Due to a major personal trial, it has been a long time since I have posted here. Back on December 28, my pastor asked me to fill in for him. I decided to preach out of James 1:2-8. I hoped that my talk would encourage the listeners to take a new look at trials and see them as God’s way of developing character and hope in his children.
Below is the text of the message.
INTRODUCTION
1. When I was in the Marine Corps, I remember living by the motto, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”
Or maybe you have heard the slogan: “When life hands you a lemon, make lemonade.”
These phrases sound good on the face. We should face our struggles with faith, and should get on with our lives right? The truth is that life sometimes hits us upside the head, and it is not as easy as just getting on with things.
2. This morning, I would like us to look together at James 1:2-8. Many of you who know Vicki & I will know that I am talking to my soul as much or more than I am talking to yours.
3. The Epistle of James tells us that we can experience victory in the face of trials.
a. Whether we are dealing with trials on the outside
b. Or temptations on the inside
– Through faith in God and Jesus Christ we can experience victory!
4. [I believe that there are four key instructions to turning trials into triumph. Starting with verse two, then, let's look at the first key...]
I. “Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds” (1:2)
A. Trials are assumed
1. He doesn’t say “if” but “when”
2. This is because Christians must expect trials
a. So said Jesus – “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble.” John 16:33
b. Paul also – “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” Acts 14:22b
3. The nature of these trials is “various”
a. Some trials come simply because we are human
1) Sickness, accidents
2) Disappointments, death
3) Job loss
b. Other trials come because we are Christians
“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are
suffering, as through something strange were happening to you.”
1 Peter 4:12
“In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus
will be persecuted.”2 Timothy 3:12
4. But because Satan fights us, and the world opposes us, we can expect
trials!
B. What is to be the Christian’s response? – “Consider it pure joy!”
1. This was the attitude of:
a. The apostles – Acts 5:41
b. Paul – Philippians 2:17-18
c. The Christians – “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,…” 1 Peter 1:6-8 2. The first step to turning trials into triumph is to: Immediately thank God and adopt a joyful attitude!
["But how," we may ask, "is it possible to rejoice in the midst of trials?" The second key in verse 3 explains how...]
II. “…because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance” (1:3)
A. The right knowledge concerning the value of trials makes it possible to have a joyful attitude…
1. We are to understand that:
a. Trials test our faith
b. Faith tested can bring out the best in us!
1) As we read earlier in 1 Peter 1:7, “just as fire purifies gold”
2) Just as training makes the athlete stronger
2. With this understanding, we can have joy in trials because we know
that:
a. Testing works FOR us, not AGAINST us – “For our light and
momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far
outweighs them all.” 2 Corinthians 4:17
b. Trials rightly used help us to mature
“Trials have a purifying quality; they are the arena in which and the process through which something good develops.”
B. Specifically, faith tested produces “perseverance”
1. Notice “Not only so, but we rejoice in our sufferings, because we
know that suffering produces perseverance, character; and
character hope.” Romans 5:3-4
2. In the BIBLE…
a. “Perseverance” is NOT a passive acceptance of circumstances
1) Comes from two words:
- One meaning “under”
- A second word meaning “to remain, to abide”
2) Perseverance refers to the ability to display steadfastness and
constancy in the face of the most formidable difficulty!
b. It is a courageous resolve in the face of suffering!
c. It is continuing on even when it is rough, despite the circumstances
3. Such a quality of steadfastness can come only through experiencing
trials
[Having this understanding about what trials can accomplish enables us to
have a joyful attitude toward such trials.
But to really benefit from our trials, we must also obey the third key instruction found in verse four...]
III. “Perseverance must finish its work” (1:4)
A. To truly turn trials into triumph, we must let “perseverance” to do its work
1. Too often, we want to get our trials or difficulties over with quickly
2. But there are times when the best course is to bear up under the trial
patiently
a. Instead of grumbling and complaining…
b. …patiently endure the trial, doing good despite the trial
A journalist once wrote, “When nothing seems to help, I go to look at a stonecutter, hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times, without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet after the one hundred and first blow, it will split in two; and I know that it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before.”
B. For when perseverance has had an opportunity to work, it produces “maturity & completeness”!
1. The words maturity and completeness does not mean sinlessness, but “completeness, wholeness, maturity”
Regarding this idea of maturity and completeness, one commentator writes:
The “complete” person is one whose character is fully formed according to Christian standards; it is not “perfection” according to some standard common to popular culture.”
