We all know that duct tape and bailing wire will fix almost anything. Well, not quite.
A man in Alaska less than a month ago (June 8, 2017) attempted to cross a channel near Juneau on a homemade, inflatable raft made with duct tape. He put the raft into the water with a paddle and his dog, but no life jacket.
According to a local news outlet, the weather was calm with only 9 mph winds. Even so, a local Coast Guard crew had to come to the man's rescue when the makeshift boat started to fill with water.
The Coast Guard “deemed the craft unsafe” and “transferred it, the man – and his dog – to [nearby] Douglas Harbor.” (www. ktoo.org/2017/06/08/coast-guard-rescues-man-dog-gastineau-channel-duct-taped-inflatable; www.PreachingToday.com)
A lot of people try to make it through life, trusting their own makeshift schemes, and then they wonder why they can’t stay afloat. There’s got to be a better way than this duct tape approach to life, and there is! If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to James 1, James 1, where the Bible shows us this better way.
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. (ESV)
Instead of blaming God for your problems (vs.13), the Bible encourages you to praise God for your blessings. If you’re going to pass the tests of life and come out on the other side of your trials a better person, then you need to…
LOOK TO THE UNCHANGING GOD.
Take your eyes off your problems, and focus your attention on the Lord, who is always good.
Fix your eyes on your Heavenly Father, who ALWAYS gives good gifts to His children. God is not like the shadow of a sun dial, which is constantly changing. God is not even like the sun, the moon, or the stars – the lights in the sky – whose positions are constantly changing with regard to the earth. No! God is the unchanging creator of those lights, who can always be counted on to give good gifts to His children even in their pain. That’s the perspective you need to have if you’re going to come out on the other side of your trials a better person.
Dr. Jamie Aten is a cancer survivor and a Christian, who researches how people respond to trauma. Just last August (2016), he wrote an article for The Washington Post, which he titled, “Spiritual Advice for surviving cancer and other disasters.” This is what he had to say:
“Most of us operate from what some researchers refer to as a ‘just’ worldview. We tend to believe that if we are good, good things will happen. It's difficult, then, to make [sense out of life] when bad things happen to us.”
Aten says, “I went to the doctor for tests because of shooting pains in my leg. I never dreamed it was from a mass sitting on a nerve bundle in my pelvis. It was difficult for me to wrap my head around what had happened. Thoughts like, ‘Wasn't I a good person?’ plagued me.”
One of Aten’s colleagues worked with a relief agency to help the survivors of Superstorm Sandy in 2012. One of the men she met had his roof blown away by the gale-strength winds. He surprised the relief team when he told them, “Sometimes you have to lose the roof to see the stars.” He found meaning in his loss.
Aten and his colleagues have interviewed many disaster survivors about their views of God, and they found that there are basically two ways these people view God. There are those who believe God saved them, and there are those who believe God is punishing them.
These are people who went through the same disaster, but they have two very different views of God. Aten found that those who have a negative view of God are “likely to struggle a great deal more.” So he encourages his readers: “Even in the worst moments, look for the stars.” (Dr. Jamie Aten, "Spiritual Advice for surviving cancer and other disasters," The Washington Post, 8-9-16; www.PreachingToday)
Better yet, look beyond the stars to the One who made the stars. Look to the unchanging God, who always gives good gifts to His children.
And look to the unchanging God who gave you a new life when you put your trust in Jesus, His Son
James 1:18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. (ESV)
Literally, of his own will he gave birth to us, he begat us. He caused us to be born again! Sin gives birth to death verse 15 says. God, on the other hand, gives birth to life, a new life in Christ!
So when you go through tough times, please understand that God is NOT punishing you for your sins. He can’t be doing that, because God has already punished His own Son for your sins on the cross. No, God is not punishing you. Rather, God has saved you from your sins and has given you a new life!
Therefore, the trials are designed not as punishment for sin, but as tools to help you grow in your new life in Christ. And what a great life it is! Look at verse 18 again: “Of his own will he brought us forth.”
God caused you to be born again by His own will. That means He wanted you in His family.
Think about a married couple who have tried for years to conceive. Their arms are empty and their hearts ache as they see other moms and dads with their children. Then news comes that they are expecting; and when that baby is born, they cannot contain their joy! That’s Gods attitude towards you! He wanted you! He caused you to be born again by His own will.
So He caused you to be born again by His own Word.
James 1:18 “Of his own will be brought us forth BY THE WORD OF TRUTH.”
God’s Word is the “word of truth”, and it is absolutely essential to bring about new life in Christ. The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to cause people to be born again. Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” It is NOT human words that inspire true faith. It is God’s Word! God caused you to be born again by His own will and by His own word.
