Counting Trials As Joy Pt. 1 - The Grow Up Storm
Notes
Transcript
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
Introduction
Introduction
If we were able to choose, we would all, no doubt, choose to live a problem-free life...
The only problem with living a problem free life though is this: without trials, we will never learn or grow.
God uses the trials that we experience to grow us in our faith. But if we focus on the problem instead of God’s purpose in it, we will become discouraged instead.
The focus of the book of James is on our fruit. Paul was concerned about the inner faith of a man’s heart as God sees it.
Paul addressed the importance of taking the Gospel IN and James emphasized living the Gospel OUT.
James is calling for practical, realistic, genuine Christian living. He is calling for “Faith in Action!”
The book of James was written to Jewish Christians who had been scattered abroad and were facing persecution and right from the start, James tells these believers something surprising—their suffering could actually bring their spiritual maturity.
Consider these words in our text:
• The word count in verse 2 means “to hold a view; to have an opinion; to consider.”
• The word temptations in verse 2 means “testing” or “trial.”
• The word perfect in verse 4 means “completion” or “maturity.”
When a Christian’s life enters a season of testing, they either draw away from God or draw closer to Him.
Our natural response to trials is to question God and bewail our misfortune. We usually don’t rejoice when trials or difficulties come. But in this passage, we are told to count trials a joy.
We are to consider trials as a reason for gladness even though we don’t like them. Trials put our faith to the test and work patience in us. They ultimately bring good in our lives and are God’s way of maturing us spiritually.
In life, we will experience trials. We do not have to love or like them, but we do need to learn from them. And we can be joyful in trials when we understand the deeper purpose for them.
Now, what the Bible calls trials, we normally call storms, and so it’s interesting that we find storms in the Bible that we can learn from…Over the next few weeks, we are going to look at three storms in the Word of God which give us reasons we can rejoice in the work God does in our lives through trials.
The first storm we will be looking at and it’s the subject of tonight’s message, is:
The Grow-Up Storm
The Grow-Up Storm
The grow-up storm shows us that trials give opportunity for us to grow.
God desires to strengthen us in the areas where we are weak. And often, trials are the best way to accomplish this. He seeks to bring us to the point of greater likeness to Himself and greater usefulness in His work.
We do not know what exactly we need to mature in the faith, but He does.
We see this in the life of the Old Testament prophet Jonah and the storm that God brought into his life.
Turn in your Bibles to Jonah 1
I-Trials help us Grow by Revealing Ourselves
I-Trials help us Grow by Revealing Ourselves
We often think we know ourselves or what is good for us. But the truth is we don’t.
God knows us better than we know ourselves, and He uses trials to reveal who we are and what we need to grow.
The Book of Jonah is the Bible’s only account of rebellion on the part of one of God’s prophets…Jonah rebelled against God and the storm in Jonah’s life was to wake him up to the reality of his rebellion against God.
When God ordered him to go to Nineveh to preach the gospel, he decided to rebel against the revealed will of God and go the opposite direction.
While Jonah was asleep in the boat, God sent a storm to wake him up to his condition.
1 Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
4 But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.
5 Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.
Jonah was asleep to his call and commission, asleep to his duty, asleep to the perils that surrounded him.
Y’know? He might not have slept so soundly if he had been able to see through a few inches of planking—if he had seen what was swimming quietly along beneath the boat and keeping pace with its progress. Today’s backslider would not sleep so well if he could see the unpleasant surprises that await him a little farther along the way.
When Jonah finally realized that the storm was sent for him and it was obvious there was no relief in sight, he ordered the sailors to throw him overboard.
Look at your Bibles:
10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.
11 Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous.
12 And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.
Jonah’s answer revealed his determination to die rather than do what God demanded...
15 So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.
It’s amazing to me…Even at this point, he was still unwilling to surrender to God!
Why on earth would he choose to be thrown overboard instead of saying right there, “God, I’m sorry, I repent, I’ll do what you commanded me!”
Let me be clear...Not every storm in our lives is brought about by our disobedience, but this was the case for Jonah.
But notice God’s mercy to Jonah in sending this storm. Rather than God giving up on His rebellious prophet, He brought Jonah to a place of repentance and surrender.
Whatever the area of growth we may need, it is the mercy of God that allows it to be revealed through storms.
That’s why James tells us to count it all joy when we come into these trials!
Before the storm comes, we have a tendency to think that we’re doing well, and we may even take pride in our strengths.
Jonah may have thought he was doing great because he was serving God as a prophet. But what Jonah didn’t see was that he had a limit to what he would do for God.
And it wasn’t until God gave a command that crossed Jonah’s limit that the truth emerged—he wasn’t surrendered at heart.
And it wasn’t until the storm came that Jonah saw just how dependent he was on God for everything.
When God brings a storm into our lives that reveals our need for growth, He does it because He loves us and is giving us the opportunity to receive His strength, which is our next point...
II-Trials help us Grow by Giving Strength
II-Trials help us Grow by Giving Strength
After Jonah was tossed into the sea, he found himself in the belly of a great fish and in desperate need of God’s delivering power.
He had run away from God and His will. Now, stranded in a fish’s belly in the depths of the sea, he was depleted of his strength and helpless.
Humbled in his condition, Jonah chose to call out to God for deliverance.
17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
1 Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish’s belly,
2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; Out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; And the floods compassed me about: All thy billows and thy waves passed over me.
4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; Yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.
9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.
Jonah realized that his preservation had come from God and that God was merciful in not killing him for his rebellion.
He knew God had the power to rescue him from his plight and cried out to Him for help.
And God listened to his cry!
10 And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.
Listen, if this doesn’t show proof of Lamentations 3:22-23 I don’t know what does:
22 It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
Growth does not come about from a life of ease and comfort.
The pain of trials teaches us to trust in God and rely fully on Him.
Although trials are often unwelcome “trouble,” they are necessary and ultimately good.
We are able to count trials a joy because of the good they bring—an opportunity for us to grow. And this growth is always worth the trying of our faith.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Jonah definitely had a Grow-Up storm…but his grow-up storm shows us how trials help us by revealing our self and by giving us strength...
Next week, we will look at the Wake-Up storm so make sure you come back.
If the Lord has spoke to you about anything today, come speak to Him now!