Forged - Don’t Quit in the Middle

But we are we are so thankful to be here, man.

Uh thankful for all God is doing in and through his church.

Uh we're in a series at Multiply called Forged.

Um this series, I I love the concept of it.

Uh it speaks to the fact that we are becoming resilient in the middle of life's heat.

That when the pressure is on, your faith doesn't have to crack.

I don't know about you, but there's um a couple of portions of scripture that stand out to me that sometimes I wish that I could omit from the Bible.

Anyone ever come to the scripture like that?

Like, God, why did that one have to be in there?

James chapter 1 is one of those passages of scripture.

James 1 · chapter mention

And when we come to James 1, we have James writing to the early church that was facing persecution.

Now, I think we could parallel it to what we go through in our modern day, in the sense that a lot of the persecutions that the early church was facing here, um, they were much like we encounter.

And I don't think we can miss that today, that like the trials that we go through, yes, we are in a modern society, yes, we have a lot more available to us in terms of technology and our economy, and we live in the best nation in the world, the United States of America.

But what I don't want us to miss is that we still endure the pressures that James is speaking to here in this scripture.

In James chapter 1, verses 2 through 4, he says it like this consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds.

James 1:2–4

And we all stop and we're like, What?

What do you hold on a second?

Let me make sure I read that correctly.

Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds.

But verse 3 lets us know why.

Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

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

Does anyone want to find themselves complete and mature and not lacking anything in life?

See, trials by definition test the quality or the substance of someone or something.

Trials reveal what we're made of.

Trials forge us.

This idea of forging being that they shape us by adding heat to our lives, pressure to our lives.

So when we read James 1, we see that the trials we encounter, they serve a purpose in our lives.

As James writes, he says that they're designed to both test the quality of and shape our faith in Jesus.

James literally tells us that the testing of our faith produces perseverance.

You know the thing about trials that I think stands out to me more than anything is that we all face them.

Every single one of us will face trials and persecution in our lives.

It's a guarantee.

You want to know the fastest way to get a lifetime subscription to trials?

Get married.

My wife and I just celebrated eight years of marriage on Cinco de Mayo.

Come on.

Um, and you know, for those of you who are looking and counting, yes, that's eight years of marriage, five kids, and the oldest is seven, and we're planting a church.

We're the craziest people you've probably met in your life.

I think my wife and I would agree on this, though, that marriage is like a subscription to trials.

Nothing will test your faith more than being committed to a covenant relationship before God with your spouse.

All right?

Throughout the years, um, marriage has forced us into moments that have tested our faith as we've learned one another.

For the two of us, uh, we began the process of trials real early.

Uh the first year of our marriage was beautiful and it was brutal.

Can I get an amen from my wife on the front row?

Um my wife and I, we come from very different backgrounds.

Uh culturally, emotionally, spiritually, you name it.

Uh, she was raised in Central Phoenix, so she's Latina and kind of hood.

And uh I was raised, I was raised in a Disney movie plot in Hendersonville, all right?

So it was like Boys in the Hood made high school musical, you know what I'm saying?

Like when we got married, as you can imagine, man, our worlds collided.

Um, I was like this passive Southern boy, and she was a fiery Latina, and it just made for all kinds of fun uh in the first year of our marriage.

Um But see, here's the thing: we both loved God.

We both would have told you that we knew better, but the trials that we faced, they forced us to reconcile the discrepancies between what we knew and what we were able to apply.

And see, here's the thing about trials is they tell us what we are made of.

Trials are the great revealer.

Trials have a way of showing us what's really happening inside of us.

Charles Spurgeon says that trials teach us what we are.

They dig up the soil and they let us see what we are made of.

See, and as difficult as it is for us to comprehend, trials are opportunities, not obstacles.

See, because trials test our faith.

And as James tells us, the testing of our faith is meant to strengthen our faith.

I read a quote recently that man, it really brought conviction to my life because it says, if my faith is only strong when life is easy, it's not faith, it's convenience.

See, and if we want to grow our faith, we have to endure trials.

And see, this is part of the process, right?

If we want to grow, if we want to see our lives more fortified, stronger than they've been before, if we want to come out on the other side, knowing that our faith didn't crack, we have to learn how to endure the trials.

If you'll turn with me to Mark chapter 4, I want to read a passage of Scripture where Jesus and his closest followers, they find themselves in the middle of a storm.

Mark 4 · chapter mention

And I think as we read this text today, we can draw some encouragement, but we can also draw some practicality in how we can grow in what it looks like to endure the trials of our lives.

