Finding Joy in the Face of Trials

Good morning and Welcome to Stewardship Month. I would like to spend the first few minutes today to talk about Stewardship in general and then we will jump into the specifics of our study for today.

For decades now our church family has stopped and paused during these weeks prior to Thanksgiving to focus on stewardship and then to give thanks for the many ways in which we have been blessed to see God at work through the members of our church and in the ministries of our church.

If you have been with Faith for a number of years now, you may be very familiar with the principles we will discuss, but you also know that we look to apply these principles is different areas each year.

This is not just the month the church talks about money. Stewardship applies to every area of our lives.

As we walk through our Stewardship series, I want you to keep in mind

Four Factors of Stewardship which we find from a study of Luke 16:1-12.

1. God owns everything, you own nothing.

2. God entrusts you with everything you have.

3. You can either increase or diminish what God has given; He wants you to increase it.

4. God can call you into account at any time, and it may be today.

I would encourage you to read and consider Luke 16 in your personal study and as you might have questions, I invite you to reach out to David or I and we can help as you seek to grow in stewarding God’s gifts.

This year, our Stewardship emphasis has been shaped by the times that we have all dealt with for the past year to year and a half. We can look at the impact which the pandemic has had upon our nation as a whole and on our individual lives. I don’t think anyone here could say that they were unaffected by the challenges of these days. Our economy has been impacted, our work has been impacted, our children’s school has been impacted and for many our families have been rocked by health issues and sadly, loss of life as well. At the same time, our nation has walked through social issues that have divided when our goal should be bringing people together in Christ. All that on top of what has impacted each of your lives very personally.

I think we can agree – this has been a challenging year.

That is why when we chose our emphasis for Stewardship month, we did not just go back to recycle a series from 5-7 years ago – but rather we want to spend this month focusing on Stewarding Challenging Times.

Today, we will begin our series looking at

Stewarding Challenging Times by Finding Joy in the face of Trials.

As an encouragement to my heart, and I pray to your as well, I want to share Chris Trent’s testimony before we dig into today’s passage. Chris is the last one who would want to call attention for his own glory. I asked him to share this with our church family, because I have seen how Chris has stewarded challenging times and found joy, not the happiness that we might seek in wanting an easy life, but a joy that overflows because He chooses to hold onto the only sure thing in his life, Jesus Christ.

PLAY CHRIS TRENT VIDEO

Stewarding Challenging Times by Finding Joy in the face of Trials.

Today I want to take us all to a Scripture that can help us all to Find Joy in the face of Trials. If you have studied the Book of James at some time, you may already know where we are going today so that we might hear God’s calling to us to -

James 1:2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,

Please open up to James Chapter 1. In the Bible in the chair in front of you, turn to page 177 in the back section.

As you are turning there - Let’s set the stage by looking at who this letter is written to and for, because that will have an impact on how we view trials.

In the book of Acts, we watch the church begin to grow miraculously in Jerusalem. The gospel is spreading but it is staying in Jerusalem. Remember Jesus’s last words before ascending – He said, “you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8)

The church was growing, I bet there was plenty of joy, but they were not taking the gospel outside Jerusalem – so how did God respond. The day that the disciple Steven was stoned and killed for his faith, Acts 8:1 tells us that “on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria and it says that “those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.” It took a trial to spread the word.

Join me then as we read God’s Word together.

[READ JAMES 1:1-12]

With this passage in mind and a focus of

Stewarding Challenging Times by Finding Joy in the face of Trials.

I would like us to take 3 Steps toward Joy in Challenging Days

In studying this passage, one of the first things that jumped out right in my face was how God begins here. The action “Consider,” does not get used how you or I might use the word.

I might ask you to consider being a cast member in the Living Nativity. In my mind, there is really only one right answer – but I asked you to consider it, to think about it, weigh it with other priorities and then make the best decision for you and your family.

That is not way James begins –

James 1:2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,

Consider it all joy is given with the imperative, the command to Consider it all Joy…

Joy is not a matter of feelings, but it is the result of a choice about how we think about the challenges in our lives.

