“PERSEVERING THROUGH TRIALS”
--James 1:2-12 and Hebrews 12:1-3
Gianni Poli of Italy won the 1986 New York Marathon in 2:11:06. On March 2, 2003, Mark Yatich of Kenya won the Los Angels Marathon in 2:09:52. To me, however, the real hero of both marathons was the man who finished dead last in both. He is fifty-seven year old Bob Wieland. In 1986 he finished the New York Marathon in a time of 98:48:17. His time in Los Angeles in 2003 was 172:45. On June 14, 1969, Bob lost both his legs in Vietnam. After his 2003 Los Angeles finish Bob gave this testimony, “This was not natural. This was supernatural. It was only done by the grace of God.” [--Associated Press, “Disabled Runner A Winner, Hands Down,” (New York: The Associated Press), 09 March 2003.].
Bob was a combat medic in the twenty-fifth infantry division serving in Vietnam in 1969. In attempting to save a fallen buddy, he stepped on an 82-mm mortar round designed to demolish tanks. He sent the following note to his parents: “June fourteenth, nineteen sixty-nine. Cu Chi, Vietnam. Dear Mom and Dad. I’m in the hospital. Everything is going to be OK. The people here are taking care of me. Love, Bob. P. S. I think I lost my legs.” [-http://www.boeing.com/companyoffices/aboutus/advertising/radiospot/2004/040426_wiel]. Between 1982 and 1986 Bob walked across America on his arms in three years, eight months, and six days. He is the only double amputee to complete the Ironman Triathlon in Kona, Hawaii, without a wheelchair. To do so he had to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and then complete a 26.2 mile marathon, all three events consecutively and non-stop. Our late President Ronald Regan proclaimed, “Truly, Bob Wieland is an inspiration for all of us.” [--Associated Press, “Disabled Runner A Winner, Hands Down,” (New York: The Associated Press), 09 March 2003.]. Bob Wieland is truly a prime example of perseverance.
Our text today assures us that through the power of the Holy Spirit living and working in us we can “Persevere through all our trials.” Recall with me verses two through four and twelve in our text this morning: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, 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. . . . 12Blessed are those 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.” James shows us: (1.) As Christ’s disciples, we will face trials of many kinds. (2.) These trials are tests that develop Christian perseverance. (3.) Perseverance produces mature Christians.
The word trial in the New Testament is the same word used for both temptation and testing, and these three words overlap, complement, and help define each other. The word trial in our text is the same word translated temptation in I Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to us all. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” The text could as easily read: “No trial has overtaken you except what is common to us all. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tried (tested) beyond what you can bear. But when you are tested (tried), He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
As Christian disciples we are going to have many trails. We can expect difficulties and hard times. We will face many failures in life. We will become discouraged and face times of pain, tragedy, suffering, sorrow, sickness, pressure, stress, heartbreaks, tribulation, and perhaps even persecution. There will be days we all seem to fulfill “Murphy’s Law”: “If anything can go wrong it will,” troubles, trials, and hardships are just a part of life.
James does not leave us in despair and defeat. He assures us that our trials or tests develop Christian perseverance. THE UPPER ROOM in the last few weeks has had a couple of fantastic devotionals on Perseverance. A Texas lady by the name of Lou Storm wrote the devotional for September 15, 2004. I could relate 110 per cent to her situation when she began by proclaiming:
“Pastor Don’s sermon Sunday emphasized a theme that spoke to me: ‘Sometimes persevering means we just show up every day.’” We have all faced days like that, and we can be certain we will face many more before Jesus either calls us home or returns. There will be those days that perseverance for us means “just showing up.”
Perseverance means that through the Holy Spirit we are able to continue in the Christian way even while facing trials on every side. Perseverance is a gift of God’s grace whereby we continue to patiently depend upon Jesus. Sometimes in Church we hear a lot of talk about “perseverance of the saints.” I like what Handley Dunelm says about this, however, in his article on “Perseverance” in THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPEDIA: “It is important to make the ‘perseverance of the Saviour’ our watchword rather than the ‘perseverance of the saints’ [--Dunely, Handley. “Perseverance.” International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Quick Verse 8.0.4. Computer software. Cedar Rapids: Findex.com, 2004.]. We persevere in times of trials as we practice the Christian acronym FROG:
FULLY
RELY
ON
GOD.
