What do you do when the storms of life blow through your life?
Thesis: James gives us practical insight into what to do when the storms of life blow through our lives. Attitude makes a difference in the storm so make sure it is joyful, Ask for directions through the storm, Accept His direction and don’t doubt His insight. Then come out on the other end of the storm and receive A Crown of life!
Texts: James 1:2-18:
2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
9The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. 10But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. 11For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.
12Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
13When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
16Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. 17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
Introduction:
James the brother of Jesus gives us practical insight into to how to handle the storms that will come rushing out of the night and into our lives. He gives good sound advice on what to do and what not to do in the midst of hurricanes and severe storms. The reality of life is --times of trouble and difficulty will blow across our paths. It is a fact of life! Most of God’s saints have known times of trouble in their lives. Life on earth always has to deal with a phenomena called storms. They blow in –they blow out – they upset the sunshine of life and most of us have learned that we have to deal with them. We need to just press through them because we know the sun is always shining on the other side.
I recall a couple of summers back we were driving across the country and we kept running into severe storms. I off course never quit driving – I just pressed on through the down pours and the lightening then we would eventually break out of the storm bank and drive into the sunshine. It was always so refreshing and relieving to break out of the storm. I remember thinking to myself these storms are like life’s storms they blow in and blow out. If you stay on your path you eventually drive out of the storm and into the light. The key just keep pressing on through the storm.
I once had a few people leave a church because they were upset with a sermon I preached. My sermon was on the book of Job. They said that they left because Christians do not have to suffer. They honestly believed that if you had enough faith you would never face trials, troubles, storms or difficulty in your life. I was amazed at this philosophy of life. Because as I read and study the Bible I have discovered over and over, that we are constantly reminded that trials, trouble, storms, heartache, tragedy will come into Christians lives. No one is exempt from these storms of life.
I have sat and pondered this thought also, “Man I wish I could honestly say that as a Christian you will never have to face trials, tribulations, or storms.” But I cannot say it because I would be liar if I said that.
Jesus himself promised us that we would face storms in this life. Listen to his words in John 16:32, 33: “But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my father is with me. 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.”
T.S.- Our text from James today has made it clear that we will run across storms in life. The keys to grasp today are what can we do to deal with these storms appropriately. We first of all see that we have to have the right attitude in the storms of life.
1. Attitude makes the difference between whether we are successful or failures in the storms of life.
a. James tells us to make sure that we have the right attitude in the midst of the storm.
i. The key in overcoming is to have the right attitude.
1. James 2:3, 4: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
ii. Attitude determines if you will be an over comer or become a defeated individual.
1. Harold Sherman, wrote a book How to Turn Failure Into Success. In it he gives a “Code of Persistence”
a. I will never give up so long as I know I am right.
b. I will believe that all things will work out for me if I hang on until the end.
c. I will be courageous and undismayed in the face of odds.
d. I will not permit anyone to intimidate me or deter me from my goals.
e. I will fight to overcome all physical handicaps and setbacks
f. I will try again and again and yet again to accomplish what I desire.
g. I will take new faith and resolution from the knowledge that all successful men and women have had to fight defeat and adversity.
h. I will never surrender to discouragement or despair no matter what seeming obstacles may confront me. (Maxwell, 105).
2. You can decide to persevere and endure or you can decide to quit and give up.
a. This all relies on your willingness to press on into a mindset of Christian maturity. James reminds the church that trials are opportunities of growth in Christ.
3. This attitude relies on your perception of trouble.
4. This attitude relies on how you deal with storms that hit unexpectedly.
iii. You can decide to look at life through the lens of Joy or Sorrow.
