James 1:2 reads, “My brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds, consider it pure joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.”

 It’s important to know that when Paul wrote this, he was talking to Christians. There's a way that Christians deal with adversity and difficulty that is different from people who do not know the Lord. 

Sometimes when bad things happen to us, the first thing out of our mouth is not “Hallelujah.” We have to get to that place through discipline where we are conditioning our spirit to be able to respond in the way that God wants because our natural action reaction is usually to get discouraged. When we look at difficult things our past, we can choose to look at it through the lens of discouragement and bitterness, or we can choose to look at it through the lens of joy. 

“Consider it pure joy.” James doesn't tell us to be happy when we go through trials, instead he encourages us to consider joy. There's a difference between joy and happiness.

Happiness has everything to do with what happens to us. If we get a promotion, we get happy. If someone says, “You look great today,” we get happy. If something good happens to us, we get happy. But if something bad happens to us, we’re not that happy.

Joy, on the other hand, is something born out of the Holy Spirit. A seed of joy was planted in us at the moment of salvation, and we can cultivate that seed through worshipping, praying, and reading the Word.

Romans 15:13 tells us, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Pure joy is knowing hope and having confidence that God is going to take care of us no matter what happens to us.