Mark chapter 4, verses 35 through 41, it says this On that day, when evening had come, Jesus said to them, Let us go across to the other side.

Mark 4:35–41

And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was, and other boats were with him.

And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.

But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion.

I like that little detail Mark throws in there.

Like he grabbed himself a pillow, and he went and posted up in the stern, and he fell asleep.

And they woke him and they said to him, Teacher, do you not care that we are fixing to die out here on this lake?

And he awoke and he rebuked the wind and the sea, and he said, Peace be still.

And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

And he said to them, Why are you so afraid?

Have you still no faith?

And they were filled with great fear, and said to one another, Who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?

If you want a title for today's message, you can write, Don't quit in the middle.

Don't quit in the middle.

Um, I recently joined a workout group called the Grindstone, all right?

And I know you're looking at me and you're going, Just recently?

It looks like you've been in a workout group for years.

It's crazy.

I mean, you're jacked, man.

I was invited to this group by my friend Bobby, and here's the thing about Bobby, alright?

Bobby is a senior chief in the Navy.

And if you could close your eyes and picture what you think a man looks like, that's Bobby.

Bobby is 6'3, 260, and yoked.

I mean, just jacked, alright?

Bobby invited me to this group and and he literally introed it to me like this.

If I'm lying, I'm dying.

He said, We're gonna focus on four phases of growth, alright?

We're gonna focus on spiritual fitness.

That's gonna be our pre-workout devotional.

Then we're gonna focus on physical fitness, and we're gonna do two rounds of strength training and hypertrophy.

That's just like heavy lifting, alright?

And then he's like, we're gonna focus on mental fitness, the metabolic conditioning.

If you've ever heard of a METCON, it's the worst thing ever, alright?

And then he says this, then we're gonna focus on emotional fitness.

That's when you're crying on the way home in your car.

And I was like, I don't know if I want to be a part of this group, Bobby.

I'm not gonna lie to you.

The grindstone is tough, alright?

This these are the toughest workouts I think I've ever been a part of in my life.

Um, but the hardest part, if I'm honest, it isn't necessarily the weight we're throwing around.

And I mean, look at me, it's not that much, all right?

But it's not the weight that I think adds the most pressure.

It's what's happening in my mind telling me to quit in the middle.

Never in my life have I justified quitting something as quickly as I have tried to quit the grindstone in the middle of every workout we've done, all right?

But the hard reality is that if I want to experience the growth Bobby has told me we will experience, and I'm looking at results because this dude is jacked, right?

If I'm gonna experience the results of the growth that he says that we will experience, I have to endure what happens in the middle.

Can you say it with me?

No pain, no gain.

That isn't even in the Bible, but hey, there we are.

Come on, let's go.

No pain, no gain.

I put no gains, but you know, no pain, no gains.

See, the disciples, they found themselves in the middle.

Yes, they were in the middle of a storm.

Yes, they were in the middle of a trial, but let's not forget, they were also in the middle of God's will.

See, Mark 4, verse 35 tells us something really important.

Mark 4:35

It says, on that day when evening had come, Jesus said to them, Let's go across to the other side.

This wasn't the disciples' idea.

It wasn't like they made some boneheaded decision and got themselves in the middle of a storm.

Jesus told them, hey, let's all go across to the other side.

It was Jesus' idea.

And I think some of us need to be reminded today that sometimes the trials in our lives are simply a byproduct of us following Jesus.

Sometimes God allows us the grace of the middle.

And I know that seems like a funny way to articulate it.

What do you mean, man?

The grace of the middle of the storm?

Yes, the grace.

Why?

Because nothing reveals the substance of our faith quite like the middle.

The middle provides us an opportunity that we don't get anywhere else.

You know, I say it in jest, but there's truth to the saying: no pain, no gain.

And I think God is good enough to us.

He loves us enough to allow us the pain of the middle, so we're prepared for what's on the other side.

Man, I couldn't help but in approaching the text, think to myself, what if the disciples would have just thrown the white flag?

Like, what if they were like, okay, Jesus, like we were cool with it up until Mark chapter 4, but then you told us to get into a boat and go across to the other side, and it was like a hurricane.

Mark 4 · chapter mention

And like, I don't know if I'm down with that.

What if they would have just jumped off the boat overboard, been like, we'll be like Jonah, dude.

We'll just go, like, we'll find our way to shore.

They would have missed out on all of the incredible history, all of the incredible moments that Jesus had for them if they would have just endured the middle.

And that's the thing.

We have to be willing to endure the middle.

I was I was thinking last night about that uh children's song, Going on a Lion Hunt, right?

We can't go over it.

