Trusting in Trials

2. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, and let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing, and so on.

Now, when you read the introduction to this letter, we see that James is writing to those who are in the dispersion. They are scattered all over the place, and sometimes in life we feel like that ourselves.

We feel that we are far from heaven, and sometimes we feel that we are far from God, and the life that we live and the world in which we live sometimes has that effect upon us.

We read through the letter, and we see the way in which James understands that. He understands the kind of world his readers are living in.

He understands the way in which the world is a temptation to them. He understands the different groups of people in the world.

There are those who are rich. There are those who are poor. There are those who are showing their faith. There are those who are not showing their faith.

And there is the overall theme of the importance of them living in dependence upon God.

And right at the very beginning here, we see the way in which James wants to encourage the people with regard to their faith.

And looking at these two verses this evening, we want to think of trusting in our trials and spiritual maturity.

Well, first of all, see that there is a prompt in these verses.

And sometimes we need a prompt.

We need somebody to poke us, to waken us up to what we should be doing.

And we rely on good friends to do that for us from time to time.

But God is the expert at doing that at the right time.

And here, James is prompting those who are going to hear this letter to think of certain things.

And he wants them to think especially about the way in which they are going to look at what they are going through in life.

And he wants them to count it all joy when you meet various trials.

He wants them to go through a kind of thought process.

He wants them to think things through.

And he wants them to think things through in such a way that they will come at last to find joy.

And it's wonderful the way in which he wants them to count it all joy.

He wants them to see all of life as a time and experience of joy.

And that kind of prompt is really staggering.

We think of our own lives and we think of how much time we spend rejoicing

and how much time we spend sorrowing.

But James wants his hearers, his readers, to be joyous all of the time.

And when we think of joy, we want to ask ourselves, what is joy?

Is it an emotion?

Is it a choice?

Is it a feeling?

What do you think of when you think of joy?

When the Bible thinks of joy, it thinks of joy in God.

And it is experiencing God in a particular way.

And in order for us to have that kind of joy in God,

we have to do the things that lead us to joy.

There is an activity.

And that activity creates joy in our hearts.

And then we have joy in God.

And in general terms, when we read the New Testament,

we see that joy especially arises out of the resurrection of Jesus.

He told the disciples in John 16 that he would see them again

and their hearts would rejoice.

And your joy no one will take from you.

There is a joy that has its source in the resurrection of Jesus.

And that joy should filter through the whole of our lives

so it becomes part of who we are every day.

Perhaps all of us tonight need the kind of prompt

that points us to remember that we should be joyful.

And we may look at ourselves in the mirror.

We may reflect on our own lives.

We may look at the lives of others.

And we may ask or think, where is the joy?

But we do remind ourselves that the joy that we have in the Bible,

it's not going around with a smile on your face all of the time.

It is something that's deep-seated.

It's something that takes place in our hearts.

But the prompt is even more staggering

when we see the arena in which they are to remain joyful.

Count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds.

He's giving us a picture as if we're walking along the road,

walking along the street in life,

and we encounter somebody.

We encounter something.

And as we journey on in the life of faith,

we will from time to time encounter,

not oppression, but we will encounter trials.

And in the book of the letter of James,

we see that the same word translated trials

is used in two ways.

We see as we journey on later on,

he speaks of being tempted and not being tempted.

God does not tempt us with evil in version number 12, number 13.

There is a temptation that is to prove the genuineness of something,

and there is the temptation to entice us to sin.

There is the temptation to bring something to shine forth,

and there is a temptation that seeks to destroy.

But here we have God working.

Here we have God encountering us in life with various trials,

the things that cut across our paths.

We are familiar with these kinds of things.

They come in various shapes and sizes.

They come with physical things.

They come with providential things.

They come with things that happen in our hearts.

They are testings.

They are trials.

We see that God tested Abraham,

asked him to go and sacrifice his son.

We see at the end of it that God says to him,

now I know that you fear God

because you did not withhold your son from me.

There is the need for us to know joy

and to have joy and to have joy in the midst of our trials.

And we know that if we're going to do that,

there is a lot of thinking

because, naturally speaking,

our response to trials is not to have joy.

It's not to have gladness to sing the song.

The natural response is not only to reject and to complain,

but sometimes even to question the very goodness of God.

The God who is in the trial.

The God who is the object of our faith.

So often we crumble at the least trial in life

and faith seems to disappear

because we're not thinking it through.

And perhaps tonight that's where we are at.

This has happened.

This has come into your life.

And because this has happened,

your whole experience has changed.

And by the very thing that you're going through,

you're rebelling against it.

You're rejecting it.

And you're even questioning the very grace of God.

And if that is the case,

how much tonight you need the prompt from God,

his hand upon your shoulder,

his alert to you,

his waking you up

so that your response to your trial

will be one of faith

and not one of fear or of rejection.

