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Aug 04, 2024

Walking Out Faith in Trials

Walking Out Faith in Trials

Passage: James 1:1-8

Speaker: Matt Petty

Series: Faith in Action

Category: Sunday Sermons

Keywords: church, faith, jesus, wisdom, god, sermon, christian, bible, christ, gospel, hope, sermons, peace, victory, questions, rest, james, perspective, trials, patience, jesus christ, lord, christianity, bible study, trust god, inspirational, prayers, overcome, hard times, book of james, study the bible, motivational, navigating life, bible teaching, believing in god, christian motivation, burnt hickory worship, burnt hickory baptist church live stream, christian inspiration, walking out faith, applied faith, pratical steps

Today, we begin our new sermon series through the book of James. Struggling to find joy and strength amid life's trials affects us all. We'll discover how we can walk out our faith during difficult times and how our perspective, patience, and prayers can deepen our relationship with God and transform our lives. This series teaches us how to embrace challenges with joy, allowing God to shape us and grow our faith. Come discover how to find strength, wisdom, and peace as we navigate life's most challenging moments together.

 

Well, good morning, church. Based on the parking lot, the hallways, and this room, let me just say welcome back from Summer. Welcome back to the chaos. Welcome back to this semester of ministry. Today is a big day in the life of the church. There are a couple of different reasons for that. Number one is that our ministry year starts in August. We line up with the school year. So today is promotion Sunday. Promotion Sunday is for all of you who are not adults. If you are an adult, there's only one way to promote for you. Amen. You know what I'm talking about. And that is, you're no longer with us. But if you are in school, today's promotion Sunday. You kind of joined a new group today, and we're thankful for that. It's also the start of a new ministry season for us. And you're going to see all the stuff coming up for that. But today is also kind of back to school on Sunday. If you are in this community on Thursday or Friday, it is almost like somebody flipped the switch for traffic. Amen. It was crazy. Around here, I think it took some families over 40 minutes to get to school in about six miles this week. But it was an incredible week. But I want to do something this morning. To start the year off. Can't think of a better way to start a ministry and a school season off than just to start it in a time of prayer today. I want to recognize two different groups that I want to pray for specifically. Number one is all of our school teachers, all of our school teachers, all of our school administrators, all of our president and CEO of the homeschool corporations of America. I want to recognize all of you today, and I just want to recognize and pray for all our Life Group leaders today. Since it's kind of a new season of ministry, this is what I want to do. And I know you hate this, but it's okay. We're going to do it quickly. If you are in either one of those categories, if you're a school teacher administrator, if you run the homeschool at your house, or if you are a LifeGroup leader, would you do me a favor real quick? Would you just stand? Because we want to pray for you today. We want to pray for and over you guys in the room. Incredibly, incredibly important moment to do that. So, let's just lift them up in prayer, can we? Lord Jesus, today, God, we recognize that we are stepping into a new and fresh season of ministry. God, for these school teachers and administrators. God, I just pray that you give them wisdom. You give them discernment. You give them the boldness to stand in the gap for you, Lord Jesus. There's such an impact on the student's lives that are under their care. Lord I, I just ask that you help them see ways that they can stand for you. See ways that they can speak into the lives of moldable minds. What it looks like to stand as a believer in Jesus. And God, I just pray that you give them the ability to come behind the hurting. Lord, walk with them and encourage them this week. God, also for our Life Group leaders here, Lord Jesus, I pray the same for them. Lord, give them the ability to connect, to teach, and to come behind and encourage those that are in their groups to do life together. God, not just for our sake, but so that, as a group, we can impact this community and this world. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for loving us. Thank you for this next season of ministry. And Lord Jesus, we already praise you for the great and mighty things which you're going to do. It's in your name we pray. Amen. Amen.