God is commanding us to find joy when we encounter various trials.

There is also a truth here in the word “when.” Trials are not matter of “if,” but rather “when” we will encounter them. Trials should not surprise us. We live in a world cursed by sin. Trials are one of the consequences of our sin and of the sin all around us.

But then James is just one letter, and it’s a pretty short one, so maybe if I focus other places in God’s word, I can get around this…

that won’t help us escape trials…

Both Paul and Peter echo this command – Paul says to exalt in our tribulations and Peter to rejoice when distressed by various trials…

I am thankful that when we encounter trials of various kinds, the gospel provides all that we need so that we can Consider it all joy

• not just a little bit of joy,

• not just joy when we feel like being joyful,

• We are commanded to Consider it all joy

• Joy when the finances are tight, joy when your health takes a hit, joy when you feel like you are not appreciated at work.

Is that possible for me? I know it was possible for Chris but that’s different.

There are other examples right here in our Faith North Family…

Have you ever looked back to see Emmanuel during worship?

Embed short video of Emmanuel (No sound needed)]

• being a pastoral intern from Nigeria with all the studies, the community center shifts and just simply loving his family on a tight budget – Joy. And I caught him on a calm day…

Emmanuel does not exude joy to draw attention to himself, rather he overflows with joy because of the grace that he has received.

His obedience to God’s command is not a special gift he has been given, but rather it is an example of Stewarding Challenging Times.

Now as I promised earlier – as we are facing various trials, God has given us three steps towards joy in challenging days. And each of these steps begins with God’s actions, not our own..

The first step:

He is making us Perfect/Mature (v. 3-4)

James 1:2-4 - Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

I want to pause and remind us again who James is speaking to here. James is writing to the church, to those who have chosen to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord. That matters here because we have to consider how God may be using trials in your life.

If you are here today and you have not made the choice to follow Christ – God may be using trials in your life for a different purpose that James describes.

• Is God using the trial in your life to get your attention?

• or do you see your trial as a punishment from God for something that you have done.

• The truth – that is not what God’s word would reveal.

• The challenging days you face are just one of the ways God is calling out to you. He allows our trials as a way to get our attention, to show us our sin and to show us our need for Him. It may feel like punishment, but it is not.

• Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death, the debt that we owe cannot be paid through suffering of a trial in this life. Thankfully, my debt has been paid in full on the cross – the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.

Is God trying to get your attention through trials in your life? Do you want to know what it means to be free of that, so that you can find joy even when the trials continue? Pastor David and I are here for you, we will make time for you. Don ‘t leave here with questions. God is calling you to respond.

God has a purpose for trials in the lives of his children as well. God does not use trials for the purpose of breaking us but rather for the purpose of making us perfect and mature and he will do so

By using various trials

We certainly would not choose trials as the means by which God works to make us perfect and mature if we had the option…Commentator Douglas Moo states:

Why does God allow the righteous to suffer? is, indeed, one of the most perplexing and difficult questions that God’s people can ask. James gives no complete answer. But implicit in what James says is a conviction that the suffering of believers is always under the providential control of a God who wants only the best for his people. – Douglas Moo, The Letter of James, PNTC P. 52-53

God has a purpose in trials and it is always for our good, even when it may not feel so good. Exploring Scripture as a whole – we can find that God uses trials in a number of ways

God uses trials to test the strength of our faith

• When Israel was wandering in the desert, grumbling because they had no bread, God provided manna from heaven in the midst of their trial to test the strength of their faith…would they trust that God would provide every day and double for the Sabbath?

God uses trials to reveal what we truly love most.

• Abraham was tested when he was called to sacrifice his only son before God. The trial showed Abraham’s love for God and God blessed that by providing a substitute for the sacrifice.

God also uses trials to keep us humble –

• Paul described it as a thorn in the flesh to keep him from exalting himself.

God may also use trials to help us strengthen the faith of others

• See How Jesus spoke about those who walked with Him in trials…

Luke 22:28-32 “You are the ones who have stood by Me in My trials; and just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to sift you men like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith will not fail; and you, when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

God uses trials in our lives for many purposes – all for our good.