Practicing Revelation 12:11 is the key to persevering in times of trial:
“They overcame him (Satan)
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.”
We overcome through the “perseverance of the Saviour,” trusting in His
blood, fully relying on God.
Perseverance is overcoming through Jesus. “We overcome by the power of His shed blood. The word “overcome” in Revelation 12:11 is from the root “Nike,” the name of the famous athletic wear company. Nike in Greek means “victory.” The verb form means “to be victorious,” “to prevail,” “to be victorious over.” Perseverance means that through Jesus, through His Spirit living in us and empowering us, we are victorious over the world, over evil, over all the adversaries to His kingdom, over all our trials and tests.
Perseverance is standing on the promise of Romans 8:37, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” As we fully rely on Him, we conqueror, we overcome, we persevere through all the hard times; all the times of failure, discouragement, pain, tragedy, suffering, sorrow, sickness, stress, heartbreak, and tribulation. We remember that “nothing can ever separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.” We keep “our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Victory comes as “we consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that (we) will not grow weary and lose heart” (Hebrews 12:2-3). We depend upon the “perseverance of the Saviour.”
Remember Peter. As long as he kept his eyes fixed on Jesus, he walked on water. For a split second, however, he gazed upon the storm, and he began to sink. The same is true for us as well. With our eyes fixed on Jesus, we persevere. The moment we become fixated on our troubles,
Trails, problems, and storms, we begin to sink.
Disciples persevere in the spirit of the old African American Spiritual
“All My Trials, Lord”:
“Hush little baby, don’t you cry
You know your mama was born to die
All my trials, Lord, soon be over.
“Too late, my brothers
Too late, but never mind
All my trials, Lord, soon be over.
“If religion were a thing that money could buy
The rich would live and the poor would die
All my trials, Lord, soon be over.
“I’ve got a little book that was given to me
And every page spells liberty
All my trials, Lord, soon be over.
“There is a tree in Paradise
And the pilgrims call it the Tree of Life
All my trials, Lord, soon be over.”
Keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, we persevere, for we know that
All our trials are only temporal. They only last for a short while, but eternity with Jesus is forever.
Perseverance produces mature Christians: “Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
Perseverance makes us mature and complete in Christ. Mature Christians are ones who have reached their end or goal. Their growth process is complete. They are like ripe fruit that is ready for the harvest. The final state of maturity for the Christian is not fully realized until eternity, but we are to be maturing more and more day by day as in obedience and surrender to Him the Holy Spirit molds and fashions us more into the image of Jesus Christ.
The word complete in Scripture describes the state of humanity before the Fall. In the life of the Christian it paints the picture of one who has regained that completeness, again that is not entirely realized until eternity, but the Holy Spirit wants to move us more and more in that direction as we allow Him to empower us to be more and more like Jesus. As we persevere in Christ, we finally arrive at that state of maturity and completeness in Him.
One final challenge I want to leave with you this morning. Perseverance strengthens us for ministry. In Hebrews 2:18 we read, “Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted. Remembering that temptation, trials, and testing are all the same word in Scripture and interrelated, this verse could equally as well say, “Because He Himself suffered trials, He is able to help those who are going through trials.” Jesus does exactly that for you and me in all our trials. He is there to lead us to victory.
But as our trials lead us on towards maturity and completeness in Christ, we are called to this same ministry He has graciously shared with us. We are called to “help others through similar trials.” You can encourage others because your trials have prepared you for ministry; you have “walked in their shoes.” Those who know what it means to persevere strengthen those who struggle through their own hard times.
We are called to encourage our brothers and sisters along the way in the spirit of Acts 15:32 where we read “Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers.” The writer to the Hebrews sums our ministry up so well in Hebrews 3:13, “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”
“When William Carey began thinking of going to India as a pioneer missionary, his father pointed out to him that he possessed no academic qualifications that would fit him for such a task. But Carey answered, ‘I can plod.’ How true it is that God accomplishes mighty things for His kingdom through those who are willing to persevere, who are willing to plod faithfully through one difficulty after another in the power of the Spirit.”
[--James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 19880, p. 157.].
Expect trials of many kinds, but they are only temporary. Eternity is forever. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus “who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne.” As you keep your eyes fixed on Him, He will enable you to persevere in every trial and then empower you to encourage others as
you minister to them during their own hard times. By the power of His Spirit we “persevere through trials.”
