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James 1:2-8 – Turning Trials Into Triumphs

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 4^th 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 42^nd 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!

Lectio Divina – Job, Part Four

Scripture

Job 10:1-3

1 “I loathe my life;
I will give free utterance to my complaint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to God, Do not condemn me;
let me know why you contend against me.
3 Does it seem good to you to oppress,
to despise the work of your hands
and favor the designs of the wicked? (ESV)

Observation

Job is here being very honest with the state of his life, and he decides to give free reign to his complaints. It was from the bitterness of his soul that his complaints came forth.

He is again asking God to not condemn him, and he asks why God is contending against him.

Job also challenges God, in effect calling him out, suggesting that God enjoys oppressing and despising his creation – and that he favors the wicked!

Application

I wonder if Job as a book is included in the scriptures to remind us that God values straight talk, that he wants us to speak honestly with him. Job’s words border on insolence. He speaks from a bitter soul. Perhaps later in the book God will set Job in his place. But for now, Job is speaking with a firmness that reflects a frustration over his circumstances.

Lectio Divina – Job, Part Four

Scripture

Job 7:20-21

20 If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind?
Why have you made me your mark?
Why have I become a burden to you?
21 Why do you not pardon my transgression
and take away my iniquity?
For now I shall lie in the earth;
you will seek me, but I shall not be” (ESV).

Observation

Job here asks some direct questions of the almighty.

He starts by asking, “really, what do I matter to you? I am small, you are big.”

Job then asks why God has made him his mark and why he has become a burden to God.

Finally, Job asks God why he won’t forgive his iniquities.

Application

I chose these verses this morning because there are times when God seems terribly silent, when we cry out for answers and none seem to come. We sometimes may feel that we are being targeted for some reason. And then we may feel that in our asking for relief and for answers, we become a burden to God.

Prayer

Lord, I pray believing that you will hear me. I want to be a believer in your goodness and in your desire to give us the best life, the one that will be most honorable to you. Please hear me, and respond by showing us in a tangible way that you care about us. Amen.

Lectio Divina – Job, Part Three

Scripture

21 For you have now become nothing;
you see my calamity and are afraid.
22 Have I said, ‘Make me a gift’?
Or, ‘From your wealth offer a bribe for me’?
23 Or, ‘Deliver me from the adversary’s hand’?
Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the ruthless’?

24 “Teach me, and I will be silent;
make me understand how I have gone astray (ESV).

Observation

Job here seems to be challenging his friends who have come to sympathize with him. He says, “For you have become nothing; you see my calamity and are afraid.”

Is Job calling out his friends and asking them to be brave alongside, or for for him? Job then asks a series of questions regarding delivery from evil.

In verse 24, Job calls out to God, and he seems to be asking for vindication. “Teach me, and I will be silent, make me understand how I have gone astray.”

Application

Job’s words here remind me to be brave in the face of tough times. We are not to shrink back in the face of opposition, rather we are to allow ourselves to be taught. One other note, I think it is interesting that Job calls on God to show him where he has gone astray. Perhaps this also should be part of our response to difficulties.

Lectio Divina – Job, Part Two

Scripture

Job 3:1

“After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.”

(ESV)

Observation

Right on the heels of Job’s, “…blessed be the name of the Lord” in chapter 1, Satan again comes before the Lord and declares that the only reason Job has maintained his integrity is because the Lord has not allowed Satan to attack his physical body. God then agreed to allow Satan to inflict Job, only withholding Satan’s right to kill him. According to Job 2:7 “…Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.” And according to Job 2:12 When his friends “saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven.”

After this come the words of 3:1 and then a chapter full of his words cursing his birth.

Application

Here is a man from whom everything has been taken. And here he is cursing the day he was born. And God allowed it! Satan came before God and, in effect, challenged him to a dual. God presented one of his saints, allowing Satan to anything short of taking his life. Job honestly struggled with God’s goodness in the face of his circumstances.

I am honestly not sure how to apply this book at this point. For now, I will take Job’s honest statement of his feeling to heart. God is capable, and willing to hear difficult words that come from an honest soul.

Prayer

Lord, there are many times in life where we don’t understand the injustices of life. We don’t understand why things happen the way they do. At this point, I am holding on to Job’s honesty as an example for me. I commit to giving you my whole heart, frustrations and all when I pray. Amen.

Lectio Divina – Job, Part One

Scripture: Job 1:8 & 21

8 And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”

21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

(ESV)

Observation

Job is an interesting book in many ways. It is an interesting study in the interplay of good and evil. It will be good for me to consider the book in light of current circumstances, and in light of the loss of my father over the summer.

Job was a righteous man, with great wealth and children who apparently weren’t so righteous.

