Intro – we’re spending the summer months in the book of James…last week I began the series with a look at the author himself, James the half-brother of Jesus…and while we discovered a whole bunch of things about him, we certainly discovered that he knew firsthand what today’s passage is all about…
1:2 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds…”
…so James offers some very practical help for all of us, both then and now, to deal with the trials and tribulations and testings that come our way…
-open Bibles to James 1…Prayer…read 1:2-5, 12…
Now, have you ever had a moment of insight where something just becomes clear to you almost in an instant? I had that the other day on a school playground…yes, while playing with my grandkids in a playground…(tells you something about my level of intelligence…)
My grandkids were playing on one of those spinning wheels…the ones you get sick on…as I was spinning them (safely of course – at least when their parents were looking) this passage became clear to me…I had a picture of what Jm. 1:2-5 is all about…
-so I took the grandkids back and made this video so you can see it too.
-show video part 1… (No grandkids were injured or harmed during the making of this movie!)
-see? doesn’t that make sense? sermon’s done: let’s close in prayer and all go home!
How is a spinning wheel like our life?
• our lives are always in motion…
• there is always some degree of challenge, trial, difficulty, testing, etc.
• sometimes the spinning is slow and easy…
• other times it is fast, intense and difficult…
• at those times, the trials push out toward the edge…and sometimes we fall off…like Floyd did…
Which is why James says “consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds”…whenever…
-trials, tribulations, testings are inevitable…they will happen…that is brought out in that one word in v.2: “whenever” - James says, “when they happen…” not if…
And we need to realize that trials and testings are not in themselves enjoyable…there is no point in trying to fake joy in the midst of hard times…hard times hurt and they’re painful and you can’t pretend otherwise…
James doesn’t want us to have a phony Christian happiness…plastic joy…rather (and here’s the sermon in a nutshell)
joy comes when we realize that our trials and testings are under the authority of a loving, good sovereign God who uses them to accomplish His purposes in and through us…namely the growth of our faith into maturity…and us into the image of Christ…
Back to the spinning wheel…you know where the safest place to be is when that wheel is spinning? Standing as far away as possible! No, the center.
-show video part 2…
The center is where there are less g forces, less danger of falling off, less energy required to simply hold on…look at those happy faces!
Which means:
• during trials and testings, the best place to be is in the center of God’s presence…near to Him, where there is rest, calm, peace and joy…yes, joy!
• nothing has changed on the outside…there are still trials and testings and tribulations, but you’ve found a place in which to endure those difficulties…to hold on…
-this is what the passage is trying to teach us:
• it is a persevering, God-focused faith that finds its way to the center…a faith that perseveres in moving toward God…and then holds on…
• and in that struggle of persevering toward God, our faith grows, is developed, becomes mature…we find peace and calm and joy in the midst of our trials and testings…
You see, some of us understand this passage to say that we have to just stand there and take all the trials and difficulties that come our way…and just grit our teeth and hold on for dear life and somehow survive…and that’s all we can do…
-there’s this kind of fatalistic passivity in which we act like a helpless victim against the hardships of this life…
-but the kind of faith that James is talking about here is not the faith just to hang on when life is tough, it’s the kind of faith that finds God when life is tough…that struggles to draw near to Him, look for Him, call out to Him, find Him…
So how then do we find the calm center? We are given at least three ways in our passage in James: By believing that:
1) our sovereign God has a good purpose in trials v.3-4
-that God is in control of this world and our lives…what is happening is not outside of His permissive will…that He is allowing these things not to harm you but to help you…
-and it is specifically our faith that is being helped…
God wants our faith in Him to grow strong…God wants us to have faith that helps us get through life…faith that honors Him, that lives for Him…
He doesn’t want our faith to be weak, unchallenged, soft…but to be firm and developed and solid…faith that is fully centered in Him…Who He is and what He can do…
-so He allows tough things to happen so that our faith has a chance to grow and flourish and be strengthened…
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Cor. 4:16-18
There is joy in believing that God has us covered, that He’s in charge, that He is using all the events of our life, whether good or bad, for His purposes…it takes the stress and worry away from us…the need for us to manage our own lives and control things so they work for us…we can joyfully rest in the care of a God Who really knows what He is doing…
