The Trials Of Life
What is a Trial?
The dictionary definition for ’trials and tribulations’ is ’irritations and troubles’. It defines a trial as a ’troublesome or irritating person or thing that one must endure.’
TRIAL — a temptation or an adversity, the enduring of which proves the merit of an individual’s faith. For Christians, to encounter adversity is to undergo a trial in which their faith is proved either true or false before God, the highest judge. Since many positive things come about through such trials, Christians are urged to rejoice at their occurrence (James 1:2; 1 Pet. 4:13). Christ Himself set the example in how trials should be endured when He defeated Satan’s temptations by appealing to the word and will of God (Luke 4:1–13).
These two definitions are both excellent because they depict the two kinds of trials we endure in our Christian lives.
One is a definition from the world’s point of view from an English dictionary and it defines the suffering that results from our wrong attitudes and actions, in other words as a direct result of sin in our lives or in the lives of others.
The second defines the trials that come simply because of our attachment and love for Almighty God.
Home-made Trials
Sometimes we bring hardship and trouble on ourselves by our own actions.
We can bring hardship on ourselves by the hurtful things we say to others or by being proud and obnoxious. We can bring hardship on ourselves by being cold and unfeeling or unforgiving. There are many ways in which we can bring difficulty upon ourselves and it’s all a result of the sin in our lives.
"O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" Paul cries in the book of Romans, chapter 7, verse 24.
Even though we are born again we still have a body of death which is prone to sin and if we’re not careful, if we’re not sensitive to the Spirit of God we can get ourselves into a lot of trouble.
Sometimes even spiritual things can prove to be our downfall if they’re not handled in the right way.
Even if we are called by God and receive dreams and visions we can still get ourselves into trouble if we aren’t sensitive to the spirits leading.
I believe the story of Joseph give us a very good example of someone who had obviously heard from God but who got himself into trouble through his spiritual insensitivity, lack of common sense and lack of guidance.
Joseph was a great man of God but he was as human as the rest of us and he made mistakes just the same as we do.
Let’s look at his story.
Genesis 37:1-2
1 So Jacob settled again in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived.
2 Jacob’s son Joseph was now seventeen years old. His job, along with his half brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah, was to shepherd his father’s flocks. But Joseph reported to his father some of the bad things they were doing.
First of all Joseph was a telltale. Don’t you just hate it when your kids come up to you and say ’I saw so-and-so doing such-and-such.’ At best he should have confronted his brothers face to face or even better just lifted it to God in Prayer. Occasionally it is appropriate to report things we’ve seen or heard but a lot of the time all we are doing is gossiping, sticking our noses into other peoples business. Most of the time we would be better of just minding our own business.
What Joseph really needed at this point was guidance from his father. Instead of guiding Joseph in the right direction Jacob encouraged Joseph in his tale telling.
Genesis 37:12-14
12 One day Joseph’s brothers took their father’s flocks to Shechem to graze them there. 13 A few days later Israel called for Joseph, and told him, "Your brothers are over in Shechem grazing the flocks. Go and see how they are getting along, and how it is with the flocks, and bring me word."
"Very good," Joseph replied. So he traveled to Shechem from his home at Hebron Valley.
I think Jacob didn’t trust his other sons and he was sending Joseph out to keep an eye out and report back and by doing so creating animosity between him and his brothers.
Jacob just added to the problem by showing favouritism. We can create problems for ourselves at home if we show favouritsm. We should be careful not to show favouritism anywhere whether it be at home, at church, at work or in our leisure activities. It will only bring strife into our relationships.
Genesis 37:3-4
3 Now as it happened, Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other children, because Joseph was born to him in his old age. So one day Jacob gave him a special gift—a brightly colored coat. 4 His brothers of course noticed their father’s partiality, and consequently hated Joseph; they couldn’t say a kind word to him.
We all know what happened in the story of Joseph. His brothers were outraged by this display of favouritsm and as it says in the text, ’...hated Joseph’, and, ’...couldn’t say a kind word to him’.
To cap it all, Joseph had a dream:
Genesis 37:6-8
6 "Listen to this," he proudly announced. 7 "We were out in the field binding sheaves, and my sheaf stood up, and your sheaves all gathered around it and bowed low before it!"
8 "So you want to be our king, do you?" his brothers derided. And they hated him both for the dream and for his cocky attitude.
Joseph had become proud and developed a cocky attitude. It’s hardly surprising considering the complete absence of guidance from Jacob.