When [maturity] is used of character, it implies that God is a part of whatever process is involved in the formation of character… It is also important to note that that this is not some unachievable high standard; rather, we can become persons of integrity, persons who are single-minded in their loyalty and devotion to God. It is the fully developed character of stable righteousness.
2. In the New Testament, these words are used to describe those who:
a. Have reached full maturity and understanding in spiritual matters
b. Are no longer “babes” and immature persons in Christ
3. Such maturity comes only when patience has had time to work!
a. Consider, for example, an endurance runner in his training
1) To be a mature runner requires letting patience do its work
2) That is, patiently running mile after mile in training
b. If we wish to run the race well spiritually speaking, we need to
develop patience
1) Which comes only through a form of spiritual “resistance training”
2) That is, trials in which our faith is put to the test!
“The good things which belong to prosperity are to be wished, but the good things which belong to adversity are to be admired.”
[Letting patience have its perfect work is not easy. It certainly requires wisdom which enables us to see the value of our trials.]
IV. Personal Response
I am going to take a few minutes and be much more vulnerable than I typically am when I speak in public. I am a generally reserved, quiet person who keeps my emotions and personal pain in my heart. I want to tell you about some challenges that I and my family have been facing over the last several months.
Around Thanksgiving time in 2007, my father, who was 63, began to feel increasingly significant pain in all of his joints. By Christmas time, on a scale of 1-10, dad was at a 10 on the pain scale. He had a hard time moving and walking. By this time, he and my mother had been to see several specialists, and dad was prescribed a high end steroid medication in order to combat the pain. Along the way, dad contracted some sort of virus and lost his voice.
We had decided as a family to celebrate Christmas at my parent’s house in central Iowa. Usually there were questions from my dad as to how the drive was. This time however, he was silent, not able to speak above a whisper. He gave us his trademark closed mouth smile, and whispered that he was sorry that he could not talk. And thus it went during Christmas. What none of realized was the significance of dad’s pain. He really struggled to move.
The Christmas holiday wound down, and I and my family returned to Minnesota. We called periodically to check in with mom to see how dad was doing. The days stretched into weeks, and I missed more and more hearing my father’s voice. Finally, the voice came back, but the pain never abated. And then a round of heart problems arose. One of the many medications he was on was causing his blood pressure to spike to dangerous levels, and his heart would fall out of rhythm or would begin to race.
And this cycle continued throughout the spring. By May, dad had been in and out of the hospital five or six times. I had begun to dread the calls from my mother. I was sure that each time she called; she would tell me that she had taken dad to the hospital again, or worse. Over the Memorial Day weekend, we again traveled to Iowa, and spent the weekend in the hospital with our family. Dad had been admitted again for a racing heart. We as a family began to demand answers, and were told that none of the doctors that had been treating him had any idea what to do. Liahna was born on May 28, so we always celebrate her birthday during the Memorial Day weekend. I remember my dad asking for three pieces of birthday cake. My dad loved his sweets – and good cake was one of his favorites.
In June during yet another hospital visit, doctors told mom and dad that during a routine check, they had found that he had a diseased colon and thought that they had caught it early enough to be able to treat it with antibiotics. Mom learned to administer the antibiotic IVs and they traveled to California for a grand daughter’s graduation. After the celebration, they arrived safely home. A few days later, they were given the unfortunate news that the antibiotics had not worked, and colon surgery was strongly recommended.
In late June, I flew to New York City for a work trip. The same day, my father underwent his surgery. His doctor felt good about the surgery. I took the doctor at his word, and continued to live out the business of my work and ministry life. We planned to be in Iowa during the second week of July for my brother’s wedding. We were sure that dad would be up and around in time for the wedding, so Vicki & I had decided to go ahead with our 4th of July plans to spend the weekend in Willmar. We had enjoyed the day, and then came the dreaded call. Here is portion of a letter I wrote as part of dad’s eulogy:
Dear Dad, We had had a great day, and several of us had gathered to pray, just to say thanks. Along the way, one of us prayed for you. We asked that God would strengthen both you and mom. We knew that you had eaten on Thursday, so we thought things were looking up. And then Liahna said that she heard Vicki’s phone ringing. Vicki hurried over to answer the call. Suddenly, I knew things weren’t right. She hung up and said to all of us that they had just called a code blue on you, and said something about CPR. I immediately said that we had to go. We needed to drive to Iowa. A few minutes later I was talking to Jeff, and asked him to explain to me what was happening. He gave us what he knew, and said that he did not think you were going to make it. Suddenly, the driving became all the more urgent. I wanted the car to grow wings so that we go faster. And then Jeff called back with two words, “He’s gone.” I was quiet for a moment and Jeff asked if I was still there. I said yes, and that we would be to Iowa as soon as we could.