The prompt to have joy all of the time.

That's what we long for.

And the Bible is suggesting to us this evening

that that's what we should have.

Following on from that,

we want to see that there is

a particular perception here.

How on earth am I going to rejoice

in all of my trials?

Only from the right perspective.

And James says to them in version number three,

for you know,

you're going to do this

based on what you know.

And based on what you know,

not of your trial,

not of life in general,

but based on what you know

of the God who is your savior,

based on what you know

from the word of God,

which he has breathed out for us

to equip us to live for him.

It is a perspective

that's based on the knowledge of God.

And in the very relationship with God,

the promise that he gave to Jeremiah

through Jeremiah in chapter 31,

that when he makes this new covenant

with his people,

all shall know me.

It's a fact of a Christian experience

that we know God.

If we don't know God,

we are not the children of God.

But because we are the children of God,

we do know God.

And it is that knowledge of God

that gives us the perspective

with which we're going to look down

upon the whole of life

and look down especially

upon our trials.

And what does that knowledge

of God tell us

that enables us to have joy?

It is that the testing of your faith

produces steadfastness.

The testing,

the trial,

what they're going through.

And interestingly,

once more to do with the words

that James is using,

he is using a different word

here in verse 3

to what he has used in verse 2

with regard to trials and testing.

The testing here

is a process through which

the genuineness of something

is confirmed.

And James is saying to them,

this is what you know,

that the trial of your faith

is actually for your good.

it's confirming

who you are

and it's enabling your faith

to shine forth

in such a way

that it did not before

and that it could not

up until now.

And God appoints the encounter,

he appoints the meeting with us

along life's way

for that very purpose.

It produces steadfastness.

There's an energy

that comes from God

that works in the midst

of our very testing

and that energy

is something

that produces something

in ourselves.

And what it produces

in ourselves

is

steadfastness.

It's that sense

of

being constant

and being firm

and being established.

The picture

that the word gives us

is remaining

under

bearing circumstances.

No matter

what the circumstances are,

it's

continuing

under them.

And is that not

what

our trials

so often feel like?

They feel so much

like a weight.

And if

we don't have

the right perspective,

the weight is crushing.

and it can crush us

right down

into the ground.

It can break us

emotionally.

It can leave us

a crying wreck

because of

the huge burden

of the very

testing process

through which

God is taking us.

But despite that,

and regardless of that,

it does

produce

the effect

of

steadfastness.

And that's why

Job was saying

in Job chapter 23,

Job 23 · chapter mention

when he has

tried me,

I will

come forth

like gold.

And the very

experience

that we think

will cause

our faith

to fail

is the very

experience

through which

your faith

is refined,

through which

its impurities

are taken away

and through which

it becomes

really strong.

Douglas Moon

says,

like a muscle

that becomes strong

when it faces

resistance.

So Christians

learn to remain

faithful to God

over the long

haul

only when they

face difficulty.

How have we

survived

until now

in our faith?

only because

through our

difficulties

God has

strengthened our

faith.

And had he not

done that,

we would have

failed long ago.

We would be like

the seed that

fell upon the

rock in the

parable.

And when the

testing came

when the sun

rose,

the scorching

heat,

faith vanished

that they

fell away.

The perspective,

the wonderful

thought,

that whatever

is happening

to you tonight

and whatever

happened to you

yesterday

and whatever

happens to you

tomorrow,

God is working

for your good

to produce

your faith,

to stretch

that muscle

of faith.

and I'm

sure we

will all

agree that

it's a

muscle that

needs stretching,

so weak,

sometimes so

feeble,

that it's

hard working

and we

need the

exercise that

comes through

the testing

through which

God strengthens

and enables

and causes

us to

persevere

and to

persevere

because the

knowledge that

we have

is increased

in that

process

and that

increase of

knowledge

in the time

of testing

ensures

that we do

not separate

from God

but guarantees

that we are

bound

closer together

with him

than ever

before.

And then we

have joy,

then we

easily

counted all

joy

because of

the knowledge,

because of

the perspective

of God

as he looks

down

upon the

furnace

watching over

your trials

and mine

and ensuring

that the

temperature

doesn't go

beyond what

they're able

to bear

and ensuring

that the

temperature

is such

that it

will produce

the refining

to perfection.

And so

like Job

when he

has tried

you,

you will

come forth

like gold.

And thirdly,

we want to

think of

participation.

In version

number four,

and let

steadfastness

have its

full effect.

Why is he

saying that?

He is

saying that

because they're

not letting

steadfastness

have its

full effect.

He is

saying that

because there

is resistance

in them.

There is a

lack of

submission.

And that

lack of

submission

means that

they have

no joy

and that

no matter

how great

the pain,

they have

lost their

joy and

they're overcome

by sorrow

and they're

never going

to recover.

other.