Any ungodly behaviour that we display, whether we are a Christian or not will reap negative consequences. The general rule is that what you sow you reap. If you sow to the flesh you will reap negative things, i.e. anger, jealousy and strife etc... If you sow to the spirit; in other words, those things that are pleasing to God then you will reap good things, i.e. peace, joy, patience and love etc...
If we are being proud or cocky or rude then we can expect some trials to come in our lives. This is exactly what happened to Joseph. His brothers when they had the opportunity vented their anger and sold him off to some Ishmaelite traders on their way to Egypt.
You can’t excuse their behaviour but you can certainly understand it given the circumstances.
Even though the dreams Joseph received were in fact from God, his attitude was all wrong and it created an atmosphere of resentment among his brothers. .
His brothers actions were of course wrong and they got their share of anguish and difficulties later on. We read in:
Genesis 42:21-22
21 Speaking among themselves, they said, "This has all happened because of what we did to Joseph long ago. We saw his terror and anguish and heard his pleadings, but we wouldn’t listen."
22 "Didn’t I tell you not to do it?" Reuben asked. "But you wouldn’t listen. And now we are going to die because we murdered him."
Jacob also had to go through a lot of torment and anguish because of what happened. He had lost or so he thought the apple of his eye and in part it was his fault for showing so much favouritsm.
God will not spare us from the consequences of our actions. He will forgive us and show mercy to us but he will not always spare us from reaping what we have sown. There is a law of cause and effect which God will not change. If you throw yourself off a 5 storey building you must assume the consequences. If you are forever getting angry with everyone and being rude don’t be surprised when people avoid you.
When Joseph’s brothers came to him during the famine he saw his chance to get revenge. He was going to make them pay. For a while he treated them harshly.
Sometimes wounds take a long time to heal and it was obvious that Joseph’s wound hadn’t yet healed. It was also obvious that his reaction had taken away his peace. He knew that he was wrong to treat his brothers in such a hard way and it was playing with his emotions. When we walk in unforgiveness we will not have peace, not with ourselves or others and we create our own inner torment and trial.
Eventually Joseph could take no more and he broke down in tears. Once he had this emotional release he at last realized and could see God’s plan behind all that had happened.
All that had happened fitted into God’s plan:
Genesis 45:1-8
1 Joseph could stand it no longer.
"Out, all of you," he cried out to his attendants, and he was left alone with his brothers. 2 Then he wept aloud. His sobs could be heard throughout the palace, and the news was quickly carried to Pharaoh’s palace.
3 "I am Joseph!" he said to his brothers. "Is my father still alive?" But his brothers couldn’t say a word, they were so stunned with surprise.
4 "Come over here," he said. So they came closer. And he said again, "I am Joseph, your brother whom you sold into Egypt! 5 But don’t be angry with yourselves that you did this to me, for God did it! He sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. 6 These two years of famine will grow to seven, during which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7 God has sent me here to keep you and your families alive, so that you will become a great nation. 8 Yes, it was God who sent me here, not you! And he has made me a counselor to Pharaoh, and manager of this entire nation, ruler of all the land of Egypt.
Despite all these failings on the part of Joseph, his brothers and Jacob, God was working out his purposes for his people. In his wisdom and his power to know all things he was using these events for the good of his people.
Romans 8:28
28 And we know that all that happens to us is working for our good if we love God and are fitting into his plans.
God was with Joseph, his brothers and his father Jacob throughout their troubles and despite their weaknesses. He has promised to be with us too. We can be sure that even when we fail, even when our actions are causing bad things to happen in our lives He will be with us because he has said it in his word,
Hebrews 13:5
"... I will never, never fail you nor forsake you."
I want us now briefly to look at another kind of trial. I want us to look briefly at the story of Job. This was a man who was pleasing in God’s eyes. When Satan came and presented himself before God with all the angles God was full of praise for Job
Job 1:8-13
8 Then the Lord asked Satan, "Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth—a good man who fears God and will have nothing to do with evil."
9 "Why shouldn’t he when you pay him so well?" Satan scoffed. 10 "You have always protected him and his home and his property from all harm. You have prospered everything he does—look how rich he is! No wonder he ’worships’ you! 11 But just take away his wealth, and you’ll see him curse you to your face!"
"...You may do anything you like with his wealth, but don’t harm him physically."
So Satan went away; and sure enough, not long afterwards when Job’s sons and daughters were dining at the oldest brother’s house, tragedy struck.(verses 12-13).