You guys can have a seat. Well, welcome to church. And with that new season of ministry today, I want you to join me in the book of James. And the book of James is in the New Testament. It's grouped together with all those letters towards the back. The book of James today; if you're new to Burn Hickory, let me say this before we jump in. If you're new to Burn Hickory, our goal here as part of worship is that every Sunday, our goal is to open the Word of God, to read the Word of God, and just expose, in the best way we can, we should expose the practical principles and the truths of God's Word. Not just to expose them for knowledge's sake, but to ask God through them, God, how can you change my life through this? How can you help me love you? How can you help me love others? And how can you help me walk out my faith? Man, I'm telling you that is our main goal when we open the Word of God every week, okay? That's what we do. Sometimes, we do that in series where we kind of take topics, and we bounce around topically where we are. Sometimes, we do that by just diving incredibly deep into a specific book for a specific season of life. That's what we're doing this fall. This fall, from now to about, God willing, the 1st of November, all right? We are going to look at this incredibly practical letter called James, and we're going to look at this huge theme of my faith moving in action. What does it look like for me not to just have a faith that I proclaim but a faith that is walked out? That's where we're going to go over these next weeks. We're going to take some breaks on some specific Sundays. But so that you know, that's where we're going to be hanging out.

Now, before we get into the letter, I want to talk about the author for a minute because it helps us understand the whys behind what he is saying. James is the author of this letter. I know it's profound, right? That's profound. But James is the half-brother of Jesus. Now, that can confuse you if you don't know what that means. I say half-brother because James and Jesus share the same mother but not the same father. Not the same father. You say, okay, Matt, tell me about this. Where is this going? All right. Joseph is James's father. And Jesus was miraculously given to Mary to be our Savior. All right? Are you tracking with me right there? That's how it works. That's how we say that they are half brothers and sisters, or brothers of each other. They have different fathers but the same mother. You say, well, okay, Matt. Tell me about this guy named James. Is he just kind of pop up and write a letter, or do we know anything about him? Now, we know a pretty good bit about James. We see him as we track through the Gospels a little bit. In fact, one day, when they were describing who Jesus is in Matthew 13, verse 55, it says this about Jesus. It says, isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother's name Mary, and aren't those his brothers? James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? Aren't all his sisters with us? Now, some of you grew up in a tradition that kind of says that none of that was right, but we clearly read it in the Bible. You don't have to have a theology degree to see that James was the brother of Jesus. And if you track through the Gospels, he's mentioned often in the Gospels. But there are two things about James that kind of stick out to me in my mind that are just kind of relevant to where we're going in this series. The first thing about James that sticks out is that, according to John chapter seven, this is early in Jesus's ministry, John chapter of John chapter seven, we see that James, as well as the rest of his brothers, sisters, and mom, really had a hard time at first believing that James, that Jesus was the Messiah. Now, when we see that, it's kind of hard for us to grasp a little bit. You're like, what do you mean you had a hard time? What do you mean you didn't understand it? Why would that be hard? It's hard for us to grasp at first, but not really when you think about it. You see, let me ask you this question. What if you were Jesus's brother or sister? Right? What if you were one of the siblings? What if you had to share a bedroom with Jesus? What if you woke up every single morning to stinky little adolescent Jesus, right? What if you looked at ten-year-old, lanky little Jesus, awkwardly living life and said, I mean, would you automatically just fall into the category and go, yep, that's the creator of the world? No, it would be tough, right? It would be hard. You've got to think that there was just this level of animosity, maybe even this level of jealousy, probably this level of skepticism. I mean, think about it. How many times with Joseph, the dad of the group, right? How many times would he'd look at the rest of these little rugrats and go, why can't you just be more like Jesus, right?