Right?

We can't go under it.

We gotta go through it.

Because the middle prepares us for what's on the other side.

Man, can I encourage someone today that the challenge that you are facing in life is meant for your good?

Man, can I just take a moment and remind you that God works things together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purposes?

And if you will place your faith in Jesus in the middle, what you will find on the other side is greater than what you found before you left.

It's why James says to us in James 1, to consider our trials with joy.

You notice he didn't say consider your trials joy, right?

Not like we gotta like fake it, you know, like, whoo, I'm so grateful for this trial, hallelujah, praise Jesus, it's awesome.

No, he says, consider it with joy when you face trials.

Why?

Because the trials produce something.

Because the middle produces what we need for the other side.

There's a passage of scripture, it talks about going glory to glory, grace upon grace.

We grow with the Lord as we endure the trials of our lives.

The middle produces when we are willing to endure.

See, the disciples they find themselves in the middle of this massive storm.

And if you know anything about the Sea of Galilee, it sits nearly 700 feet below sea level.

And the surrounding elevations, they cause downdrafts of wind from the surrounding areas, and they result in violent, sudden storms.

So we're talking um sudden hurricane force swells on the sea.

So as you can imagine, it's likely the disciples didn't see this coming.

Have you ever been in a situation like that?

You know, like where it just feels like things are going pretty well, and then all of a sudden you just didn't see it coming?

I I think by definition, one of the key characteristics of a trial is that it wasn't expected.

And that's why I think we have a hard time being willing to endure.

Because I I think sometimes we don't think like we should we don't think we should have to endure.

Is it only me?

Is it only me that like we can relate to the disciples like it doesn't seem fair?

It's not what they expected in following Jesus.

Like I didn't think this was gonna be hard, Jesus.

You're the Messiah.

I thought you were supposed to provide everything that we needed for this journey.

Yet if you follow along in the narrative of the text, it's like they show up with no food half the time.

You know, they show they show up in their storms, there's evil people, demons running around, and they're all looking around going, You called us to I thought you were gonna like take care of all this, Jesus.

And Jesus is like, Yeah, but there's something too enduring, something that puts a little bit of pressure on.

See, there's something that we can't miss in the text, though.

It's that we're responsible for how we respond in the middle.

Because the middle produces when we are willing to endure.

Listen to how the disciples handled this.

Um, I think it'll give you a little bit of peace in your heart the next time that maybe you spiritually throw a fit, because I do the same thing.

It says, but he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion.

If you remember verse 35, it says that it was evening.

So Jesus is actually just doing probably what everyone should have been doing, which is just like, hey, it's been a long day, man.

I'm gonna go take a nap.

The disciples wake him up and they respond by saying this Teacher, do you not care that we're perishing?

See, the disciples questioned God's love because they lacked trust in God's plan.

Listen to the question.

Do you not care?

But how many of us ask the same question?

Jesus, do you not care?

Do you not care that I've got five kids?

God, and it's already pretty stressful in our house?

God, do you not care that I'm at my limit?

Do you not see how stressful this situation is?

Do you not understand what my family is navigating through right now?

Do you not understand how taxing the work week already is that when I get home there's pressures in my marriage?

God, do you not care?

But see, our response in the middle, it reveals where we've placed our trust.

And where we've placed our trust directly impacts our willingness to endure.

I mean, we know the feeling.

We fail to put our faith in Jesus and the practical everyday trials that we face, and instead of trusting God's plan, we find ourselves falling right back into old patterns.

We do this all the time.

We rehearse the same narrative that we've heard our entire life.

Right?

This is how it's always been.

Oh, I should have seen this coming.

There's no way I'm gonna make it through this one.

I'll never amount to anything.

Man, they told me I was like that.

Man, I've heard since I was a kid that this is how it would be.

And I think Jesus is saying to the church today, I think he's saying, Why are you so afraid?

Do you still have no faith?

See, that's the irony of the situation for me, is like we're talking about it, right?

This whole idea that the expectation that the disciples had is that Jesus would provide all that they needed because he was the Messiah, and they were the ones who knew that.

Yet they find themselves in situations where it felt like they lacked on the surface.

But really, the only difference between what they needed to endure and what they had in their hands was their willingness to be patient enough to receive it.

And see, I I sense that sometimes in our culture, sometimes we're so used to being able to get what we need in an instant that we would rather settle for the artificial instead of preparing the way for what's real.

Oh man, if I see one more Facebook post that has an AI-generated caption on it.

You know what I mean?

I'm like, you're telling me about your vacation.

You can just tell me.

ChatGPT didn't have to tell me that.