First of all this should clarify once and for all who is the author of suffering. God allowed it but Satan is the one who is doing it and taking great pleasure in it I would imagine.
Someone might argue then why does God allow Satan to get his fix by inflicting pain and suffering on Job in this instance?
I believe God allows it for several different reasons. This is where we need to look at our Bible dictionary definition of ’trials and tribulations’again.
TRIAL — a temptation or an adversity, the enduring of which proves the merit of an individual’s faith. For Christians, to encounter adversity is to undergo a trial in which their faith is proved either true or false before God, the highest judge.
First of all it proves the merit of an individual’s faith, their faith is proved to be either true or false.
I would go further than that and say that a trial or tribulation brings it out in the open for others to see.
It says in Genesis, chapter 15, verse 6 that Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. But that kind of inner faith can’t be seen. It takes a test or a trial to draw it out and we can see how in Genesis, chapter 22 God tested his faith by asking Abraham to offer his son as a sacrifice.
Abraham obeyed and in the end his son was spared. It wasn’t really his son that was required but the faith that was willing to give him up.
We can see how this trial brought Abraham’s faith out in the open. When we read this story we just gasp and say ’WOW!!!’. It’s an inspiration for us isn’t it.
That same kind of outward display of faith as a testimony to others looking on can be seen in Job’s life. When he had lost everything he remained faithful and said those amazing words,
Job 1:21-22
21 "I came naked from my mother’s womb," he said, "and I shall have nothing when I die. The Lord gave me everything I had, and they were his to take away. Blessed be the name of the Lord."
22 In all of this Job did not sin or revile God.
Trial gives us an opportunity to bring a visible witness to those around us. It’s no good us preaching our hearts out and then when the first little thing comes along we lose our faith and stop trusting in God. What kind of message will that give. People are watching you, especially if you’ve been sharing your faith with them and when they see how you stand up patiently and faithfully under trial and that you still hold firm to what you believe in what a testimony that will bring. That kind of faith glorifies God and that’s one of the reasons he allows it.
(Pastor in Torquay who impacted my life).
I believe that it is a good hefty kick in the teeth for Satan too when a believer stands up under trial. He’s hoping that you’ll turn your back on God and I’m sure it must make his blood boil when that doesn’t happen.
As we all know Satan doesn’t give up easily and he wasn’t finished with Job yet. God was still bragging about Job to Satan but Satan had one more trick up his sleeve.
Job 2:3-6
3 "Well, have you noticed my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "He is the finest man in all the earth—a good man who fears God and turns away from all evil. And he has kept his faith in me despite the fact that you persuaded me to let you harm him without any cause."
4 "Skin for skin," Satan replied. "A man will give anything to save his life. Touch his body with sickness, and he will curse you to your face!"
6 "Do with him as you please," the Lord replied; "only spare his life."
Job struggles with his intense suffering and goes through periods of deep darkness and despondency. When we are suffering we don’t have to be like some kind of spiritual robot and say we’re fine when it’s obvious to all that we’re not. It’s O.K. to be real, to be honest about our feelings. People will respect us for it.
What Job struggles with the most is his confusion about why he is suffering. He can’t understand why God (or at least he thinks it’s God - he wasn’t privy to the conversation between God and Satan) is inflicting punishment on him and he protests his innocence. He leans on his own goodness, his righteous life as a defense against what he feels is an injustice.
I believe that this in part explains why God allowed suffering to come into Job’s life. I think God could see that Job had lost his focus. He had begun to count more on his own goodness than on the goodness of God. He had become too comfortable and he had taken his eyes of God.
Our problem is that we grab for our security blanket instead of grabbing for the Savior1
God should have first place in our lives so that even if we lose every material thing and our health we can comfort ourselves knowing that we still have God. God should be our most prized treasure so that even if everything else is gone we can keep our peace knowing that God is still there, that we will never lose him.
Job equated punishment and suffering with sin and I don’t think for one minute that he stopped and thought that maybe God was trying to teach him something through this time of trial.
Even though God spoke highly of Job, God knew there was still more to do. We can never say we have arrived, there is always something in our life which needs attention. We will never be perfect in this lifetime, there is always room for improvement.
Let’s just look at a couple of verses in the book of Hebrews, chapter 12, verses 1-2,
Hebrews 12:1-2
1... let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back... and let us run with patience the particular race that God has set before us.
2 Keep your eyes on Jesus, our leader and instructor. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterwards; and now he sits in the place of honor by the throne of God.