So I would ask you, why do we run from trials?

I want to ask you to consider your response when faced with a trial.

• Do you walk in faith to face the trial considering it all joy or do you turn an run?

• Do I hide from trials by burying myself under work?

• Do I avoid a disagreement simply by ignoring the person with whom I am in conflict?

• Do I run to alcohol or drugs or destructive relationships to cover over the pain that I experience in a trial?

Doing so does not allow God to complete the work He is doing through our trials.

This is the first of many applications in this passage:

• If our response to trials is to run or attempt to cover them over, I want to call you to spend time in prayer asking God to reveal what you are trusting more than you are trusting God.

• And our response is to repent.

To turn from these things and turn to God, allow Him to:

By using testing to produce endurance

As a runner, when I want to produce the endurance that would allow me to complete a marathon, I need to begin mile by mile, allowing work of yesterday’s run to break down my muscles so that as they are rebuilt day by day, they build the endurance so that I can go further and faster on tomorrows run.

In verse 3, James says

James 1:3 – knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance

If I do not complete today’s run, I cannot expect any growth in my endurance for tomorrow.

• Think of this, was it today’s 5 mile run that enabled me to do the next 5 mile run?

• No, at the end of the 5 miler, my muscles are sore and broken and are not ready to go back out. Don’t even think about it.

• It is God’s healing hand upon my muscles that when He rebuilds what I have broken down, He builds my muscles back stronger with more endurance so that I can go back out and run again.

Likewise, it is not my actions in my trials that ultimately prepare me to go through another, but It is God action to produce endurance, endurance that has a purpose.

Endurance leads to maturity

James 1:4 - And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Because endurance is not the goal. The goal is to finish the race.

For a Christian to finish the race is about growing in maturity in Christ.

If our goal as Christians is to mature in our faith, We need to acknowledge that we cannot get there without trials.

Rom 5:3-4 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope

But even knowing these truths, I still have a difficult time choosing trials for myself. Sam Allberry in James For You helped me to see this properly:

“We are not to pretend trials and grief do not hurt us; it is natural and normal that they do, and it would be a denial of our humanity to think that we should be immune to the pains of hardship in our lives and the lives of others…James is saying that it is what God can accomplish through suffering that is good, not the suffering itself. Suffering is an opportunity to gain the most valuable thing on earth.” - Sam Allberry, James For You, p. 15

God’s purpose in my trials is to make me perfect and complete, lacking in nothing, God’s purpose is to conform me to the image of His Son (Rom 8:29)

Will I repent of the ways that I seek to run from my trials and allow God to do his work?

Many days, I just don’t know how to do that, but after James encourages me to embrace my trials he then pushes me to take my second step towards joy in facing trials.

and God is here to provide what I need.

He gives us wisdom (v. 5-8)

Trials are meant to drive us towards God such that we will ask for wisdom. Remember, He is the one who is truly at work. We do not have to feel that in the middle of the trial, this is the time when we have to prove ourselves – God is not asking us to show that we were paying attention in class or that we can do this on our own.

James 1:5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

In fact – like verse 2 and “Consider it all joy,” here in verse 5, Don’t read “Let him ask,” the way we might in conversation where it seems as if there is a choice. “Let Him ask” is a command. “Ask.” God is calling us to ask, because he knows in our own pride, we will not ask on our own.

To not ask is to claim self-reliance, to declare yourself wise. To not ask God for wisdom is disobedience

Again – What do we do with that?

Application #2 - Repent for a prideful heart, Choose to obey God and ask for Wisdom.

And when we do ask…He gives

Generously

Think of it this way: God is a generous giver. He is not tight-fisted with his wisdom the way we might be with our things. Consider the kids that came to the Fall Festival yesterday. We only bought about 14,000 pieces of candy and we really had no idea how many families and kids would come to the festival. So in the first hour, how did we serve those kids? Were we generous?

• What if this was what it had looked like? They came in a great costume, and they joined in on the activities and did a great job, everything we asked of them and then when they asked – we give them one lifesaver. Not a roll, but a single lifesaver.