Which brings us to the next thing to believe in as we make our way toward the calm center of the spinning wheel:
2) our goal in life is not comfort and ease, but Christ-like character and maturity v.4
-we read v. 4 wrong. When we read about being mature and complete, not lacking anything, we think about the best person we know who exemplifies these qualities…we are inspired to become a better person…
…and there’s nothing wrong with that…BUT, we settle for too little…when we aspire to become the best person we can possibly be, like so and so…”your best life now”, then we miss looking at the best Person who is our ultimate role-model and in Who’s image we are being shaped…and that is the Lord Jesus Christ…
God is at work through all our hardships and trials and tribulations to do one major thing: to conform us to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ…a process we will never fully achieve but one which we must not stunt by making it about human aspiration rather than supernatural transformation…
Romans 8:29 “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son…”
The Wrong Goal
Whether we’ll admit it or not, many of us believe the goal in life is our happiness and comfort and ease…and we believe that this is God’s commitment to us…
…and that’s why we resent trials and tribulations so much…that’s why we question God so much, because we can’t understand why He would allow those things in our lives if He loves us and wants us to be happy…
David Platt writes: think of a trial in your own life, whether its big or small. If the goal is just to fix your circumstances, then you are setting yourself up for constant frustration because often the circumstances won’t get fixed like you want it to.
But if your ultimate goal is not just to fix your circumstances but to know God and to grow in God, then you can rejoice because no matter what your circumstances, your goal will be achieved. Trials are joy when God is our goal.
Exalting Jesus in James, David Platt, p.7.
And then there’s the third thing to believe as we persevere toward the calm center of the spinning wheel:
3) God’s wisdom provides the proper perspective v.5
-when we go through trials and suffering and difficulty, it is then we feel most keenly how much wisdom we lack…how little we really understand…how much of life we simply cannot figure out…how limited and frail we really are…
-which is exactly what God wants us to feel…
So the promise is that once we admit we lack wisdom, we can ask God who will give it to us generously, without criticizing us or chiding us or judging us…
But we have to know what we’re asking for. Because most of us would like God’s wisdom to be “The Answer”…especially to the question of “why?”
-that is the biggest question I have had to deal with in my years as a pastor…”why”…and that is a question I have less of a decisive answer for as the years go by…
-we want answers from God…we want information…we want to know the plan…details…
…be careful when you ask God for wisdom that you’re asking for what He will give you and not what you think He should give you…
So what is the wisdom that God promises to give us?
-I know we’re looking ahead, but James addresses this in Jm. 3:17 “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”
-James points us in the direction of wisdom that is first of all about a heavenly perspective…a way of seeing things spiritually…wisdom that is a way of life before a bunch of information…
-the wisdom James writes about sounds very much like what we read in the OT book of Proverbs, the book of wisdom, in which we learn that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Pr. 9:10
Wisdom is first about obedience and holiness and a focus on God and a way of life that honors God before it’s about getting all our answers…
So when we ask God for wisdom, God has something better to give us than just the answers…He gives us Himself…His presence, companionship…His still, small voice that says “All is well…I’m with you…you’re going to be OK…we’re going to make it through this together…”
That’s better than any information we could ever ask for… that’s finding the calm center…exactly where God wants our faith to lead us…
Conclusion
-who is experiencing trials and tribulations and testings right now?
-who feels like they’re on the edge of the spinning wheel just barely able to hold on?
-who needs to get to the calm center into the presence of Christ?
Helping Hands
-there’s one more video clip I’d like you to see…take a look at how Floyd makes his way to the center of the spinning wheel…
-instead of having to go it alone…God has given us the gift of caring, loving people in the body of Christ…who are ready to reach out their hand and help you find your way to the calm center of Christ’s presence…
-they’re God’s gift to you…they are His hands, His heart, His love being given to you through His people…
-all you have to do is reach out and allow them to help you…support you…love you…pray for you…