I'm messing.

But I mean, think about it.

Think about how conditioned we are.

And if we're not careful as disciples of Jesus, we'll think that the same rules apply in the kingdom.

We'll think that the best way is the fastest way to the result that we think we're looking for.

So we'll go, hey, in order for me to be better in my faith, in order for me to be stronger, I've just got to get all the knowledge I can as quickly as possible.

Like, I just gotta get it done.

I gotta, I gotta make sure that I get to where I'm going so that I'll feel fulfilled.

And yet Jesus is like, hey, I teach my best lessons in the middle.

Because what you gain in the middle, you can't you can't gain anywhere else.

And I get it, man.

The trials we face are hard.

And I'm not suggesting that we fake our way through them.

Neglecting the realities of our pain, because that's like how you get hurt.

Right?

There's a difference between me working out with Bobby and like it hurts because like I don't normally ride an echo bike.

All right, I'm gonna be honest with you.

But there's also the reality that if I like threw my back out and then I just tried to pretend like I was okay, then I would get really hurt.

But see, what I'm speaking to today is this reality that there's a truth that can anchor us in the middle of our pain.

And it's something that if we're not careful, we'll miss in the overarching understanding of Matthew chapter 4.

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

And it's so um basic that we fail sometimes to acknowledge that it's actually the most important thing in the text.

And that's that Jesus is on the boat.

Can I tell you you're not in the middle alone?

And what you are facing in your life, it can be anything that tests the quality of your faith.

I mean, it can be traffic on Monday morning, right?

Or it can be that hardship that you're facing with your child where you feel like they've gone wayward and you don't know that they'll ever come back to truth.

Like, there's a spectrum of trials here.

But no matter what you're facing, you're not in the middle alone.

James chapter one verse four.

James kind of begins this section of chapter one.

And he says, Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete.

Not lacking anything.

Perseverance.

Endurance.

Perseverance means persisting despite difficulty in achieving something.

It means that you don't quit in the middle.

Perseverance means that you're willing to go to what length is necessary to make it through the trial.

I was researching a couple months ago, believe it or not, Pastor Ford, about the process of blacksmithing.

And I learned about the process of tempering a blade.

Timbering takes place after the blade has been quenched and it's put back into the fire to fortify its structure and its durability.

Do you know what happens to a blade that's removed from the fire too soon?

It's too brittle.

It's actually too hard.

It can't properly handle its intended function and it ultimately cracks under the stress.

Now, I mean, stop for a minute and consider this.

That our God is good enough to allow us the fires of the tempering.

Because if we don't endure the tempering, then we won't be able to function to our intended purpose.

And see, I think some of us come up against this wall in our faith where we go, man, I just can't help but feel like I keep coming back around the same mountain.

Like I think I'm strong enough to get through that thing that keeps tripping me up, but I keep falling short.

I keep tapping out, man.

I keep justifying and making the same excuses.

I keep being angry with my spouse, man.

I keep complaining.

There's something within me that just it can't process what's happening in front of me.

Can I tell you, like, sometimes that trial that you're facing that's testing and revealing what's really on the inside is actually meant to produce in you the thing that will help you become more durable.

And I think instead of leaning out and going, like, God, I just want out of the fire and doing anything we can to escape the pressures of those moments, I think sometimes we need to sit with the Lord in the middle of them and say, God, I want you in the middle with me.

I'm not trying to escape the fire.

I'm not trying to escape the pressure.

Because I know what you can do through the pressure is what I need to get to the other side.

But God, I'm gonna trust you.

And so instead of running from what's happening in my life right now, instead of escaping into Netflix or escaping into you know the bourbon out here in Kentucky, man, you know, instead of escaping into the whatever it is that we find ourselves trapped within, God, I'm gonna lean into this with you.

And instead of turning to that website, instead of turning to that drink and that substance, instead of turning to the busyness of my work and my career, instead of turning to my kids where I think I find all of my validation, I'm gonna turn to you.

Because I know that if I'll turn to you, then you will help me to navigate through all of those things and you will provide what I need according to your glorious riches.

But just like perseverance is like holding a fine steel sword blade in the fire until it's thoroughly tempered, we have to allow God to refine our lives through the tempering of the trials that we face.

And we can't give up.

We have to hold fast, we have to continue to be faithful, and we can't quit in the middle.

This phrase in James chapter 1, verse 4, it's really unique.

James 1:4

It says, Let perseverance finish its work, that you may be mature and complete.

The word finish has the same Greek root as the phrase mature and complete.

So you could understand it like this perseverance has to be completed for us to be complete.

