This morning, I want us to look at the biblical viewpoint of the trials that occur in our lives. And the first thing that I want to do is to differentiate between consequences and trials. The reason that I feel that this is necessary is that most of us want to think of them as the same, but they are not. When we think of them as the same, we often blame God for trials, when in actuality, we are just suffering the consequences of our own choices.
Consequences do not have to bad things. There are good and bad consequences. However, many times, they are things that we have to deal with because we have sinned in some fashion and we now have to deal with the consequences of that sin. These are far more common that they should be.
We just went to Western Christian’s school play “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.” In the play, and the movie by the same name, the brothers kidnap the women that they like from the closest town to their farm. Spoiler alert coming! The young women like the brothers as well. Obviously, the fathers and would-be suitors of these young women chase the brothers, but they cause an avalanche to occur, which separates the town from the farm until the spring. During that time, the young women’s honor is protected by the matriarch of the family, the eldest brother’s new wife. She has a baby just prior to the snow thaw. The brothers know that the fathers are coming and so do the young women, who are now firmly in love with the young men and do not want to return to the town. So when the dads show up and see the baby, they want to know who had the baby. Every one of the girls say that they did. Since they will not divulge who the actual mother of the baby is, every last one of them is ‘forced’ to marry the young man that they are in love with.
Why were they ‘forced’ to marry the young men? Because, back then, this was the consequence for having a child out of wedlock. They had to deal with the consequence of their supposed indiscretion.
Every single one of us has had to deal with the consequences of something in our lives. It can be as simple as the choices we make in the things that we choose to eat. If you choose to eat meat and potatoes, as I do, you have to live with the extra girth that you will almost certainly acquire. You may also have high cholesterol and heart problems that are associated with a high-fat diet.
When we have children, there are consequences. Brad, when you and Cindy had Connor, did your lives change in any way? Of course it did. Whenever we have children there are consequences. Some consequences are good. We have a new life that we will cherish for the rest of our own life. We have someone to pour our lives into and bring up in the way that they should go. There are certainly drawbacks as well. When they are young, you don’t go to the same restaurants that you used to go to. You don’t just go wherever you want to go whenever you want to. You have someone else to think about.
The same is true for marriage. The consequence of joining with someone in marriage is that you should begin to put away some of the selfish things that you used to do because you want to please your spouse. When Paula and I got married, the guys that I played ball with didn’t understand why I would rather get home and spend the evening with my wife instead of hanging out with them after work. As a consequence of getting married, my priorities had changed.
These are all consequences. They are not trials. Trials are either things that are put in our paths or they may come as a result of a fallen, diseased world. They could also be as a result of our Christianity. Standing up for Jesus can be fraught with danger in many countries around the world. Life-threatening diseases such as cancer are certainly one aspect of trials that many of us or our family members have had to face. Sometimes, it is the loss of our loved ones. It could be the loss of a job. They could be any number of things that come our way. Whatever the actual trial is, Jesus tells us (John 16:33):
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
In the NT, there are two main words used when describing the trials or troubles that we are called to go through. One of them is thlipsis, which is affliction or oppression. The other is peirasmos, which is translated as a test or trial. Both of these words are used when describing the things that we must face in this world, and most of us are familiar with them both.
This morning, I want us to look at the trials of a young man in the OT. We are going to look at the life of Joseph. Most of us know the story of Joseph. He was a daddy’s boy. He was the most loved in a family of eleven brothers. Partially due to his father’s favoritism to him and partially due to his big mouth, his brother hated him. They eventually concocted a plan to sell him into slavery and intimated to their father that he had been killed. The brothers sold him to some Ishmaelites, who then resold him to the Egyptians. I want to pick up Joseph’s story in Genesis 39:1-21
Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there. The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her. One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. She caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house. When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, she called her household servants. “Look,” she said to them, “this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed. When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.” She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. Then she told him this story: “That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”
When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is how your slave treated me,” he burned with anger. Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.