Why? Well, God caused you to be born again to be His very best. Look at verse 18 one more time
James 1:18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. (ESV)
The “firstfruits” are the best fruits, the choicest fruits. God caused you to be born again so that you could be the “best” of all his creatures. That’s the reason for the trials in your life. He designs them not to tear your down, but to build you up, to make you one of His very best creatures.
In her book A Place of Healing, Joni Eareckson Tada reflects on how we tend to worry that the cares, troubles, and afflictions of life will wear us down, dulling our joy, diluting our hope, and robbing us of the radiance we once experienced as believers. “In fact,” writes Tada, “it may be the very opposite. It isn't the hurts, blows, and bruises that rob us of the freshness of Christ's beauty in our lives. More likely, it is careless ease, empty pride, earthly preoccupations, and too much prosperity that will put layers of dirty films over our souls.
Then she talks about visiting the Notre Dame Cathedral years ago when she was in Paris. “There it was”, she says, “almost one thousand years old, standing there so huge and…black.” She had never seen such a dirty cathedral! After hundreds of years of soot, dust, and smoke, Notre Dame was covered in layers of black grime. It was even difficult to make out the beautiful carvings and details on the exterior.
But then the grand old cathedral went through a year-long restoration. Scaffolding was erected, and the entire exterior was sandblasted. Joni says she was “stunned” when she saw a recent photograph of the cathedral. It was beautiful—and so very different from the way she remembered it… The ancient stones glowed bright and golden. You could see details on carvings that hadn't been visible in decades. It was like a different cathedral. What a wonder a bit of sandblasting can accomplish…
Joni says, “When I think of how that process changed that cathedral in Paris, I can't help but consider that way God uses suffering to sandblast you and me. There's nothing like real hardships to strip off the veneer in which you and I so carefully cloak ourselves. Heartache and physical pain reach below the superficial, surface places of our lives, stripping away years of accumulated indifference and neglect. When pain and problems press up against a holy God, suffering can't help but strip away years of dirt. Affliction has a way of jackhammering our character, shaking us up and loosening our grip on everything we hold tightly. But the beauty of being stripped down to the basics, sandblasted until we reach a place where we feel empty and helpless, is that God can fill us up with himself. When pride and pettiness have been removed, God can fill us with “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Joni Eareckson Tada, A Place of Healing: Wrestling with the Mysteries of Suffering, Pain, and God's Sovereignty, David Cook, 2010, pp. 86-87; www.PreachingToday.com)
God is in the process of making you into one of His very best creatures, so let Him sandblast away until the beauty of Christ shines through. If want to pass the tests of life and come out on the other side of your trials a better person, then look to the unchanging God who gives good gifts and new life to those who depend on Him. But don’t stop with just looking to the unchanging God…
LISTEN TO WHAT GOD HAS TO SAY.
Pay attention to His Word. Or to put it more bluntly, Open your ears, shut your mouth, and hold your temper. That’s what the Bible says!
James 1:19-20 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. (ESV)
These verses are actually a summary of the whole book of James. The rest of chapter 1 and chapter 2 describe what it means to HEAR God’s Word. Chapter 3 talks about controlling the tongue, being slow to SPEAK, and chapter 4, along with the first 12 verses of Chapter 5, describe how to control your ANGER. That’s the message of the book of James: If you want to pass the tests of life you must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.
We’ll look at each of these in depth as we make our way through the book of James; but right now, let’s take a brief look at each.
If you want to come out on the other end of your trials a better person, first be quick to hear. Open your ears to what God has to say, and really listen to His Word.
Years ago, Broadway producer Jed Harris became convinced that he was losing his hearing, so he visited an audiologist. The audiologist pulled out an old-fashioned, ticking, gold watch and asked, “Can you hear this ticking?”
“Of course,” Harris replied.
The audiologist walked to the door and asked the question again. Harris concentrated and said, “Yes, I can hear it clearly.” Then the doctor walked into the next room and repeated the question a third time. A third time, Harris said he could hear the ticking.
“Mr. Harris,” said the audiologist, “there is nothing wrong with your hearing. You just don’t listen.” (Clifton Fadiman, Little Brown Book of Anecdotes, pp.266-267)
I remember when Sandy and I were first married. Sometimes she would ask me to do something, and I blew it off. AI got busy with my own agenda and forgot all about it. Then, later in the day, she would ask if I had done what she asked, and I would say, “What? I don’t remember you asking me to do anything.”