Why can't you be more perfect like him? But as they grow up, you'll see that they struggle. In Mark chapter three, they try to drag Jesus away from doing ministry one time because they just really don't understand who he is. But something happened later in Jesus's ministry. And especially we see it clearly after Jesus rose that Joseph, I mean, that, that he met Jesus, that James met Jesus. In fact, first Corinthians 15 seven says this. It says that then he, Jesus, appeared to James and all the other apostles. And then we even see later on that at some point when, when James gave his life to the Lord that, he was all in, we see Galatians 1:18 where it says, After three years I, Paul says, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephus, and I stayed with him 15 days, and I saw none of the other apostles. Only James, the Lord's brother. But you got to know that something happened in between not trusting who Jesus is and trusting who Jesus is. There was an incredibly big day in the life of James. Now, I said there were two things that kind of stand out for why I love James, and that's the first one. I mean, think about it with me just for a minute. On a practical level, what would it take for you to believe that your sibling is the Savior of the world? I mean, but if you did, think about how big of a proof that was that Jesus is really who he said he was. Well, James meets Jesus, and James falls so in love with Jesus that he becomes the leader of the Church of Jerusalem. And then he writes this letter that we're going to spend some time on, incredibly, diving into these truths. He wrote this letter around 45 to 50 A.D., about ten years after, 12 years after Jesus rose from the dead. And he writes this letter to show us these practical application steps, these pithy little sayings that really speak to us and say, here's how you walk out your faith. Do you know what I love the most about James? Is he doesn't hold back. If he thinks it, he just says it. And I think that's how a lot of us live. So, here's what we're going to do. Today, in this message, we're going to look at three principles of walking out our faith, even in the trials of life. We're going to jump into the text, and I'm going to pause and give you three little practical steps as we go. Here we go. James, chapter one, let's jump into the book, says this: James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the 12 tribes scattered among the nations. What does he say? He says, Greetings. He says hello. Now, at the beginning of the book, I love it. Why? Do you remember I said there were two things I love about James?

One is that it took him a while to meet Jesus, but once he did, he was all in. The second thing that I love about James is what he just did right in this text. Here's the second interesting thing about James. It's that he never plays the I'm the brother of Jesus card. I mean, think about it. Let's be honest with each other for a minute. If you were writing this book, or if I was writing this book, and you were the brother of Jesus, you got to admit that would be your leading statement. Amen? I mean, it would be my leading statement of everything I ever did. I would never not say, hey, you know, my brother Jesus, right? Every restaurant I have ever been to, I would be like, hey, I'm part of the family. Right? Let me in. Every job interview, Hey, my brother Jesus did this. Every Bible study I led, I would just say, Hey, I remember when I was ten, I was laying in the bed with Jesus, and he told me this. And you need to listen to it. Right? But what did James do? James didn't do that. How did how did he refer to himself? Man, I love this. He simply says, we just read it. Right? He simply says, Hey, I'm James. And I'm a servant of the King. I'm a servant of Jesus. Look, this is not in the notes, but, but, but, but, but I want to show you what I thought this week about this. Do you know what that taught me this week and how it was pressed into my soul? It taught me that no matter what my upbringing is, no matter who my family is, no matter what my family status is, no matter what my skills are, listen to me closely. None of us are beyond being a servant of Jesus. None of us. None of us are beyond lifting up the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Listen closely, and that should be the most definable aspect of our life. James could have stood up right here and said, hey, I'm James, and my bro is Jesus. You better for sure listen to me, churches. But he didn't. What did he do? He said, I am James, and I'm defined firstly as a servant of Jesus. Let me ask you a question. How are you serving Jesus? How are you serving Jesus? Are you serving him and your family? Are you serving him in this church? Are you serving him in your schools? Are you serving him at your workplace? Or let me just do this. Are you just trying to rest on and lean on the fact that I'm in the family, and that should be enough? You should just bless me. You see, believers, listen to me. I think for some of us, that's where we live our lives. We think, yeah, I'm in the family. I don't need to do anything else. Yeah, I'm in the family. I'm just going to go and do whatever. Yeah, I'm in the family, and I'll let other people serve me.

James says, no, no, no. I'm James, and I'm a servant of God. Let me reread verse one. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings. Now, James is writing this letter not to a particular person, city, or church, but he's writing to all believers. The whole big C church. All these Jewish Christians have been scattered from their homeland and are now living in a place where it's hard to be a Christian. That's who his immediate audience is. But secondly, you gotta also see James is also writing this letter to you. He's writing it to me. He's writing it to all Christians.

