying is based on 1 Corinthians 10:13. But that verse is about temptation to sin, not about suffering. In fact, Paul said he was “so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself”. Why? “That was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead” (2 Corinthians 1:8–9). God may give us more than we can handle. He will never give us more than He can handle.
Can a Christian grieve the death of a loved one and still have joy?
Yes. Paul doesn’t tell believers not to grieve. He tells them not to “grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). Jesus wept at the grave of His friend Lazarus, even though He knew He would soon raise him (John 11:35). Christian grief is real grief, but it has hope inside it. We will see believing loved ones again, and Christ has defeated death.
What does “the joy of the LORD is your strength” mean?
These words come from Nehemiah 8:10. The people of Israel had just heard God’s law read aloud, and they wept because they saw their sin. Nehemiah told them to stop mourning and celebrate, because God had been gracious to them. The point is this: joy in God’s mercy is what gives us strength to obey and keep going. It’s not that we must create joy to become strong. Rather, God’s goodness gives us joy, and that joy makes us strong.
Are trials a punishment for sin?
Not usually, and never for believers in the sense of payment for sin. Jesus took that punishment on the cross: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). When His disciples asked whose sin caused a man’s blindness, Jesus said it was “that the works of God might be displayed in him” (John 9:3). God does sometimes discipline His children (Hebrews 12:6), but discipline is a loving father training His child, not a judge punishing a criminal.
Why does God allow good people to suffer?
The Bible’s first answer may surprise us: no one is truly good in God’s eyes. “None is righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10). So the real wonder isn’t that good people suffer, but that God shows mercy to any of us. But the Bible also takes the pain of godly people seriously. Job was “blameless and upright” (Job 1:1), yet he lost almost everything. Only one person was ever completely good, and that was Jesus, who suffered more than anyone: “the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). God doesn’t cause evil, but He rules over it and turns it to good. As Joseph told his brothers, “you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20).
Does God test our faith, and why?
Yes. “God tested Abraham” (Genesis 22:1), and He tested Israel in the wilderness “to know what was in your heart” (Deuteronomy 8:2). God doesn’t test us because He needs information, since He already knows everything. He tests us so we can see what’s in our hearts, and so our faith grows stronger. A test is like a teacher’s exam: it shows what we’ve learnt and makes the lesson stick. James says “the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” (James 1:3). Remember, God tests us to build us up, never to make us fall. That’s the work of temptation, which never comes from God.
How can I know God’s voice or discern His will during a difficult time?
God’s clearest voice is His Word. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). Start with what God has already made plain. For example, His will is that we “give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) and grow in holiness (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Some things God keeps hidden: “The secret things belong to the LORD our God” (Deuteronomy 29:29). In a trial, we may not learn why, but we can always know how to walk through it. Then: ask for wisdom. God “gives generously to all without reproach” (James 1:5). Seek wise counsel. “In an abundance of counsellors there is safety” (Proverbs 11:14). Test your impressions. Treat feelings and impressions with care. God never leads us against His Word.
Related Reads
- Does Grief Cancel Christian Joy? Or Can the Two Coexist?
- Christian Joy: Is It a Personal Choice or a Feeling? Or Neither?
- The Joy of the Lord: Pursued by Many, Possessed by Few
- The Refiner’s Fire: Making Sense of Christian Suffering
- What Does It Mean For Us to Share in Christ’s Suffering? (1 Peter 4:13)
- Purpose in Pain: Why Trust Providence When His Plan Is Hidden?
- Job’s Many Trials: What Purposes Did They Serve in the End?
- If God Already Knows Everything, Why Does He Test Us?
- Does Everything Happen for a Reason? What Does the Bible Say?
- What Do We Do When We’re Disappointed with God?
- Deeply Moved: Why Did Jesus Weep at Lazarus’s Tomb?
- Lamentations 3:24: What Does ‘The Lord Is My Portion’ Mean?
- Christian Contentment: Discover True Joy in a ‘Never Enough’ World
