Singin¡¦ in the Rain
James 1:2-8
August 6, 2006
Evening Service
Introduction
In the center of main street in Enterprise, Alabama, stands one of the strangest monuments in the world. It’s a memorial to an insect! Handsomely carved in stone is the likeness of a boll weevil. Many believe that divine providence was involved in the circumstances that led to the erection of this unusual statue. In early plantation days almost everyone in the community raised cotton. But as the years rolled on, a serious pestilence infested the area in the form of a small beetle that punctured the boll of the plant. As a result, it became almost impossible to bring a season’s growth to maturity. George Washington Carver, along with several other scientists, became deeply concerned about the situation and began intensive studies to see if any substitute crop could be grown in that part of the country. Raising peanuts was the answer, for they could be planted and harvested with very little loss. In time, cotton gins were forgotten in that region, and it became known as an outstanding peanut center of the world. Soon the farmers’ profits far exceeded what they had earned from their best cotton yield. In the end, they realized that the destructive insect they had feared had actually triggered the research that brought them prosperity.
The Lord often allows trials to unsettle our lives for a blessed purpose. Perhaps we are trying to "grow cotton" when we should be "raising peanuts." If so, the delays and disappointments we experience are just the gracious "boll weevils" sent to redirect us so that we will plant the crop of God’s choosing!
One of the great truths in life is that bad things happen to everyone and how we handle those hard times will be the defining moments in our Christian walk. What kind of statues could you build for the difficult times in your life? What are the deciding moments in your walk with God?
For me it was a car accident. I am sure that I have told this story many times but it is one of those moments when I was changed. I was a junior in college and was driving home after a snow storm. I hit a patch of black ice and the rest is history or at least my car was history.
That accident happened over 15 years ago and I can still remember God speaking to me when I looked back at my wrecked car ¡V are you going to get serious now?
Until this point I was contemplating a possible career in radio instead of ministry and I was coasting through college without a lot of cares. I was doing what I wanted to do and suddenly everything changed for me in that one moment. Out of that one difficult night a number of new commitments were made in my life and I was changed by a trial that looking back I am thankful for
If you have your Bibles we are going to continue our study of the book of James. Open them to chapter 1 beginning with verse 2
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But 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. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
When life hits you with a curve, you have a choice to make; you can either become bitter or you can become better. The Bible is filled with people who endured the curves in life.
ľ Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers
ľ Jeremiah was thrown into a well
ľ Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt with the infant Jesus
ľ Jesus was betrayed by His disciples: Judas may have turned Him over to the Jewish leaders but the rest turned and ran to save themselves
ľ Peter and John were beaten for preaching the gospel
ľ Paul was beaten and thrown into prison
The trials that you and I face are the curves that life throws our way. How we choose to deal with them speaks volumes about our Christian character and commitment. Hard times are precisely that ¡V hard. If life were always easy we would never appreciate the reality of heaven.
What kind of curves have you had to deal with?
ľ You experienced the curve of betrayal when your spouse walked out the door and called it quits.
ľ You experienced the curve of sorrow when you stood by the grave of a loved one that had passed away
ľ You experienced the curve of illness when you discovered your need for surgery
ľ You experienced the curve of doubt when you felt like God had left you
Joy is a deep sense of well being that comes from a personal connection with God. Joy cannot be deterred by sorrow, tears, anger or pain. Joy is not just a feeling we have but a decision that we make ¡V you choose to be joyful or you choose to be miserable. Those are the only two options in life. The sad thing is that there are a lot of miserable Christians walking around because they choose to be miserable.
The biggest problem with trials is the road they can lead us down. If you choose to become angry or bitter ¡V your trials will lead you down a road of temptation and turmoil. If you choose to become joyful ¡V your trials will lead you down a road of triumph. We can either choose to be overcome by life or be over comers in life.
How can we experience joy in the midst of trials?