Why? Because this letter, it was written to the post-resurrection church. It was written for a group of people who live in a culture that is hostile to the gospel. It's written to a group of people who say that they have faith with their mouths but are struggling to walk that faith out with their lives. He's writing it to a group of people who are struggling to live the gospel out, love their neighbor, and love God in the midst of trials and tests.

And he's writing it to a group of people who are just absolutely called to be God's children. Church, I don't know the last time you checked on who you are, but that's who we are. We're every one of those things. And on top of that, his immediate audience is Jews. But now, God's Church is his chosen people. We are not physically separated from our homeland, but we are spiritually separated from our home in eternity in heaven with the Savior. This book is written for you. It's written for you. So, what did James do? James goes, Hey, Hello. We're all in this together. So, let's learn about God's mercy, grace, and truth, even in the middle of trials. In fact, look at verse two. Watch what he says. He says this. James says, consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

Now, let's talk about the text, and I'll give you the point in a minute to summarize it, okay? What did James say? James says, hey, consider, maybe you memorized it as a kid; count it pure joy. All right? That's how I remember memorizing it as a kid. He says; Consider the count of pure joy when you go through trials. Now, for them, it was the fact that they were physically separated from their home. They were spiritually and physically persecuted. That was them. But for us, I don't know what your trial is. Maybe your trial is health. Maybe your trial is relationships. Maybe your trial is, even this past week, something happened in your job and in your career that crushed you. Maybe your trial is finances this week. Maybe your trial is that you've got a kid that has completely gone off the rails this week. I don't know. But James says, hey, listen, when you walk through these things, now this sounds really weird, but listen to what he says. He says see them as joy or joyful moments. Because God; listen closely to me church, God does some of his biggest and greatest work in the middle of trials. And they always produce good. But here's what I know. Here's what I know about you, and here's what I know about me. It's the fact that we hate tests. I mean, honestly, we hate them. Can I get an amen from all the students? We hate tests. Except for that one weird kid in every class, right? We hate them. Don't raise your hand. We hate them. But stay with me for a minute and let's think about tests because this is important. Tests do two things in our lives. They show us where our lack of knowledge is about something. That's what they're for, right? They show us, push us, and give us an opportunity to gain more knowledge about something. I mean, let's be honest. If there were no tests in school, would you really do the deal? Right? No. You would do nothing, and you would coast through. But that's exactly what James is saying about trials and tests. He's saying that's what they do to us. He's saying that the trials that we face show us the weak spots in our lives, and they show us and give us opportunities to grow in our faith and prepare us for our heavenly home. Now, this is way different from how most of us see tests and trials, isn't it? Most of us are going, oh, God is just punishing me, and God's just acting out his wrath on me, and God's doing, whatever, fill in the blank for you. But no, no, that's not always the case. Most of the time, God is giving us an opportunity to show us where we lack in faith and give us even more steps in his direction so that we are fully prepared when we step into eternity to know the one we're going to spend the rest of our eternal lives with. Man, I love this. Think about it. How in the world would we ever know how strong our faith is if we never had an opportunity for our faith to be tested? How in the world would we know how our faith is real if it's never tested? How do we know if our faith is growing if it is never tested?