I believe that Job’s self righteous attitude and his material comfort was holding him back and God stripped those things away from him for a time so that he could regain his focus and go on with God.
We can clearly see in the final chapter of the book of Job how he had gained a deeper knowledge of God,
Job 42:1-6
1 Then Job replied to God:
2 "I know that you can do anything and that no one can stop you. 3 You ask who it is who has so foolishly denied your providence. It is I. I was talking about things I knew nothing about and did not understand, things far too wonderful for me.
4 "You said, ’Listen and I will speak! Let me put the questions to you! See if you can answer them!’
5 "But now I say, ’I had heard about you before, but now I have seen you, 6 and I loathe myself and repent in dust and ashes.’ "
I believe at this point Job didn’t really even care if he was never rich again. I believe that he was so awe struck by God that he had forgotten all about the sores he had. His suffering had caused him to know God in a much deeper and more meaningful way and I think this was more valuable to him at this point in time than all the riches in the world and all the good deeds he had done or could ever do.
He saw that his goodness paled into insignificance compared to God and he saw that he could never match up to God.
It’s not our goodness that impresses God. He doesn’t reward us or punish us according to our performance. God brought Job to a place where he repented of trusting in his own goodness and wealth and he once again learned to put his trust in God. Because of this God blessed the end of Job’s life more than the beginning and it says he died after living a long and good life.
Let’s look at our Bible definition again,
TRIAL —... Since many positive things come about through such trials, Christians are urged to rejoice at their occurrence (James 1:2; 1 Pet. 4:13). Christ Himself set the example in how trials should be endured when He defeated Satan’s temptations by appealing to the word and will of God (Luke 4:1–13).
It says that many positive things come about through such trials and it lists three particular bible passages. Let’s look at those passages now.
James 1:2-4
2 Dear brothers, is your life full of difficulties and temptations? Then be happy, 3 for when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, and don’t try to squirm out of your problems. For when your patience is finally in full bloom, then you will be ready for anything, strong in character, full and complete.
1 Peter 4:13
13 Instead, be really glad—because these trials will make you partners with Christ in his suffering, and afterwards you will have the wonderful joy of sharing his glory in that coming day when it will be displayed.
Suffering helps us grow as Christians to be all that God would have us be. As we grow and learn to humble ourselves under his mighty, yet loving hand we will bring glory to him our Saviour and Lord.
Job’s suffering brought him closer to God, the exact opposite of what Satan had in mind and I imagine it must have been a huge body blow for him.
The third passage points us to the word and the will of God,
Luke 4:1-13
1 Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan River, being urged by the Spirit out into the barren wastelands of Judea, where Satan tempted him for forty days. He ate nothing all that time and was very hungry.
3 Satan said, "If you are God’s Son, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread."
4 But Jesus replied, "It is written in the Scriptures, ’Other things in life are much more important than bread!’ "
5 Then Satan took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time; 6 and the devil told him, "I will give you all these splendid kingdoms and their glory—for they are mine to give to anyone I wish—if you will only get down on your knees and worship me."
8 Jesus replied, "We must worship God, and him alone. So it is written in the Scriptures."
9 Then Satan took him to Jerusalem to a high roof of the Temple and said, "If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say that God will send his angels to guard you and to keep you from crashing to the pavement below!"
12 Jesus replied, "The Scriptures also say, ’Do not put the Lord your God to a foolish test.’ "
13 When the devil had ended all the temptations, he left Jesus for a while and went away.
Jesus was prepared to go through suffering if it was the will of God. Satan tried to get him to doubt who he was and the call on his life.
Satan will so the same thing with us. He will try and get us to doubt our identity in Christ, how we are the righteousness of God and that nothing can separate us from the love of God. He will use suffering to try and throw us off the path that God has chosen for us.
Job despite all his ups and downs, his highs and lows remained firm and steadfast. In the midst of his sufferings he said the following,
Job 19:25-27
25 "But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that he will stand upon the earth at last. 26 And I know that after this body has decayed, this body shall see God! 27 Then he will be on my side! Yes, I shall see him, not as a stranger, but as a friend! What a glorious hope!
Job didn’t suffer because of a particular sin he had committed. He suffered because God was lifting him to a higher place.
Job 23:10
10 But He knows the way that I take;
When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.
Finally to sum up suffering is inevitable, we can’t escape it.
Yet the word of God says the following :
15"If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name." 1 Peter 4 : 15 - 16 (N.I.V.)
Through it all let us remember that God is good and He is good all the time.
AMEN.
