How To Experience Joy During Trials (Part One)
James 1:2
Preached by Pastor Tony Miano
Pico Canyon Community Church
November 5, 2000
Introduction: This morning we’re going to begin a study of James 1:2-4. Over the next two weeks, we’re going to look at three keys to experiencing joy in the midst of trials. We’re going to look at how the attitude of our heart, our knowledge of the Truth, and the maturity of our faith determines the level of joy we can experience even when we face some of the most difficult times of our lives. We’re also going to take a little time this morning and look at the difference between a believer’s suffering as a result of their faith in Christ, and experiencing the day-to-day trials of life.
But let’s begin with a word of prayer.
Go ahead and turn with me to James, Chapter 1. In verses 2-4 we read, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
As a pastor who is committed to the clear, verse-by-verse teaching of God’s Word, one of the challenges I face is making sure that the messages I bring to you are never about me. I want you to be encouraged and challenged by what you learn from God’s Word—not what you learn about me. With that said, I also think God uses the testimonies of His people to illustrate His marvelous grace, His incredible mercy, and His unending love. I ask that you indulge me for just a bit as I share a day in the life of my family in which these three verses in James were used by God to lead us through on of life’s trials.
When Michelle was five, her doctors decided it was time for her to undergo some serious and extensive surgery to correct the curvature of her spine. We were told that she would eventually be crippled by the condition if it were not corrected. The initial surgery, which took about eight hours, went very well. So well that the surgeon, one of the best in the country in the field of pediatric orthopedics, decided to place a metal rod along her spine to support the vertebrae that had been fused together.
We eventually took Michelle home sporting a full upper body cast. Her recovery went fairly well until one day when we noticed what looked like a small bloodstain on the backside of her cast. She soon started running a high fever. We called Children’s Hospital and they told us to bring her in right away.
The doctors in the emergency room cracked open Michelle’s cast and were horrified at what they saw. The metal rod that had been placed along Michelle’s spine had broken away from one of the vertebrae and pierced through her skin. Her back was swollen and very infected. Michelle would have to undergo yet another surgery to removed the rod from her back.
Because of the infection, they could not close the wound from the surgery. For several agonizing days, Michelle had to endure incredible pain and discomfort as the infection was purged from her body in ways I will not describe this morning.
Michelle was on very heavy antibiotics for some time. Because she was a frail little girl to begin with, it was difficult to maintain an I.V. in any of her little veins. The doctors decided to place a shunt under her skin, along the collar bone, known as a central line, so they could maintain the heavy dose of antibiotics required to deal with the infection in her body.
This required yet another surgical procedure for my baby. It was a time when I thought back to those first few days after Michelle’s birth. I would sit in the rocking chair in the ICU for hours telling Michelle that I would always be there for her and that I would never let anything bad happen to her. I told her that I would protect her from everything and everyone. Now, five years later, I was helpless to do anything for her. Satan had me convinced that I was letting my little girl down.
Michelle was scheduled for the procedure on February 6th, 1993. It was a Saturday. I had made arrangements to work the day shift so that I could get to Children’s Hospital in time for Michelle’s surgery, scheduled for late in the afternoon. This was also the day I would meet a man named Jeff Sauer.
Jeff Sauer had been arrested 17 times before I met him for everything from petty theft to robbery. His pastime was stealing cars. He had been in and out of county jail and state prison several times. In fact he had been released from his latest stint in prison not long before I met him.
I finished the shift and was about to head downstairs to the locker room when I heard a deputy on the radio request emergency clearance. The deputy advised that he was following a reported stolen vehicle that had been used in a robbery. The driver, Jeff Sauer, was high on methamphetamine. He had not been out of prison for long and probably wasn’t excited about the idea of going back.
Those of us in the station rushed to the parking lot and grabbed any black & white that was available. The deputy who put out the assistance request was heading into the Valencia Industrial Center.
I was one of at least six units that responded to help stop this car. When everyone was in position, we turned on our rotating lights and ordered the car to pull over. Considering what the vehicle was wanted for, I figured the driver would make a run for it. He was in a 5.0 Mustang so it would be a fun chase.
Fortunate for us (so we thought), Sauer tried to get away by driving down a dead end street. He led us down a narrow, two-lane access road that led to the “Rye Canyon Test Facility.”
When we got to the end of the road, we had so many units covering the street there was no way he could get by us. Sauer turned off the road into a small dirt area and came to a stop. I and two other deputies were only seconds ahead of the rest of the cavalry. We got out of our cars, drew our weapons, and ordered Sauer to put his hands in the air.