I love how Tim Keller says it, and I agree with him. Listen to this. He says this, and I quote, "One of the main ways we move from an abstract knowledge," that’s just mental knowledge, "about God to a personal encounter with him as a living reality is through the furnace of affliction." Now, here's our first Sunday back quote, right? "Through the furnace of affliction". Really, I want to be honest with you. There are so many thoughts and so many facts about God that we have in our mind about God that will never become a true reality until our soul suffers and walks through trials, seeing how God delivers us from them. And some of you know exactly what I'm talking about. It's the moments of trials and tests that God becomes even more real in our lives. God becomes even more powerful in our lives, and God becomes even better and even more loving. But that's not the perspective many of us grew up hearing and thinking, is it? Some of us grew up thinking, oh man, if anything is going wrong in your life - You must be (fill in the blank). But listen, we're told all the way through Scripture that from when sin hit the earth, there's going to be trials. There's going to be tests. But take heart. The one in which we can save the world is walking in the test with us. These tests make us even stronger in the hope of the next life. Can I tell you one of the things that living in an affluent world has done to us? You said, well, I'm not affluent. Yes, you are. You're here. You're in this community. You're affluent by world centers. Do you know what it has done to us? It has made us look at this instant affluent society and crave it more than having to struggle through life and crave the one that is to come. And what Jesus is saying, or what James is saying here, is he's saying, listen, listen. You need to see that even in the middle of these trials in life, God wants to move in you. And how you see these trials makes a difference. In fact, write the first principle down, and then I'll explain it. It'll clear some of this up. Number one. It's our perspective in trials that opens the door for God to teach us in the trials. So, Matt, what does that mean? That means this. If we go into the trial with spite, if we go into it with anger, if we go into it with this idea of, I'm so mad at you, God, then God cannot begin to mold us into where he wants us. Look at the perspective change that James says. James says, consider or count it pure joy when you go through trials. Joy is not the typical response of trials. Amen? It's just not. What do we normally feel? We feel angry. We feel scared, and we feel questioned. Especially when we feel like we don't deserve the trial, right? I mean, we feel despair, right? We feel things like, man, how is this ever going to change? How come I'm the only one that does this? God, why will they never come home? When is my break going to come? When will I find my soulmate? When will the fertility treatments work? God, how come everybody else has this, and I don't? Or what even feels worse in the trials sometimes, we feel like God has just completely gone silent in them. And no matter what I do, I feel like he doesn't even hear me. I think you know exactly what I'm saying, don't you? Look, what is he saying right here? James is saying, hey, I know it sounds weird. Find it joyful in the trials. Why? Let me read it to you again. Verse two. Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds. Why? Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. It produces something. So, what is God doing in the middle of the trial? He's teaching you even more who he is. He's preparing you even more for who he is. He's showing you even more what you can be for him. So, instead of seeing trials as a time when God is punishing me, let's change our perspective. Let's see them as a moment and a time when we can lean even more into his presence. Hello! This is easy to preach, but it's hard to live. Amen? It is. Let me give you a personal example that maybe can bring some of you back in because you just checked out. All right, here it is. About, about six years ago, about six years ago. I had a crazy little spot on my chest, went to the dermatologist, and found out it was melanoma. Amen? Is anybody else in the melanoma crowd here? There it is. Well, they shaved it off; I thought, well, good. They got rid of it. I'm glad we're done with this deal. They're like, oh no, no, no, that's not how things work in the melanoma world. Right? Scheduled the surgery. Had a big old surgery and took a big old lump about the size of a softball out of my chest. During that, I found out that the melanoma had spread to my lymph nodes. Stage three melanoma, in about a week and a half. My life went from everything is awesome to what in the world is going on. But along with that, now I had the surgery. Then, I had to start the treatments. Amen? Does anybody ever have to walk through these guys? I spent a year in the cancer lab at Wellstar; if you're listening to this, you guys need to do something about that place. It's the most miserable place on earth. Right? A year in the cancer lab. Like every third week in the cancer lab. And I'm going to tell you this, and I'm, I'm just going to bear it all. I'm going to be honest with you. Listen, I'm normally a usually positive person. I'm normally a forward-looking person, but these moments destroyed me. They destroyed me. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to say. I didn't even know how to speak about it.