So I had missed being there for my dad as he passed into the presence of the Lord he loved so much. Finally we arrived at the hospital. I remember hurrying up the third floor where my father was. I walked into his room, wanting desperately to see the rise and fall of his chest. Surely he was just in a deep sleep. I leaned close to listen. There was no breath, my father was really gone.
We set about to plan his funeral. The day arrived, and on my 42nd birthday, July 10, after a grand celebration of his life, we buried my father. And then two days later on Saturday, we celebrated my brother’s wedding.
Life continued upon our return to Minnesota. Not long after I returned, I began to hear rumblings of some financial turmoil at Teen Challenge. I had been working on preparing myself and our family for the next step of our life, and Vicki & I had begun to earnestly seek God’s best for the best direction for our family. We had opened up our search and to the possibility of God calling us to move.
In late August, the most dreaded of circumstances in an organization such as Teen Challenge raised its ugly head. Heroin and Cocaine had made their way into our facility through the deception of a student who had us all fooled. The drugs were purchased by another student who created a deadly mixture of these two drugs called speed balling and began to inject the drugs into his veins sometime on Labor Day. The next morning, I was called at home that this student had been found near death in his room by one of my staff, that paramedics been called, and that our nurse was not at all sure that he would make it.
In September, the staff were gathered and we were told that the organization was facing a serious financial shortfall, and that we should not be surprise if our administrator had to make some “difficult decisions.” In late September the lead donor to Teen Challenge, a man who had given millions to the organization, was taken into custody and accused of various serious financial crimes. His funds dried up, and ultimately, 23 of us were let go. I left Teen Challenge on October 2.
I told you all of that in order to lead up to my very personal response to our text of the morning. You see, the last several months have had several dark moments, and have been as difficult as I have faced. I have lain prostrate before the Lord seeking his direction for my life. I have had many sleepless nights. On the Friday after Thanksgiving, I awoke around 3:00 AM in the throes of a full out panic attack. I was utterly terrified. I recognized it later as a demonic attack. During this experience, I questioned everything about my life. I questioned my call and wondered about my salvation. I ran through every possible worst case scenario for how my job loss would affect our family. And I churned with all of these fears for several hours. During
several of the days since, I have had difficulty overcoming a deep sense of discouragement. I have struggled with my prayer and devotional life. I have struggled to sense God’s presence.
And I have been reminded over and over of the words that I used to say to the men I ministered to. I would often say to them during times of their discouragement that often the greatest blessing comes after the darkest and hardest of circumstances. I told them that God sometimes has to take us through times of purging in order to remove things from our life that were blocking his free access to our hearts. I had told them that they had to be patient with the process. I had also preached to them about the very words of James that we are considering this morning. And now, all of those words have come to roost in my own life.
As you have heard, I have had a hard time counting this trial as pure joy. I have had a hard time seeing the value of having my faith tested. I am not enjoying the development of my perseverance, my maturity and my character. However, in the midst of the anxiety and fear that I have felt, I have been reminded that I need to ask God for wisdom.
[This is the fourth key instruction necessary to turn trials into triumph, found in verses five to eight...]
V. “If we lack wisdom, we should ask God” James 1:5-8
- He has promised to give wisdom generously
- And He will not scold us for making such a request
- In 1 Kings 3:7-12 we learn that Solomon’s request for wisdom was well-pleasing to God
A. What exactly is this “wisdom”?
1. We should be careful to distinguish “wisdom” from “knowledge”
a. Knowledge involves information, facts, etc.
b. Wisdom is the ability or insight to properly use those facts in the
best way
B. The wisdom to properly use trials and turn them into triumph can come through a right attitude toward prayer…
1. Believing that God gives us the best answer
a. An answer comes when we pray, God may say no, he may say wait, he
may say yes, let’s go.
God desires to give us the best answer – In his book on prayer, O. Hallesby says that God is not going to say yes to a silver medal prayer when he has a gold medal answer.
CONCLUSION
- “Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds” – 1:2
- “…because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance – 1:3
- “Perseverance must finish its work – 1:4
- “If we lack wisdom, we should ask God”- 1:5-8
1. So here are the key truths to turning trials into triumph:
a. Remember that that adversity can accomplish much good
b. Let the patient endurance of adversity accomplish its work
c. All the while, use the wisdom God gives in answer to prayer to help
put it all together
2. When this is done, even trials can be a source of joy for the
Christian!