1. John Maxwell said in his book The Winning Attitude that attitude toward life is the difference between success and failure in life.
a. He states, “Do you feel the world is treating you well? If your attitude toward the world is excellent, you will receive excellent results. If you feel so-so about the world, your response from that world will be average. Feel badly about your world and you will seem to have only negative feedback from life” (15).
b. He tells the story of the 2 buckets:
i. The story of the two buckets underlines this truth. One bucket was an optimist, and the other was a pessimist. “There has never been a life as disappointing as mine,” said the empty bucket as it approached the well. “I never come away from the well full but that I return again empty.” “There has never been such a happy life as mine,” said the full bucket as it left the well. “I never come to the well empty but I go away again full.” (16).
b. JOY – is defined as understanding the truth that Jesus is On Your side!
i. James tells us to approach trials with an attitude of joy. He instructs us to see them through the lens of opportunity – a time to grow in the faith - not as a major set back in life.
1. We need to look at storms and painful scenarios in a different light. Possibly God’s light? Wirt helps us to see through a difference lens in his book Jesus Man of Joy.
a. Sherwood Wirt has this to say about the positive side of pain:
i. Pain does have this positive value. It will bring to halt our indulgence in wasteful and useless thoughts, and force us to concentrate on more important matters. It can even galvanize us into action. A young boy growing up in a Christian home in Ohio had left home and was working on a canal boat when he injured his foot while chopping wood. He contracted blood poisoning and soon became an invalid. During the long, painful months in bed he resolved to seek an education upon recovery. He studied for the ministry but then became a teacher, then a school principal. During the Civil War he joined the 42nd Ohio Volunteers, became a hero during the fighting at Shiloh and Chickamauga, and rose to major general. After serving in Congress as Representative from Ohio and U.S. Senator, he was elected President of the United States. It was while lying in bed that he decided to change the direction of his life. His name was James Abram Garfield” (117,118).
ii. When we have the “Be Happy Attitude” life is fun and not Ho hum. We have strength to deal with trails and tribulations and they don’t seem to overwhelm us instead they challenge us to grow so we face them.
1. The Lord desires us to live with a good sense of fun and laughter. The Word tells us this about joy:
a. Texts: Proverbs 15:13 A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit. A cheerful heart brings a smile to your face; a sad heart makes it hard to get through the day (The Message).
i. Happiness is the key to succeeding in this life. It’s what makes life worth living and fighting for.
ii. All of this makes it easier and delightful to go through the day or through a storm.
b. Proverbs 15:15All the days of the oppressed are wretched, but the cheerful heart has a continual feast (NIV).
1. A miserable heart means a miserable life; a cheerful heart fills the day with song (The Message).
2. Have you ever met a person who is always bubbly and cheerful they are an absolute pleasure to be around.
3. How about you do you fill you day with singing or do you fill it with complaining?
4. Do you look for a song or for a bong?
c. Proverbs 15:30 A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones.
i. A twinkle in the eye means joy in the heart, and good news makes you feel fit as a fiddle (The Message).
1. It’s a medical fact that laughter and humor is healthy for a body.
2. People who laugh and enjoy life live longer.
3. Comedian Bob Newhart stated, ‘People with a sense of humor tend to be less egocentric. They are more humble in moments of success and less defeated in times of travail.”
d. Proverbs 17:22 “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones” (NIV)
i. “A cheerful disposition is good for your health; gloom and doom leave you bone-tired” (The Message).
1. “Laughter Really is the Best medicine” states Sue Casiglia – Lets look at some highlights from her study:
a. The affect of laughter on the body is immediate. Laughing actually lowers blood pressure, reduces stress hormones and increases muscle flexion.
b. It also increases your resistance level to infections.
c. Laughter also triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers, and produces a general sense of well-being.
d. In the US, laughter is used as a pain management technique for terminally ill cancer patients. Patients who regularly employ laughter therapy are found to be more tolerant of pain than those who don’t. (www.selfgrowth.com)
2. Laughter may be best medicine for heart disease CNN reports- Highlights from their study:
a. People who report that they laugh more are less likely to have heart disease.
b. Miller said many studies have shown that feelings of anger and hostility cause the cells lining blood vessels to release chemicals that make them restrict and cause heart disease.
c. Dr. Peter Angerer in Munich, Germany found that angry, lonely people developed heart disease.