Instead of giving up, Sauer threw his car into reverse, spinning the tires as they tried to get a grip in the dirt. There was nowhere for him to go. Sauer reversed directions a few times as if he were trying to buy time so he could decide what to do next. He came to a stop for a second time. It seemed like it took forever for the cloud of dust to dissipate. Sauer sat there in the car with eyes fixed straight ahead.
Because of the erratic way the car had been moving in the dirt, by the time it came to a stop, one of the deputies found himself standing about ten feet in front of the Mustang. The engine revved as if the car was alive and angry. I wondered, “What is this guy going to do next?”
Jeff Sauer, who for all intents and purposes was caught, had absolutely nowhere to go. He was trapped. There were so many radio cars blocking the road a tank would have had a difficult time getting through. Although I was fully aware that the situation was far from stable and I hadn’t let my guard down a bit, I thought the event was all but over. Sauer had no choice but to give up. But he didn’t. Sauer hit the accelerator. To this day, I thank God the dirt was soft.
I remember seeing the rear tires of the Mustang sink into the dirt. But the dirt couldn’t hold the power of the car. It slowly inched forward and lurched suddenly as it gained traction. The deputy, whose gun was already drawn, fired two quick rounds into the windshield as he ran backwards. I was standing to the deputy’s right, and on the driver’s side of the Mustang. I fired what I thought was a quick burst of three rounds into the driver’s window. I remember seeing both the driver and passenger door windows shatter. My mind had me convinced that I saw the first bullet leave the barrel of my gun.
After I fired the first shot, I couldn’t hear a thing. Not because the sound of the gunshot was deafening, but because one of the body’s defense mechanisms to stress and fear is to temporarily shut down some of the senses. For me, it was my hearing.
The deputy who fired the first rounds was able to jump out of the way of this vehicle that now seemed possessed. As the deputy jumped out of the way, the Mustang turned sharply to the left. It was now coming straight at me. My back was to a row of hedges. I had radio cars to both sides of me. I had nowhere to go. I fired my weapon again. I realized that my duty weapon was not going to stop an oncoming car. I figured that my only chance was to incapacitate the driver. For a moment, I had resigned myself to the fact that I was going to get hit by this out of control car.
Fortunately, or should I say by God’s grace, the Mustang collided with one of the radio cars, causing it to spin out of control a few feet in front of me. The car spun about 90 degrees and came to a stop. I couldn’t believe Sauer was still alive.
Fear was now replaced with pure anger. I was angry because this guy just tried to kill me and another deputy. But beyond that, I was angry because Sauer had seen to it that I wouldn’t get to the hospital in time for Michelle’s surgery. I had promised her that I would be there. I needed to be there, and because of this man that wasn’t going to happen. I knew I would be at the scene and at the station for hours reviewing the incident with investigators.
Sauer had yet to give up. Several deputies were now at the driver’s door of Sauer’s car yelling at him to raise his hands. He refused. I ran from my position, climbed onto the hood of the Mustang, and held the barrel of my weapon an inch or so away from the windshield, pointed between Sauer’s eyes.
I was angry. This guy was keeping me from my little girl and no one does that. I began to apply pressure to the trigger as I yelled at him to get out of the car. The rage inside of me had me convinced I was going to kill this man for keeping me from my little girl.
I continued to squeeze the trigger. “He had to die for this.” I thought. I began to feel my eyes start to get moist as I realized I couldn’t kill this man. A dozen deputies surrounded him. The car was no longer running. The level of threat no longer justified the use of deadly force. I reholstered my weapon, jumped off the hood of the car, and helped the other deputies pull Sauer from the car.
Sauer struggled to the last second. Even though he had several deputies on top of him, he still wanted to fight. I was able to get him handcuffed and it was over. Fortunately, no deputies were hurt.
To give you a better idea of how fast this shooting, and situations like this, occur, let me break down the incident into a time sequence.
From the time I arrived to assist the primary deputy, to the time we stopped the car, to the time Sauer opened the driver’s door, shut it, and took off; 20 seconds elapsed. The actual pursuit of the Mustang lasted 80 seconds. Sauer driving in the dirt and coming to a stop, accelerating toward the other deputy, the two of us shooting at Sauer, Sauer losing control of the vehicle and crashing before he hit me, the time it took me to climb on the hood of the car and deciding not to execute him, and pulling Sauer from the car took approximately 25 seconds.
The entire incident lasted about two minutes, yet seemed to go on forever.