• What do you think those kids would have thought of us?

God is not stingy like that with His wisdom – one tiny piece of candy for each kid.

• No, He is wonderfully generous.

• Go is not cautious with his gifts,

• in fact he delights to lavish his gifts upon us.

It is not as if God would run out of wisdom and so he needs to hold back.

God gives generously to those who ask.

Not just some who ask, rather He give to all. God’s wisdom is not the perk of the Platinum Christian membership where we had to earn enough points to receive the perk of wisdom. No, if you belong to God, his wisdom, all of his wisdom is for you

And don’t miss that it says that He gives without reproach – When you ask, God does not reply “man you really messed that up again, why can’t you handle this trial by now?” God gives generously to all and without finding fault in the asker.

We are commanded to ask God for the wisdom, and James also exhorts us about how we will ask.

To those who ask in faith

James 1:6-8 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For that person ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, ⁸ being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

An obvious question that can get raised here – Is James saying that genuine faith never doubts?

• No. It is not that we have to have all of our questions answered,

• rather we are called to Trust in God alone, to trust in His character, His purpose and His promises even in the face of questions.

When we unpack what James means by doubts here, the key is how he describes the “doubter” as double minded.

• In the Old Testament, that would have been when Israel doubted God’s protection, so they would make an alliance with the Egyptians hoping they would defend them.

• For us, it is when pray and ask God for wisdom, but at the same time, we hedge our bet and we look to the world.

• Consider when we face a temptation to anxiety, sinful worry. We pray for wisdom. God calls us to trust in Him and lean not on our own understanding. But then, I want to cover up the worry, so I drink so that I do not have to feel the anxiety.

This is like when you are getting into a canoe to go fishing, after loading all of your gear in the boat, you’re doubting whether the boat can hold you. So you put one foot in the boat just to test it and see while trying to keep one foot on the dock, just to be sure. I want to trust the canoe, but I am not willing to let go of the dock. I thin we all know where this picture is heading.

Doing the splits when you are not expecting it is not a pleasant experience which will likely end with you in the water, just what the dock and the canoe were supposed to protect you from.

James is showing us the spiritual equivalent. The double minded doubter – one foot in the kingdom of God, the other in the world. Christian wisdom pulling you one way, the world’s wisdom pulling you the other – the result, the splits and then you are in the water. Asking without doubt, means trusting God for the answer even when we do not have all the answers.

Our final step to finding Joy in challenging times is to keep our focus past the trials and on a great future reward…

He offers us a great future reward (9-12)

Our trials and circumstances can often have the ill effect of drawing our attention and limiting our focus to only that which is right in front of us. James is calling us to look past these things.

It does not help to define ourselves based on our current circumstances because true joy when we are encountering trials is

Better than the pleasures of this life

James 1:9-11 Now the brother or sister of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; but the rich person is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so also the rich person, in the midst of his pursuits, will die out.

Do you find yourself in humble circumstances?

• The conditions in our trials do not define the way in which God views His children.

• In fact, He calls us to glory in our high position.

• The believer in the humblest circumstances is a child of God, sharing in Christ’s heavenly inheritance.

• The trials of today do not represent God’s promises for you.

• When our eyes area fixed past the trial and on the promise – we can consider it all joy.

James flips it as well with a warning for the rich person when trials come. For the rich Christian, no matter how much wealth they have and how great their standing is in the eyes of the world, the gospel is deeply and irreversibly humbling. They have had to acknowledge before God that however rich they are materially, they are utterly bankrupt spiritually. They are only a Christian because God has been generous, not because of any of their own achievements or accumulations. Spiritually, they have what they have because God has shown them grace.

No matter our circumstances – our need is the same.

Looking at the whole picture today

• When we allow faith to produce endurance

• And for endurance to have its perfect result – that we might be perfect and complete

• When we ask and receive God generous gift of Wisdom

He offers the ultimate prize for those who endure…

For all who persevere under trial

James 1:12 - Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

God is calling us to Steward the challenging Time

He is calling us to find joy

We can increase it or we can decrease it – He wants us to increase our Joy in the face of our trials.