One day, “the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.” The Lord asks him where he has come from, and after Satan answers, he asks him to consider his servant Job, whom he knows to be righteous. Satan accepts God’s challenge and causes calamity to befall Job’s household. Everything that would seem to be important to Job from an earthly standpoint is taken from him.

In verse 21, Job responds to the calamities with faith: All that has been given to him is of the Lord anyway. “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Application

There are a lot of ways to apply these verses. First, I see the Lord suggesting Job to Satan. There are a lot of theological questions that one could get into here, but that would take a lot longer that I want to take just now. For my purposes in this post, I am going to concentrate on the righteousness of Job. The Lord obviously had confidence in the righteousness of Job. I suppose this confidence had  been built over a long period of time. Job had demonstrated his willingness to walk in obedience to his God.

In verse 21, I see Job choosing to trust God in even the most difficult of circumstances. Job’s faith in the goodness of God was rooted in his not finding his worth in his worldly possessions, and in his understanding that all gifts come from God anyway, and so if possessions are taken away, God does not change, nor should our view of him change.

Prayer

Lord, I do not understand Job, or the verses I have recorded. I do not understand God giving Job’s circumstances over someone whom he knew would bring destruction into his life. I do have some sense of Job’s response to the turmoil in his life. He held loosely to his possessions, and to his family (not sure how to thing about this point). His response at this point points toward a deep commitment to the goodness of God that supercedes the circumstances of his life. Job held onto past experiences of God’s goodness to give him faith for future grace. Job’s faith transcended his circumstances.

Lord, in the the midst of my time of loss, please remind me often of your goodness and help me to stay rooted in the believe that you want the best for me, no matter my current circumstances, and help me to believe always in your goodness.

Amen

Transforming Spirituality – Part Two

Think back to the various ways that spirituality was defined in the previous post. The question that I personally ask when I think about spirituality is, “What difference does it make?” I am not much interested in pursuing a spirituality that does not make a difference in my life. Much of what passes as spirituality in America makes no real difference either in the life of the individual or in society. I will argue in this second post that we need to pursue a transforming spirituality.
The sort of change that I hope spirituality will encourage is second order change that includes a complex transformation that happens in the core of our being. Many will settle for first order change, which is primarily behavioral. This comes from page 18 of

Transforming Spirituality: Integrating Theology and Psychology ISBN: 080102823X ISBN-13: 9780801028236

It may be helpful to unpack this idea a bit. In my most recent ministry, I worked with chronic addicts. Their addictions led to some extremely negative behaviors that needed to be addressed. And we addressed the behavior in a variety of ways.
This addressing of behavior is asking the students to make first order change. We want them to correct bad behavior. The problem is that if change is only behavioral, they may revert back to negative behavior when the pressure is on.

And so, we seek second order change. Second order change is asking people to enter into a process that can lead them to a 180º turn in their lives. In Romans 12:2 Paul writes that we are to be transformed by the renewal of our mind. Paul suggests that what we are after is change into another form.

What we are after in spiritual transformation is not unlike the metamorphosis that happens when a caterpillar becomes a butterfly.

Transforming Spirituality – Part One

On May 7, 2008, I had the distinct privilege of presenting a training session on the topic of Transforming Spirituality. I thought I would take several posts to present the contents of this training. The training was presented in three sessions during one afternoon in a context where the focus of ministry is in assisting people with chronic addictions to find recovery and wholeness in their lives through the work of Christ on their behalf.

We live in a culture that sees “spirituality” as a great thing. It is in vogue to have a sense of spirituality in our lives. We all know about celebrity spirituality: Madonna and Cabala, John Travolta and Tom Cruise espouse Scientology, Richard Gere is a follower of the Dalai Lama’s brand of Buddhism, Oprah Winfrey has chosen a new age Jesus to believe in, and of course recent presidential candidates have espoused Mormonism and various forms of Christian belief.
“What is spirituality?” In reality, the answers to this question are about as numerous as those who provide an answer. One author came up with over 100 definitions that existed in various other writings. Spirituality is notoriously difficult to define. Lucy Bergman asks, “Who has not heard the term ’spirituality’ used recently, in contexts where its exact meaning is left deliberately open-ended, hard to pin down, and obscure?” She goes on to write, “Yet, wherever it is used, eyes light up, people respond with positive remarks about its importance, and we all feel better. Spirituality is in; it is acceptable to be spiritual. But what difference does it make? This is the real test.
I am not much interested in pursuing a spirituality that does not make a difference in my life. Much of what passes as spirituality in America makes no real difference either in the life of the individual or in society. I want to argue in the remaining part of this first part that we need to pursue a transforming spirituality.

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