As the dust started to settle, I asked the sergeant for his car phone so I could call Mahria at the hospital to tell her I would be late. “What do I tell her?” I thought. Mahria got on the phone a few seconds later. “Where are you?” She asked. “Honey. I’m all right.” She knew exactly what that meant, as most cops’ wives do. She knew those words meant that something bad happened. I told her that I had just been involved in a shooting, I told her that all of the deputies involved were okay and that I didn’t kill anyone.
Once I got off the phone, a myriad of emotions took over. It was difficult to keep myself together. Then the questions began. “God, why did you let this happen? Why are you keeping me from being with Mahria and Michelle? Why isn’t this guy dead?
Why did God allow my family to face such a trial? Why was life so intense that it was hard to breathe? Why? What good could possibly come out of a situation like this? How can I consider being joyful in a situation like this?
Now, some of you may hear a story like this and say, “I’m glad I’ll never have to go through anything like that.” Well, I’m glad, too. There are times when I share this story with people and they immediately downplay their own situation as insignificant in comparison to mine. I don’t let them do it.
Each of us experience trials in our lives. The mistake we often make is comparing our trials to the difficulties of others. When you are in the midst of a trial, there is nothing more significant than what you are going through at that point in time. Comparing your hard times to those of someone else will not help you to endure trials. God does not want you to downplay your trials by comparing them to the trials of others. He wants you to learn and grow through what He is allowing you to endure.
Key #1: The Attitude of My Heart
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials . . . (v. 1:2)
James 1:2-4 helped me to get through this difficult trial. It was the three keys that these verses contain that helped me to experience authentic joy on one of the toughest days of my life. The first key of experiencing joy during trials is the attitude of my heart.
The believers to whom James wrote were apparently weighed down by the day-to-day stresses in their lives. Their attitude was probably anything but joyful. James is not merely suggesting to the Jewish believers that they be joyful as they go through trials, he is commanding it. In effect, James is telling his brethren to “do it now and once for all.” James was compelled to make this statement as a command because joy is not a natural response to trouble.
The joy of which James speaks is on such a level that it is completely separate from any grief. Not only were they to be joyful as they experienced trials in their lives, they were to maintain that level of joy after the trial passed, right on through to the next one.
The way James refers to the readers of the letter is significant. In fact, James refers to the Jewish believers as “brethren” fifteen times in the letter. His use of the term expresses his deep love for those he is writing to. This is not just a letter from a church leader to the congregation.
His attitude is not impersonal like that of supervisor instructing those placed in his charge. Rather, his attitude is, “as a brother I exhort you,” “as a brother I command you,” “as a brother I implore you.”
James exhorts his brethren to be joyful without a hint of grief as they face the trials of life. James did not say that his brothers and sisters in Christ should be joyful if they faced trials. They were to maintain a joyful attitude when the faced trials.
James uses the word “when” here in the sense of “whenever,” meaning that trials were inevitable, not that trouble was a possibility. While exhorting his fellow believers to an unnatural level of joy, he was assuring them that the trials would come.
It wasn’t that James was telling his readers that they should experience no other emotion apart from joy. Certainly, trials can bring with them sadness or stress. The point James is making is that we should look at each and every trial as an opportunity for rejoicing. It wasn’t that the believers to whom James wrote were to rejoice in the mere fact that they were struggling. They were to rejoice in the fact that the struggle, no matter how traumatic, was temporary because of their relationship with Jesus Christ.
Turn to Romans 8. Let’s read verses 31-39.
James exhorted these young believers to consider the trials of their lives to be opportunities for pure joy because just as Paul knew when he wrote these marvelous words to the Roman believers, James knew that the future was so incredibly bright because his place with Jesus Christ, his risen Lord and Savior, was secure for all eternity. The joy was in the fact that no matter what the world tried to throw at him, the world and the people in it could do absolutely nothing to separate him from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus his Lord.
James uses an interesting word, “encounter,” when describing how trials come about. The Greek word for encounter literally means, “to fall into.” Luke uses the same word in the very familiar story of the Good Samaritan. In Luke 10:30 we read, “Jesus replied and said, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead’” (emphasis added).
When James talks about encountering various trials, the words he uses would cause his readers to picture being completely surrounded by trouble, as if they were lying on the ground, seemingly helpless, being attacked from every side. Not only attacked from every side, but being attacked by a myriad of different problems.
The word various, as it is used in this verse, literally means “varicolored” or “motley.” The same word can be used for either good or bad trials. A.T. Robertson wrote in his commentary on this verse that “trials rightly faced are harmless, but wrongly met become temptations to evil.”
I think it’s important for us to be able to distinguish between a time of real suffering because of our faith in Christ and a time of testing or trial because we are members of the human race. Turn with me to I Peter 3:17.