I have to endure in order to be completed.

If I want the life that God has prepared for me, then in some respects I have to be willing to endure the trials that He's prepared for me as well.

There's more on the other side if we keep going.

Greater depths of health, there's better marriages, there's stronger faith, but we can't quit in the middle.

Sometimes um endurance means that you keep showing up and doing the things that you know are the right things to do in obedience.

I think sometimes it gets lost in the mundane.

Like it can feel like we're not doing enough.

And I think sometimes we operate from proving ground.

Like I want to prove to you, God, that I can make it through this.

So I'm gonna just be as extra as humanly possible right now so that I can prove to you that I'm worth your love.

But a trial is not indicative of a lack of God's love.

See, because God loves us.

But just like a father, like with my sons, my kids love to eat.

They love to eat.

Pray for my wife and I.

As church planners, our Costco bill is a mortgage payment.

It's crazy.

Um but my kids have a tendency to be like this.

They'll go, um, five minutes after breakfast, Dad, can we have a snack?

And I'm like, no.

No, you can't have a snack.

And my two-year-old, please, please! He just like gets more elevated.

It's the cutest thing in the world.

But is it that I don't love them?

Because I'm not giving them what they want?

Or is it that I love them enough to know that if I give them what they want in the moment, then it will be more harmful than beneficial to their life.

But you know, the thing about my children is they don't have to prove to me that they're worthy of a snack.

It's like there will come a time when it is appropriate, like an hour and a half after we've eaten already, guys, alright.

But I think sometimes we go like, man, God just doesn't see me.

I think sometimes we question, God, do you care?

And I think I want to remind the church today that, like, yeah, he cares.

And you know what?

He's worthy of our obedience.

Like, if you're going through it right now, keep showing up.

Like, get like a seven, eight-week streak at church.

Keep showing up to the 9 a.m.

service.

Man, bless your pastors by like bringing people with you.

Even when you don't feel like being there yourself.

Like keep staying in your word.

Like turn on the worship music in the morning, even when you don't feel like it, man.

Crack open the scripture and let God speak to you through his word.

It's living and breathing and active.

See, I think sometimes we run out of steam because we're unwilling to endure by just following the baseline obedience that God just asks us to do.

And I'm telling you, man, God has so much more for his church, being his people, than we could ever imagine.

If we will trust him in the middle.

And if we will, what he has for us on the other side is greater than we could ask, think, or imagine.

Does anyone believe that this morning?

Come on, does that resonate with you in your spirit this morning?

Come on, that God is for you, not against you.

Come on, he is more than enough.

Can I pray for you this morning, church?

Father, thank you.

I thank you for each and every individual in the room this morning.

God, my prayer is that as your word has gone forth today, God, that it would just speak to the depths of our hearts.

Man, even if it's one thing that we can hold on to today, to be reminded that you are more than enough for us.

God, that what you are working in and through our lives right here and right now, God, it's not wasted because you don't waste pain.

But God, you are crafting it into our story.

And if we will trust you in the midst of the trial, we'll trust you in the middle, God, what we'll find on the other side is that you've prepared for us, God, something that is so much better than we could ever prepare for ourselves.

You know, if you're here this morning and and you're saying to yourself, man, I I am navigating through some tough times right now.

And I came into the room this morning, and maybe it was even a struggle for you, but you find yourself sitting here, and some of the things that you feel like you're carrying in the pressures and the realities of your life, you feel like they've been more than you can bear.

Would you just be willing to slip your hand up right now and say, hey, that's me.

I'm navigating through some really hard times right now.

Hands all around the room.

Father, you know what we need before we ask.

God, and I speak into these situations this morning to be a reminder and an encouragement, Father, that you're not done.

God, that you haven't abandoned because you never leave us nor forsake us.

But God, that you are with us and where the weapon would be formed, it won't prosper.

And God, I declare it right here and right now, God, with every hand that was raised, you know the heart, you know what they're experiencing, you know what they need, God, before they even have the words to articulate it.

And so, Lord, I pray right now where we may feel like we're at a loss, God, I pray that you would provide, God, that which we need.

Father, I thank you for your church.

I thank you for your people.

I thank you that even when we feel as though we are far from you, you are closer than the air that we breathe.

God, you are faithful to us.

And so today, God, we worship you and we acknowledge you.

And with everything that we have, Lord, we remind our soul, God, that you are faithful and that you are good and that you've been good to us, Lord.

We trust you, Lord, and we thank you for it in Jesus' mighty name.

Come on, if you believe it, say amen.

Amen.

Come on.

Thank you, church.