3. We need to laugh more by Enda Junkins – highlights from the report:
a. Laughter relieves stress.
b. It reduces aggression and conflict. People laughing are unable to hold each other at sword point. Some how there is no longer a point, only acceptable differences.
c. It relieves anxiety. One cannot laugh and be afraid simultaneously. It’s physically impossible. Laughter also shrinks the source and size of our fears.
d. Maybe we need to do a 30 minute physical workout a day along with a 30 minute laughter work out a day so we keep the doctor away.
c. It’s imperative to make sure that we do allow joy to take over and not allow fear to take over and ensnare us into its web.
i. Carol Kent gives us insight into the Destructive Responses To Fear (information From Discipleship Journal on an article written by her.)
1. Our response to fear can be either destructive or constructive. Lets look at some of the destructive choices we can make in response to fear.
a. Denial – an all to common response to trouble is to deny there is a problem. Kent notes, “Even when our initial emotional reactions to a fear-triggering event are powerful and intense, we are amazingly adept at climbing to the surface of life again where we can pretend we aren’t really angry and afraid” (54).
i. The problem with denial is the person never deals with the storm. They pretend it’s not there. They ignore it hoping it will go away. As a result they never grow they never mature. They just live in fantasy land and never deal with reality.
b. Defeat – some people take a defeated attitude into life when things get troublesome – they quit and become engulfed in defeatism behavior. Kent states, “We believe we have no power to change our feelings or life situations. We have no energy or confidence to take action, and we believe we can’t handle our triggering event, situation, or person-so we give up. We play the role of a hopeless victim, squashed by life and by God” (54).
i. People with this attitude toward fear just roll over and surrender. They just cave in and never grow because they give up when things get tough. They are always in despair always in crisis. No growth just more hopelessness develops in their lives.
c. Bitterness – some people who fall into the grips of fear turn to bitterness they look for others to blame. They point the finger at parents, schools, teachers, spouses, coworkers, peers, and even God. Kent states, “If we can point the finger at another person as being responsible for causing our grief, we can justify our paralyzing bitterness and delay any positive action toward resolving our fear in a God honoring way” (54).
i. This reaction to trouble has become common among many. We are always looking to blame others because if we faced the fear – we would have to adjust our position and take the responsibility for our actions.
ii. Fear grips these people and causes bitterness – which pollutes the view of reality and truth. It also hinders their ability to grow and mature through the difficulty. It usually results in individuals who deal with problems by doing the blame game on others and the end result is people get stuck in a deep rut of bitterness with no hope of escape.
iii. I learned a valuable lesson from a book on parenting a while back. It instructed me to:
1. Don’t allow yourself to blame the teacher, the coach for you child’s hardship teach them to take responsibility and persevere through the difficult circumstance. If you teach you child to blame others for tough times then they will never mature. They will only become bitter and live the way of the blame game, “It’s everyone else’s fault.”
iv. James warns us that when we find ourselves engulfed in a storm not to blame God for the storm. 1:13-18: 13When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.16Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. 17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
v. Thoughts from “Never Forget”. Instead remember God is for us! God is with us!
1. He is our greatest cheerleader: Lucado states:God is for you. Turn to the sidelines; that’s God cheering your run. Look past the finish line; that’s God applauding your steps. Listen for him in the bleachers, shouting your name. Too tired to continue? He’ll carry you. Too discouraged to fight? He’s picking you up. God is for you. Had he a calendar, your birthday would be circled. If he drove a car, your name would be on his bumper. If there’s a tree in heaven, he’s carved your name in the bark. We know he has a tattoo, and we know what it says. “I have written your name on my hand,” he declares -Isaiah 49:16-(10,11).
2. We have to focus on the fact that Jesus is here to help us not destroy us.
3. We have to implant it into our minds that He is for us not against us.
4. We have to rest in the truth that Jesus will never leave us alone.
a. We have to continue to have the faith that God is in control.
5. The storms of life come because we live in a fallen world were mankind has chosen to do things their way and not God’s way.