For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than doing what is wrong. (v. 17)
God allows and uses times of testing in the life of believers to strengthen our faith and produce endurance in our lives. That endurance becomes necessary when we face times of suffering. I like what John Piper said when talking about suffering. He said, “The soul would have no rainbow if the eye had no tears.”
Now, there’s an interesting phrase nestled in the middle of verse seventeen–if God should will it so. What does this mean? Does it mean that God wants His children to suffer? Does it mean that it is likely for believers to suffer when they are living right and doing right for God?
To truly understand what Peter is saying, we need to take a moment to look at the grammar of the verse. Our understanding of the word “if” is critical to understanding what Peter is saying here.
The word “if” introduces a conditional statement of which there are four types. What Peter is actually saying falls under the fourth category of conditional statements. It is the most rare in all of Scripture. The fourth type of conditional statement is the one that represents a “less probable future condition.” This kind of statement expresses not a definite probability that what is being said will happen, but only a possibility. Peter is saying, “if perchance it should be God’s will for you to suffer for doing good.”
Do you see how important this is? What we should believe, what Peter is teaching, is that although God could allow us to suffer for doing good, it is very unlikely that He would allow that to happen. And if we do find ourselves in a situation where God is allowing us to experience a time of suffering for doing something right, it is still better than paying the penalty for doing the wrong thing.
I would hazard to guess that most of us have been taught that suffering is inevitable in the life of a believer. I use to believe the same way. Then I dug below the surface of what I was seeing in the verse, to what it actually meant. Knowing that it will be rare for you to suffer for doing the right thing for Christ should change the way we look at things. Our fear of man should be set aside because we are more likely to be blessed than persecuted for standing firm in our faith and bearing fruit as we walk with Christ.
There is a difference between times of trial or testing, and times of suffering for Christ’s sake. God will allow times of suffering in our lives, in the lives of believers, as a result of what we do for Christ or in His name. Again, those occasions are not only rare—they are not inevitable. He allows these rare times of suffering in order to glorify Himself, by carrying us through the suffering. He allows the suffering as a testimony, a testimony exhibited through our faith, of His sovereignty.
On the other hand, God allows trials, day-to-day trials to give us opportunities to turn to and trust in Him, to seek His counsel, to follow His Word, and to prepare us by way of spiritual maturity for a possible future time of suffering for Christ’s sake.
There are those who will tell you that if you have enough faith you won’t struggle. If you have enough faith, you won’t suffer illness. If you have enough faith, all of your bills will always get paid on time. If you have enough faith, you children will turn out exactly the way you want them to. These same people will also hurry to tell you that if any of these things happen to you, it is because you don’t have enough faith.
My friends, that is a lie. You will not find one faithful servant of the Lord in the New Testament who did not struggle, at one time or another, in their life. It would be rather absurd for me to accuse these giants of early Christianity of lacking faith.
It’s funny that the men and women, who claim that a lack of health, wealth, and prosperity is tantamount to a lack of faith, are the same people who are constantly asking for money from those who they deem faithless. But that’s an issue for another day.
Let’s go back to the word “encounter” for a moment. The word “encounter” represents a falling into which can be either involuntary or voluntary. Certainly we can fall into trials through no doings of our own. But I think, more often than not, we fall into trials as a result of consequences for our actions, consequences for our sins. Unfortunately, at times we can look at our trials as little more than arbitrary punishment from an uncaring God. Instead of taking responsibility for our actions, we cry that the devil made us do it, or we angrily blame God for allowing us to be put in the predicament in which we may find ourselves.
Part of the joy James commanded his brothers and sisters of the faith to have had come through the realization that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1). It came through the realization that although there would be consequences for their actions that were contrary to God’s Will, there was also forgiveness of sin. It came through the realization that no matter what trial they fell into Jesus Christ would be there to help them out of the pit of daily trials.
The other two ingredients for experiencing joy in the midst of trials, knowing the truth and maturing in our faith, work hand in hand with our attitude to help us experience joy during those hard times. We’ll look at the other two ingredients next week.
Now, after hearing all of this, you may think, “Tony has no idea what I’m going through.” You may picture the Jewish believers thinking the same thing about James. James, better than anyone, realized that he was writing to a group of people who were struggling to get by. Life two thousand years ago was probably considerably more difficult than life in Santa Clarita, in the year 2000.
I realize I haven’t walked a mile in your shoes; nor do I have any idea what some of you may be going through at this moment. But I can tell you, without hesitation, that this verse and the verses to come, as is the case with all of God’s Word, is applicable to whatever life is throwing at you right now.