1. Keep a proper perspective
a.) Remember that trials are temporary
b.) Triumph is eternal
2. Keep a faithful focus
a.) Trials will draw your attention away from God
b.) Triumph will draw your attention toward Christ
3. Keep an aggressive attitude
a.) Trials will make you want to give up
b.) Triumph makes you want to keep going
4. Keep giving positive praise
a.)Trials can weigh us down
b.)Triumph will raise us up
James says to be joyful when you face trials of many kinds but what is he driving at? What exactly does he mean? The understanding that James is conveying is that a person has been so overwhelmed by hardships or difficulties that they have become surrounded by them. In other words, wherever they look they see nothing but problems or hardships all around them. Literally they are surrounded. Have you ever felt like this? For most people in these kind of situations joyful is the last way they would describe it.
There is reason to rejoice
James is extremely profound in what he says for our reason to rejoice. Trials literally prove the value of our faith. Faith is worthless unless it is proven within our lives. Trials are the litmus test for our faith. The proving of faith produces or shapes our lives with perseverance.
The testing of our faith fits us with an ¡§armor¡¨ of loyalty to Christ. The whole purpose of going through hardships is to make us stronger for Christ; but only if we allow it. Hardships will reveal the consistency of our faith.
We can rejoice in the midst of hardships and trials for three key reasons
1.) Jesus is faithful
2.) Trials can make our faith stronger
3.) Trials can draw us closer to Jesus ¡V There is nothing like a good crisis to bring you to your knees
II. Triumph over Trials
4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Perseverance is at work in our lives when we experience trials. We are most like Christ when we endure hardships and trials. Jesus suffered for us not just to provide salvation for us but also to provide a model of how to handle hardships. Jesus suffered emotional rejection from those He was closest with; even His own family thought He had gone mad. Jesus suffered physically through beatings, scourging and crucifixion. Jesus shows us that suffering and trials do not have to overwhelm us but that we have strength from heaven to help us through.
Perseverance builds a work within our lives that flows from the hand of Christ but what exactly is it that perseverance does?
By the way we in which we meet every experience in life we are either fitting or unfitting ourselves for the task which God meant us to do ¡V William Barclay
1. Mature
To be seasoned, experienced and fit to accomplish the tasks God meant for us to do. Maturity flows from the lessons we learn from the trials we experience
2. Complete
The word used here for complete is the same one used earlier in the verse for the word finish. When perseverance finishes its work in us we then become complete. God continues to smooth the rough edges off and takes away those things that hinder your spiritual growth
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:48
Perseverance is the process by which God works to perfect us. He uses this process to make us more and more like His Son. Perseverance works to make us into the image of Jesus.
3. Not lacking anything
The final work of perseverance is for us to stand in the presence of God.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7
You must give up your will in order to discover God¡¦s will. You will never become all God wants you to become until you surrender to God. That means that every area of your life not given over to His control must be yielded. Every issue not surrendered must be offered. Everything that is yours must be laid on the altar. Everything you keep for yourself will lack God¡¦s power and every area you hold back will lack god¡¦s provision. If you want to really become like Jesus you MUST first surrender and give all that you are and all that you will be to Him.
You will always find yourself in need when you fail to surrender
ƒæ Financially ¡V Until you allow god to control your finances there will never be enough
ƒæ Emotionally ¡V You will struggle with pain, sorrow, unhappiness and all of those other negative emotions until you give them over.
ƒæ Physically ¡V The pain and suffering that you go through will continue to torment you until you give it over
Conclusion
Surrender where you are right now in your life. Give God all of your strengths and all of your weaknesses. Give Him everything!
The work of perseverance begins during the trials we experience but it does not end there. Perseverance or patient endurance works through every area of your life. Sooner or later every area of your life will be touched by some type of trial, some form of need or some hardship. Unfortunately that is just the way life is.
Through hardships we gain strength when we stand firm in Christ and overcome through His strength. We overcome not by what we can do but by what Christ can do through us.
If you want to be distressed -- look within.
If you want to be defeated -- look back.
If you want to be distracted -- look around.
If you want to be dismayed -- look ahead.
If you want to be delivered -- look up!
Today you have a choice to make: trials will always be a part of your life. If you¡¦re not going through them now, there are some just around the corner. How you face the overwhelming tides of life will reveal the nature of your commitment to Jesus and will be a witness to others.