Now, before we go any further, notice that in the first part of that passage it says that “the Lord was with Joseph” and in the last part of the passage it says that “while Joseph was in the prison, the Lord was with Him. The first thing that I want you to know is that:
You Are Never Alone in Your Trials
Just as God was with Joseph in prison, so He is with you when you are facing the trials that you must go through. Do you remember what happened when Nebuchadnezzar threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the furnace? When the king looked into the furnace there were four people in there instead of three. You are never alone.
Joseph was upright in everything that he did. He didn’t lie or steal, even though he was in charge of a great deal of wealth. He remained true to his morals and his God despite the temptation that is put in his path. Notice that this is not a problem that he created by going somewhere he shouldn’t go or doing something that he shouldn’t do. He is exactly where God wanted him to be and doing exactly what God would want him to do. Yet he still had this great trial. He was wrongly accused and went to prison because of it.
Why did Joseph go through this trial? If you know the story, you know that Joseph ended up being put in charge of the whole of Egypt and ended up saving Egypt and the lives of all of his kin because he remained faithful.
You are going to have trials. It is how you respond to those trials that could change the course of history or the course of your future. It may even have an impact on the future of those around you. How ever it affects you or those around you:
Trials Have a Purpose
James, the brother of Jesus, tells us that (James 1:2-4):
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 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.
James tells us that trials are given to us to test our faith and that testing produces perseverance. In fact, perseverance produces maturity. The Greek word that is used for ‘mature’ is the word teleois and is the same word that is used when Jesus says to “be perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect.” So…
Trials Produce Perseverance
Most of us that have been married a long time know that the Beatles song “Love Is All You Need” is a bunch of baloney. You need a whole lot more than just love, but the most important thing that you need is commitment or, in other words, perseverance.
Not only does James tell us that the trials are good for us, but he tells us to “consider it pure joy.” Is he crazy?! I am supposed to have joy that I am being tempted and tried? Absolutely. It is hard to have joy when you’re going through trials, but that is exactly what James says we are to do! In fact, the Apostle Paul tells us the very same thing (Romans 5:3-4):
Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.
Have you ever known someone that looks on the bright side of everything? It can be downright frustrating the way they see good in everything.
The story is told of a king in Africa who had a close friend with whom he grew up. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) and remarking, "This is good!" One day the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off. Examining the situation, the friend remarked as usual, "This is good!" To which the king replied, "No, this is not good!" and proceeded to send his friend to jail. About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he should have known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured him and took him to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake. As they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone who was less than whole. So untying the king, they sent him on his way. As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend. He went immediately to the jail to speak with his friend. "You were right," he said, "it was good that my thumb was blown off." And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened. "And so, I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this." "No," his friend replied, "This is good!" "What do you mean, ’This is good’? How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year?" "If I had not been in jail, I would have been with you."
Count It All Joy
That doesn’t mean that we are going to be happy about everything that happens to us. Joy and happiness are two different animals. Happiness is dependent on the circumstances we are found in, whereas joy is the calm assurance that comes from looking at everything that happens to us from an eternal point of view. God is still on His throne and we are being perfected by that painful process that is just like purifying gold. It takes high heat to burn away the dross from the pure gold that lies beneath each and every one of us that are called by God. Peter puts it like this (1 Peter 1:6-7):
In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
Joseph was privileged to understand why he had to go through all that he was asked to go through. Most of the time, we don’t get to see the purpose of our trials. If we don’t persevere, those trials will not reach their goal, which is our purification, refinement, and maturation. So…
Hang in There
God is doing you good. If you are a person that likes to write things down, write down these verses and think on them when you are tempted and tried:
(Spanish verses not included…)
Psalm 34:18-19 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit. The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all.
Philippians 4:4-7 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
You can have peace and joy in Christ, despite the circumstances you may find yourself in. Don’t allow those trials to defeat you. Here’s a beautiful passage found in Isaiah 54:17
No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the Lord.
Finally, this last verse from the writer of Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
If you’re going through trials, fix your eyes on Jesus and REJOICE!
If you are being assailed by sickness, disease, or loss, fix your eyes on Jesus and REJOICE!
(Prayer)
*All scriptures in NIV unless otherwise stated.