As we consider that, we need to keep in mind that James was writing to Christians, to followers of Jesus Christ. He wasn’t writing to religious people. He wasn’t writing to churchgoers. He was writing to people who, like himself, had committed their lives to Jesus Christ, acknowledging Him as their Lord and Savior. They were people who recognized their need for forgiveness of their sins. They were people who realized that heaven was a real place and their only way to getting there was through Jesus Christ.
They were people who realized they couldn’t earn it and it was freely offered to them even though they didn’t deserve it. The point is this. Until a person establishes an authentic relationship with Jesus Christ they should not expect to experience the joy of Christ in their lives—trials or no trials.
There are many people who operate under the misguided notion that they will come to Jesus Christ once Jesus proves Himself worthy; once He brings them this incredible joy we’ve talked about this morning. The fact of the matter is the joy and peace these people long for will not come until they have given their lives to Christ. Some people look at this truth as condemning, but it’s not. It’s incredibly encouraging.
The encouragement is that the joy and peace they long for, that has seemed so out of reach for so long, is absolutely attainable. But they won’t find it in themselves. It’s in Christ. Even if they don’t experience this joy exponentially on earth, if they give their lives to Christ they are assured of that incomprehensible joy for all eternity with Jesus, in heaven.
For those of us who know Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, one way we remember the incredible gift of salvation given to us through Christ’s finished work on the cross and thank Him for the sacrifice He made for us, is through communion. Like our songs of praise, our giving, and our study of His Word, communion is an act of worship.
This will be the first time we share communion as a church body. At Pico Canyon we will practice open communion. What that means is that if you have given your life to Christ, if you know Him as your Lord and Savior, we welcome you to join us in communion. It matters not whether you’re a member of the church, it matters not if you come from another denomination.
Remember, Jesus Christ did not create a single denomination. Man has done that over the centuries since Christ first established the church. Jesus created the body of Christ. Everyone who knows Him as Lord and Savior, everyone who holds to the essential truths of the Christian faith is part of the body of Christ.
If you’ll turn with me to I Corinthians 11, we’ll see what communion looked like in the New Testament church. Let’s look at verses 23-29.
The Scripture says that we can come to the Lord’s Table in an unworthy manner. An unworthy manner would include looking at communion as little more than a ritual. An unworthy manner would be coming to the Lord’s Table with unconfessed sin in our hearts. An unworthy manner would be coming to the Lord’s Table while having something against a brother or sister in Christ.
We don’t receive salvation by participating in communion. We don’t receive healing or forgiveness by participating in communion. We don’t receive any kind of spiritual reward or brownie button by participating in communion.
Communion serves as a testimony to the world, much like baptism, that we belong to Jesus Christ and are obedient to Him. It is a testimony of our belief that the Lord will return because we are to proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
Communion is a time of remembrance. It is a time to remember Christ’s atoning work on the cross. It is a time for us to acknowledge the presence of Christ in the fellowship of His people, not in the elements themselves. Again, it is a time of worship.
The Scriptures tell us that we should examine ourselves before we come to the table. We tell our children to wash their hands before they come to the dinner table. We need to make sure our hearts are clean, that our hearts are right with the Lord before we come to His Table.
Maybe you’re here this morning and you’ve never given your heart to Christ. Maybe you have participated in communion before but you were just going through the motions because you were in church and everyone else was doing it. Let this morning be different. Let this morning be the first time that you participate in the Lord’s Supper as part of His family. Let this be the first time that you remember the Lord’s sacrifice on the cross as more than a historical fact—but as the supreme act which makes your salvation possible.
We’re going to take a couple moments to quietly pray to the Lord. Take this time to confess your sin and make your heart right before the Lord. If you are here this morning and have never asked Christ into your heart, I want to encourage you to do that today. Don’t do it because I ask you to, but because the Lord has impressed upon your heart your need for Him.
A relationship with Jesus Christ, an eternal and authentic relationship with Jesus Christ, begins by acknowledging your need for a Savior, acknowledging that Jesus Christ is the way and the truth and the life and the only way to heaven, acknowledging that you can’t get there through your own good deeds, asking Him to forgive your sins, and asking Him to be the Lord of your life.
There is no magical prayer that makes that happen. There is no ritual, church membership, or class that makes salvation possible. It is simply the prayer of your heart, in your own words—the prayer of a sincere person who wants Jesus to not simply be part of your life, something you do on Sunday morning, but the Lord of your life. As we spend these few moments in silent prayer, ask Him into your heart and then join us at His table as a new member of His family.
Let’s pray.