I mean, I faked it pretty well. Because that's what you do when you're the pastor, right? And you're struggling, right? But here's what I want to say in the middle of all this. Somehow, I don't know how. Somehow, in the middle of cancer treatments, the God of grace, the God of joy, the God of peace, became bigger and sweeter in my life than he had in my full existence of walking with health. Now, look, I don't know how. I don't even know how to put it into words. I mean, I probably should. It's my job. Amen? I don't know how to say it. But I can say this. I had a chance at that moment to either turn bitter, to turn away from God, or to use it as a perspective of God. Where are we, and where are we going? And when that happened - God. I'm telling you, God. How? I don't know. God was like, Matt, it's me and you no matter where this goes. Church, that's the perspective that James is saying. That's how we have joy in the middle of the crazy moment. I got to thinking this week about a biblical example of this. You can read this week that I got to thinking about it. I love it. First Samuel 16. The prophet Samuel comes in to anoint David as King, right? He does it, pours the oil on his head, turns around, and he skipped town. That's it. That's all he does. He leaves him for seven years. Nothing happened in David's life. Nothing. Not a word. We don't see anything about it. In between verse three and verse four of first Samuel 16, we see nothing happened except for seven years pass. If you want to read it this week. I mean, what would that feel like? To just have God kind of go silent in your life. What would it feel like to be in the dark like that in your life?

But here's the deal. When you read David's life, for the rest of his life, it was during those seven years that God taught him how to use a slingshot. Even better, amen, Goliath? God taught him how to fight a lion out in the middle of nowhere and killed it. Amen? He had to fight a lot of people. God taught him that God was sweeter than anything else that was going on that he was walking through. In fact, it's during that time he gave him Psalm 23, verse four, where he said, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for your rod, you, you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemy. You anoint my head with oil, and my cup overflows. Surely, your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. It was in those moments of silence. It was in those moments of despair that God spoke and made him who he was. Listen, church, we must train ourselves and our thinking to be different. We need to have a different perspective, a heavenly perspective, and an attitude of joy, even in the moments when it seems like life is crashing down on us. There is a good and sovereign God who promises you that, maybe not in this life, but for eternity, he's got you. He's got you. Number one. In trials, listen; our perspective is what opens the door. So, you can enter them bitter. You can enter them ashamed. You can enter them in the comparison game. Or you can enter them as, hey, God, I'm your child. How are we going to walk this together? So that's number one. But let's keep going; that's not it. Number two, or I mean number two. Look at this, verse four. Watch what he says. He says, let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature; here it is, complete and not lacking in anything. So, Matt, you're telling me that trials are happening to make me mature? Yes. Make me complete? Yes. Your translation may say steadfastness or even patience. It's all the same word. So, I want you to write this down, number two. Here's the second point, number two. Our patience in the trials determines how much God molds us through the trials. So, look, they're building, and our perspective opens up the door if God can move. But our patience determines how much God can do in me. Now, I know many times it seems like - God, you're good God. You should swoop in and just take all of this from me right now, get it out of my life, and produce good. But I'm telling you, church, that's just not how it works. For many of you, you're walking in a long-standing test, a long-standing trial. You're in it, and it puts you in a spot of despair and doubt and bitterness. But change the saying, just hold on. Just stay. Just have patience because God is good, and God will deliver. The bottom line is that we must make a choice whether we're going to trust and stay, hold on to God's character, and let him work his good in us. Or are we just going to walk away? That's the only two results that happen. The bottom line is the deliverance. It may not be automatic, but it will come. You say, Matt, how do I do that? The best example I could think of this week is from Acts chapter 16, where Paul and Silas have been imprisoned. Right? For what, Matt? They were preaching the gospel. Thrown into this prison. They were beaten. They were just absolutely whipped and mocked and humiliated. They were in this dark prison. So, what did they do? Did they start complaining? Did they start whining? Did they start comparing themselves to all the other Christians who hadn't been thrown into prison? No. What did they do in this seemingly hopeless situation and trial? They started worshiping God. Remember the story? You can read it this week, Acts 16. They started worshiping God. They started singing. I don't know what they started singing. I don't know if it was Amazing Grace or How Great Thou Art. I don't know what it was. But I know this: it was probably about the faithfulness of God. Do you know why? Because in that very moment, God began to shake the walls of that prison. Began to knock the doors down, and that prison began to shake up that jailer in that prison. The jailer got so scared he asked, hey, who is your God, and how can I meet him? He gets saved and the walls fall. They walk out into the street, and God delivers them. He delivered them in his presence. Man, I love this moment for God's like, here I am. Every great Bible hero had a moment when they either had to trust God or walk away from God. They either had to stay in the moment, or they had to move into his presence.