It happened so often that I actually went to an audiologist to have my hearing checked. I thought, “Something must be wrong with my ears; I’m really not hearing this woman.” But the problem wasn’t my hearing. I just wasn’t listening.” It still happens today, but hopefully not quite as often.
Does anybody else have that problem? You hear, but you don’t really listen.
It’s bad enough when you do it to your mate or your parents; but when you do it to God, it’s even worse. You can get so busy with your own agenda that you forget what God has asked you to do in His Word. Then you wonder why things go from bad to worse.
The best athletes have learned the value of listening very well. For example, Green Bay Packers quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, is one of the best pro football players of all-time, but he still listens to his coaches. “I love being coached,” Rodgers said. “I love talking football with smart coaches. I love the input, the dialogue, the conversation.” His team's head coach, Mike McCarthy, added, “Aaron is a really good student. He wants to be coached, and he likes to be coached hard.”
Steph Curry, one of the best basketball players in the NBA, has the same attitude. One of his coaches said, “He's the most educable player I've ever known—both in terms of his willingness to listen and in his ability to absorb and execute.” (Peter King, "I Desperately Want to Be Coached," The MMQB, 9-9-15; Andrew Corsello, "The Revenge of Stephen Curry, the Happy Warrior," GQ, 4-17-17; www.PreachingToday.com)
Listening is the way the best athletes get better, and listening is the way any of us grow especially in times of trouble. So if you want to come out on the other end of your trials a better person, first, be quick to hear.
Second, be slow to speak. In times of trouble, learn to control your tongue, and shut your mouth before you stick your foot into it.
It was his first day on the job. He was a new clerk in the fresh vegetable department of a super market. A lady came up to him and said she wanted to buy half of a head of lettuce. He tried to dissuade her, but she persisted.
Finally, he said, “I'll have to go back and talk to the manager.”
He went to the rear of the store to talk to the manager, not noticing that the woman was walking right behind him. When he got into the back of the store, he said to the manager, “There's some stupid old bag out there who wants to buy half a head of lettuce. What should I tell her?”
Seeing the horrified look on the face of the manager, he turned about and, seeing the woman, added, “And this nice lady wants to buy the other half of the head of lettuce. Will it be all right?”
Considerably relieved, the manager said, “That would be fine.”
Later in the day, he congratulated the boy on his quick thinking. He then asked, “Where are you from, son?”
The boy said, “I'm from Toronto, Canada, the home of beautiful hockey players and ugly women.”
The manager looked at him and said, “My wife is from Toronto.”
The boy said, “Oh, what team did she play for?” (Bruce Thielemann, “Because,” Preaching Today, Tape No. 105; www.PreachingToday.com)
Your tongue can get you into a lot of trouble, especially when you’re going through hard times. In the heat of the moment, you can say things you later regret, so be SLOW to speak. THINK about what you want to say before you say it.
If you want to come out on the other end of your trials a better person, 1st, be quick to hear; 2nd, be slow to speak; and 3rd, be slow to anger. Hold your temper, because your anger will not make things better. Look at verse 20 again.
James 1:20 The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
Your anger will not make things better. In fact, it makes things worse.
Just this last March (2017), a plane headed for Hawaii was diverted to Los Angeles after a passenger began to fight with an airline employee.
According to CNN, “The 66-year-old man threatened the worker after he was charged $12 for a blanket.” Since the cabin temperature was a little chilly, he “insisted he should not have to pay.” Things got progressively worse: “During an in-flight call with an airline representative, the man said he ‘would like to take someone behind the woodshed for this.’”
The captain rerouted the plane to Los Angeles, a choice that was defended by a Hawaiian Airlines spokeswoman: “Diverting a flight is clearly not our first choice, but our crew felt it was necessary in this case to divert to Los Angeles and deplane the passenger before beginning to fly over the Pacific Ocean.”
The flight took off again a few hours later without the man, who had to wait until the next day to get another flight to Hawaii. (“Passenger causes plane to divert after he's charged $12 for a blanket” News 4 Jacksonville, 3-09-17; www.Preaching Today.com)
The anger of man does not make things right. In fact, it only makes things worse.
So what do you do when you feel you have been wronged? What do you do when you’re upset, because life doesn’t seem fair?
Be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger. Don’t take matters into your own hands. Instead, look to the God who is always good, and listen to Him. Just trust and obey the Lord. It’s the only way to get better, not bitter, in your trials.
Not a burden we bear,
Not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay.
Not a grief nor a loss,
Not a frown nor a cross,
But is blessed if we trust and obey. (Daniel Brink Towner and John Henry Sammis)