6. Our response to the storms of life is to press through them and not fall into the rut of the “Blame Game”.
d. Escape – The turn tale and run from reality action.
i. Kent notes, “Perhaps the most prevalent of all destructive resolutions to fear is running away from reality” (54).
ii. Many have unfortunately mastered this bad habit. They run away from all the problems in life and never deal with them.
iii. I see this often in people. They face a trial and they run to another city, another state, another school, and even another church. They also run away from their families, their spouses, their jobs, and their responsibilities.
1. End result – no character development – no maturity – no success – no peace – no lessons learned – no crown of life.
2. Their life becomes an endless game of cat and mouse.
3. They escape into things like perfectionism, workaholism, self-centeredness, selfrighteousness, codependency, drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling, and the like.
4. Once again this path leads to death and not life.
5. It’s a path filled with despair.
d. Application:
i. Keep an attitude of joy in the midst of high winds and destruction.
ii. Joy is the character trait that will enable you to press on.
iii. Understand that trials and tribulations will blow into your life but they are to be used positively by helping us to mature in the faith.
iv. Learn to face the trial and look at as an opportunity to develop your character.
v. Keep your focus on the Crown of Life not the things of this world.
T.S.- We need to keep the right attitude and when we are faced with overwhelming wind and waves from the storms we need to ask God for wisdom in how to deal with them.
2. We need to ask for direction when we find ourselves in the middle of a storm. If we learn to do this we will not get lost in the ruff surf.
a. James instructs us that if we find ourselves in the midst of the storm and we don’t know what to do that at that point we should ask the Lord for wisdom and insight into what to do.
i. James 1:5, 6: 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
ii. The illustration from the movie the Perfect Storm.
1. They died because they could not get directions or insight from the weatherman. Result they drove right into the worst part of the storm.
b. The old phrase we hear about men is “Real men don’t ask directions.” But the truth is men with wisdom always ask for direction and insight in their journey of life.
c. Remember God is always there to help- all we have to do is ask.
i. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matt. 7:7).
ii. I Peter 5:7 “Cast all you anxiety on Him, because he cares for you.”
1. Blackaby, “When leaders allow Christ to carry their emotional and spiritual loads, this takes enormous pressure off them to face even the most difficult assignments with peace” (150).
d. We also need to understand that with God there are no hopeless situations. All things are possible with God.
e. The key to taking the right path in storms is to tap the one who knows how to navigate through the storms.
f. Application: God always knows what to do and How to do it. He can get you through the wind, the waves, and the lightening. He can get you through the hurricanes of life if you follow his direction.
T.S.- Once we learned to have the right attitude and then ask for help through the storms then we need to accept God’s advice and follow it closely because it will lead us to A Crown of Life.
3. Accept the truth that God will direct you with sound advice so listen to His insight and wisdom and it will keep you from being tossed all over by the storms of life.
a. This whole truth from James is really where the rubber meets the road.
i. James 1:6-12: 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.9The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. 10But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. 11For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.12Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
ii. I John 5:4 tells us, “And this is the victory that has overcome the world our faith.”
1. We need to live the life of faith if we have committed our life to Christ.
2. When we accept Jesus as our Savior we understand that God will provide and supply for us. He will direct us into the right places.
3. It really comes down to this, “Do you believe that God is who He says He is?” If you do you will listen to His counsel and His wisdom in dealing with the storms that will blow through you life. You will put you trust in Him and that trust will not let you down.
b. Application: Friends we have to keep placing our trust and faith in Jesus through the storms of life because if we learn the value of perseverance we will become mature in the faith and come out on the other side of the storm and find the Crown of Life
Conclusion:
James has directed us today to make sure we have the right attitude when storms blow into our lives. He then instructs us that when we are in the middle of the storm and we don’t know where to go or what to do then ask God for wisdom. The next step then is after we ask we need to accept God’s direction don’t question it just do it. Listen to his insightful direction and you will discover that you will not be tossed to and fro in the stormy seas of life. The result of having the right attitude and asking for directions and then following those directions will lead us out of the storms of life to a Crown of Life.