Do you remember the promise? We just read it. Look at verse four. Let perseverance finish; you know what that means - there's a process; it's work so that you may be mature and not lacking in anything. So that you can be mature and perfect. I know none of us want the test, but there are things about God you can only learn from the test. And if God's ultimate goal, here it is, is to mature me to the day I meet him and make me into the Son of God that he wants me to be and set me up for perfection in eternity with no tests and no trials and no pain and no shame. Then here's what I say about this world: bring 'em on! So, you can prepare me for the next one. I know that's scary. I know it is, but that's when we can see it from a different perspective. And that's how we can have patience in it. So, here's a question that has haunted me all week, and I just thought I would give it to you. Haunted is like a strong word, but you know what I mean, right? Do I want to know God more than I want to avoid the trials and suffering? Do I want to know God more than I want to avoid the trials and the suffering? I don't know how we answer that question. Because I think some of us have posed ourselves to, well, if he's a good God, why would I be living in the trials? That's because we got the wrong perspective. Well, if he's a good God, how come he hasn't delivered me from the trials? Well, maybe he's still molding you for eternity. So, number one, perspective shows if God can teach us. Number two, patience determines how much he can teach us, which leads me to the third one. It's the part you've all been waiting for. And it's like, Matt, how do we get out of them? Right? Here's number three. Number three. It's our prayers of belief in the trials that invite the power of God to get us out of the trials. But notice, leave that up there because this is a process. Most of us will stop at or start at number three, and we always forget about the first two. It's our prayers of belief. Now, this one seems obvious. Amen. It seems obvious. Like, man, we're yeah, we're Christians. We're church people, right? This is what we do. But hold on, watch what he says in verse five. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives it generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. To which you're like, well, Amen. Right? That's what I need to do. And that's good news, right? It's good news. What's so good about it? It's so good that God wants to help you. God wants to deliver you. God wants the good in your life. He will give you the wisdom. He'll give you the discernment. He'll give you the insight. He will give you everything your soul needs. That's good news. Look at verse six. But take your crayon out. Circle that one, right? But, when you ask, man, you must believe and not doubt. Because the one who doubts is like a wave in the sea, now, check back in with me if you checked out because you need to hear this. We must believe and not doubt. Because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind, can you see that in your mind? Verse seven. That person, this is strong. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. So, whose fault, is it? When we don't receive deliverance from the trials and don't receive the presence of God in the trials, we don't receive comfort, joy, and mercy in the trials. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Verse eight. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. Now, what is James not saying here? James is not saying, all right, let me take them, take the weight off you. James is not saying that you're never going to have questions. He's not saying that you're never going to have these moments where you're just like, oh God, I don't know what to do. Man, I don't know how to ask. God, I don't know what to say. I don't know where to walk. That is not what James is saying. Every Christian struggles. Okay? Don't hear me say that they don't because they do. What James is saying is this: When you're in the trial, you can't hedge your bets and have the earthly perspective and the heavenly perspective at the same time. What he is saying is you can't hedge your bets, where both you and God are in control at the same time. That's what he's saying. It's the point of verse eight. Look at it again. It just says that James says that being double-minded. The Greek is di psychosis, if you want it, two minds, double minds, split minds. Is this stepping on anybody's toes right here, right now? Right? It is, isn't it? Why? Because most of us, man, we're the people that are like, man, Sunday God, I'm praying for you to move. I'm praying for you to fix my problems. I'm praying for you to do what I want, how we need to do this together. But Monday? God, it's me in control. And I'm going to live how I want to live. And I'm going to do what I want to do. Sunday: God, I'm praying for you to move in my marriage. It is falling apart. It is a wreck. I don't even want to be in my house anymore. God, it is a struggle. Move in it. But Monday: God, I'm moving back, and I'm manipulating my wife, manipulating my husband, or justifying my unfaithfulness. Sunday: God, I'm praying for you. I need you to move in my finances. I need you to give me that job. I need you to fix my family's