And it's

thought-provoking

for us all

tonight that

the joy that

we crave,

it is absent

because of

what we're

not doing

as well as

what we are

doing.

and if

we're

growing as

the children

of God

who have

this

knowledge

of God

then we

should be

developing

and growing

and we

should have

this real

sense

of the

joy,

the deep

seated

sense of

trusting

in the

grace of

God

and that

producing

its fruit.

And we

may well

ask ourselves

and I

may well

ask myself

not only

tonight but

every step

of my

journey of

faith

am I

standing

in the

way of

God?

Am I

resisting

what God

is doing?

Am I

rejecting

what God

is giving

to me

for my

good?

And

therefore

am I

going

through

my

life

of

faith

with

the

absence

of

the

thing

I

crave

to

have

the

joy

of

the

Lord

which

is

the

fruit

of

the

spirit

love

and

joy

and

peace.

I

long

for

that

and

yet

soften

their

opposite

and

here

James

is

saying

let

steadfastness

have

its

full

effect.

Take

possession

of this

whole

thing

instead

of

pushing

it

away

embrace

it in

your

heart

and

make

it

your

own

and

once

you

do

that

you

will

no

longer

hinder

the

work

of

God

but

you

will

allow

the

steadfastness

to

have

its

full

effect

to

reach

the

pinnacle

which is

God's

design

and all

that you

are

going

through

and

what

we

desire

most

of

all

and

what

we

cannot

reach

so

often

because

of

who

we

are

is

what

God

has

purposed

for

us

so

we

cannot

say

tonight

that

we

don't

have

joy

because

God

did

not

purpose

that

we

would

have

it

right

now

but

what

we

can

say

is

that

if

we

don't

have

joy

in

the

way

that

God

has

purposed

to

have

it

in

our

lives

and

our

hearts

then

we

ask

what

are

we

withholding

what

are

we

embracing

at

the

expense

of

embracing

his

providence

and

his

will

and

his

purpose

and

how

we

need

to

exchange

how

we

need

to

empty

our

hearts

of

the

thing

that

stands

in

the

way

of

embracing

what

God

is

doing

and

then

it

will

have

its

full

effect

it

will

reach

its

telos

there's

the

goal

there's

what

God

has

in

view

that's

what

he

wants

us

to

be

and

that's

what

I

want

to be

ourselves

if we're

honest

but let

us

tonight

think of

participating

participating

in this

very

thing

to

ensure

that

we're

not

standing

in

the

way

of

what

God

wants

to

do

for

us

and

in

the

participation

then

that

you

may be

perfect

and

complete

lacking

nothing

it's

an awful

thing

in any

kind

of

experience

any

area

of

life

to

think

that

there's

a

deficit

that

we

cannot

do

what

we

want

to

do

because

we

lack

certain

things

sometimes

we

can

be

so

conscious

of

what

we

lack

that

we

lose

sight

of

the

things

that

God

has

given

to

us

but

here

is

God

working

so

that

we

will

not

lack

anything

he

wants

to

fill

our

experience

he

wants

to

fill

our

cup

in

such

a

way

that

we

will

feel

we

lack

nothing

because

our

joy

is

complete

in

God

that

we

may

be

perfect

and

complete

I

said

at the

beginning

that

sometimes

we

feel

we're

far

away

from

heaven

and

far

away

from

God

and

we

know

that

there

is

a

perfection

and

a

completion

that

will

only

be

ours

when

we

get

to

heaven

but

there

is

another

perfection

and

there

is

another

completion

and

that

is

that

our

development

should

correspond

to

where

we

are

on

the

journey

of

faith

if

it

does

not

then

there's

something

seriously

wrong

and

the

maturity

that

the

Bible

speaks

of

that

Paul

speaks

of

and

Jesus

himself

speaks

of

that

maturity

there

should

be

a

corresponding

level

of

maturity

in

our

faith

to

the

years

that

we

have

travelled

with

God

on

this

journey

and

so

tonight

let's

hear

the

prompt

let's

be

alert

what

is

God

saying

to

us

let's

ensure

we have

the

right

perspective

make

sure we

know the

word of

God

make

sure we

know more

of

Jesus

Christ

make

sure we

know more

of God

as the

object

of

our

faith

to

give

us

the

perspective

that

ensures

joy

and

then

let's

ensure

that

we

are

participating

in

what

God

is

doing

not

standing

in

his

way

but

willingly

submitting

to

him

and

recognising

the way

in which

he

blesses

and the way

in which

he fills

and the way

in which

he tops

up

our

experience

of his

grace

and therefore

our

experience

of his

joy

may God

bless

these

thoughts

to us

so

concluding

psalm

is

psalm

number

34

from

St.

Psalms

on page

number

41