money problems. But Monday: God, I'm back to swapping over, and I'm in control. And I'm in charge, and I'm not generous, and I'm not giving, and I'm not being your person. That's what hedging your bets looks like. You're praying over here on Sunday to the Lord God Almighty who moves. But you are in control on Monday over here. And you're mad that God is not getting you out of the trials. Di psychosis. Sounds so official, doesn't it? It's hedging your bets. It's asking God to work but not having the confidence that he will. Church, it's quite possible that God hasn't stepped into your situation, your trial, or your test because of your di psychosis. Your double-mindedness. And James is so clear when he says. It is when you lean all your confidence in God that he will get you the help that you need. Now, does that mean God's going to rip you out of every trial in your life and put you up? I mean, with rainbows and unicorns? For all of life? No. But what it does mean is that he will step in and show you how he's faithful and good, how he is just, and how he is merciful. And he might just rip you up and put you on your own little unicorn. See, James is clear: when we lean all our confidence in God, we will get the help that we need from God. How is God going to respond? I don't know. Well, how come you don't know? I'm not God, right? How long will it take? I don't know. But all I do know is that God hears, and God cares, and God gives generously. And God has the power to move, even in your situation. He's got the power. One more time, James one five. If any of you lacks wisdom, context is in the middle of your trial, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. Look, God is never mad at you for asking him to deliver you. Don't ever think that. Don't ever think that, oh well, I'm just being punished; this is on me. He is never mad at you for asking him to deliver. He's never mad that you don't know how to get through the trial. And if you're a son or daughter of the King, he wants to move in you. In fact, he loves you. He wants what's best for you. So, two things as we close. Number one, God wants to save some of you from your double-mindedness because you've never given your life to Jesus, and you need to do that today. You need to trust him. You need to walk into a relationship with him. You need to experience the saving grace and knowledge of Jesus right now. It's as easy as saying, hey, Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner, and I know I need you as my Savior. Come into my life and save me. If that's you today, listen; if you have never stepped into a relationship with Jesus, don't expect his deliverance in your life before he delivers your soul. Secondly, some today, you know Jesus. Can I tell you this about him? He wants to walk with you when you're suffering and in your trials. So, Matt, what does he know about suffering in trials? He knows everything about suffering in trials. In fact, one of his names is he's the son of suffering. Who, for the joy set before him, endured the cross and scorned its shame and is now seated at the right hand of the Father. I don't know where your life has you right now. You may feel like Job, Joseph, Paul, or Silas. Right in the middle of the trial. But here's what I do know. That God wants to mature you. God wants to grow you, and God wants to deliver you. Let's pray together. Lord Jesus, God, I just ask that you just burn this into our souls. And God, just show us who you are, how faithful you are, and how much you love us even in the middle of the trials. Thank you, Lord Jesus. It's in your name. Amen.

 

Follow Along with the Message

Walking Out Faith in Trials

August 4, 2024

Matthew 13:55–56
55 “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? 56 Aren’t all his sisters with us?”
1 Corinthians 15:7
Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
Galatians 1:18–19
18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 I saw none of the other apostles — only James, the Lord’s brother.
James 1:1
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.
James 1:2–3
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

“One of the main ways we move from an abstract knowledge about God to a personal encounter with him as a living reality is through the furnace of affliction.”
— Tim Keller

3 Principles to Walking Out Faith in the Trials of Life

1. Our in the trials opens the door for God to teach us in the trials.

James 1:2–3
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
Psalm 23:4–6
4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
James 1:4
Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

2. Our in the trials determines how much God molds in us through the trials.

James 1:4
Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

QUESTION: Do I want to know God more than I want to trials and suffering?

3. Our of belief in the trials invite the power of God to get us through the trials.

James 1:5
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
James 1:6–8
6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
James 1:5
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
Hebrews 4:16
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
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