James 1.1-4

James 1.1-4
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Turning Trials Into Triumphs

James 1:1-12

Chippie the parakeet never saw it coming. One second he was peacefully perched in his cage. The next he was sucked in, washed up, and blown over.

The problems began when Chippie’s owner decided to clean Chippie’s cage with a vacuum cleaner. She removed the attachment from the end of the hose and stuck it in the cage. The phone rang, and she turned to pick it up. She’d barely said "hello" when "ssssopp!" Chippie got sucked in. The bird owner gasped, put down the phone, turned off the vacuum, and opened the bag. There was Chippie -- still alive, but stunned.

Since the bird was covered with dust and soot, she grabbed him and raced to the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and held Chippie under the running water. Then, realizing that Chippie was soaked and shivering, she did what any compassionate bird owner would do . . . she reached for the hair dryer and blasted the pet with hot air. Poor Chippie never knew what hit him.

A few days after the trauma, the reporter who’d initially written about the event contacted Chippie’s owner to see how the bird was recovering. "Well," she replied, "Chippie doesn’t sing much anymore -- he just sits and stares." It’s hard not to see why. . . . That’s enough to steal the song from the stoutest heart. (Max Lucado, In the Eye of the Storm, Word Publishing, 1991, p. 11.)

Does that ever describe your life-- sucked in, washed up, and blown over? Of course it does, because we all experience many kinds of trials. Living in the wealthy, relatively insulated western world, we Christians are not experiencing much in the way of persecution, but we all have many kinds of trials. Rick Warren said that every day is a test and these tests in life can knock us off our feet. Trails can lead either to tragedy or to triumph. This morning as we begin our new study in the book of James, we will learn how to turn our trials into triumphs.

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. ⁹ The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. ¹⁰ But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. ¹¹ For 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. ¹² Blessed 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.

The joy in the journey

Anyone who has ever read the book of James is aware of the amazing declaration in v.2, ² Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds. If you are in the middle of a trail of if you have recently come out of one, everyone would like to ask James, the half-brother of Jesus, the same question: How can trails be a reason for joy? At first glance his bold statement seems to add insult to our injuries. Not only do I have to endure these difficult trials, but I have to be happy while I suffer! It just doesn’t seem fair. But of course a more careful reading will complete the picture for us: 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. We are to consider trails as joyful, not because we enjoy suffering and problems, but that the evil of suffering can be turned into something good. Enduring trials will bring perseverance. The King James translates this word as patience. The NIV is closer with the word perseverance. Patience seems to imply that we are passively waiting, where as perseverance accurately portrays the active role we are to take in our trials.

But even more than that, perseverance can lead to yet more spiritual growth, Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Persevering through trials can lead to a whole host of Biblical character qualities. James does not list these character qualities because I think they would be too numerous to mention. Perseverance has the ability to develop any and all areas of our character. This is where the joy comes into the picture. We are not commanded to be happy about our trials, but to be joyful through our trials because we know that God can use them for our good and for his glory.

If I get many kinds of trials I will also get many kinds of spiritual maturity. But some would wonder whether this was a fair trade off. Some people don’t think the spiritual maturity is worth the trouble of having trials. In many ways they are right. For a moment assume that there was no God. Instead there were only natural principles like gravity and magnetism. There was also a natural principle that stated that if you experience a trial then your character will mature. The more trials you had the more mature you became. This would be acceptable to most people as long as the trials were relatively minor. But what about if you went through a major trial like the death of a son or daughter? Because the trial was severe you would get a big boost in your personal character. But would it be worth it? Most people would say no. it would not be worth it. If I had a choice I would much rather still have my son or daughter alive then to get a big boost to my character. Do you agree?

The Goodness of God

I think this is why we are not often moved by passages like this one in James. We read this passage and can understand the principle that many kinds of trials will bring perseverance and spiritual maturity. But if we think about it, we would probably rather have fewer trails and therefore less spiritual development. But that is because we have stripped God from the equation altogether. If it were just a matter of a natural principle where more trials equals more maturity, I would prefer to have fewer trials and less maturity. But if a perfectly good and generous God is put back into picture, then the trials make more sense. The whole reason we get more maturity when we go through trials is because we learn to depend upon the perfect goodnesss of our perfect God.

Let me give you an example of what I mean. John Eldredge tells the story of a Scottish discus thrower from the 19th century. He lived in the days before professional trainers and developed his skills alone in the highlands. He made his own discus from the description he read in a book. What he didn’t know was that the competition discus was made of wood with an outer rim of iron. His discus was made of pure metal, four times heavier than the ones used by his would-be challengers. This committed Scotsman trained day after day, laboring under the burden of extra weight. He marked the record distance and kept working until he could throw that far. Of course, when he arrived at the competition, he was handed the official wooden discus. He threw it like a tea saucer. He set new records and for many years, none of his competitors could touch him. As Eldredge reflected on this story, he said, “So that’s how you do it – train under a great burden.

This story represents the “no pain, no gain” theory. The discus thrower trained under a great burden. He didn’t like the difficult training—it was no doubt a trial for him, but in the end he grew stronger and was better off than if he had not trained so hard. I say this is a fine illustration about the general principle of hard work, but what does it have to do with God?

I have used another illustration about trees that were grown in biospheres—a perfect laboratory where all environmental variables are strictly controlled, including the absence of wind. It was discovered that trees grown in these biospheres grow very well for the first several years, but as they grow larger and taller, something began to happen to these trees that didn’t happen to other trees. The trees grown in a windless environment began to fall over because their roots and trunks are weaker than normal trees. The study discovered that the wind and storms in the real world were the very things that caused strong roots and strong trunks. Once you understand this illustration I could apply it to our lives by saying, “see, it’s the trials in life that make us stronger. We may not like the trials while we are going through them, but in the end we will be stronger.”

That’s not really a bad illustration, but where is God in this illustration? Everyone experiences trials and hardships. A great many of these people grow stronger as a result of their trials. Some of the people that grow from trials are atheists. Others are Muslims, Hindu, Buddhist, New Age or nominal Christians. The point is that you do not have to be a follower of Jesus Christ to grow stronger through your trials. But was this the point James was trying to get across when he said, 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. Clearly James was not concerned about general principles that can apply to all people, regardless of their religious affiliation or lack thereof. James is concerned about developing faith of Christians that is firmly grounded in the person of Jesus Christ. James said, the testing of your faith develops perseverance. It is our faith that is tested and can grow, but this is not a generic faith or a faith in faith, but a very specific faith in Christ. The strength of our faith is directly related to the object of our faith.

To illustrate this I will need a volunteer. I am going to put this belt around your waist and then lower you to the ground. Don’t move your feet—just let me lower you down. Now stand up again and I will tie this dental floss around your waist and lower you to the ground. Ready? What’s the matter—why won’t you let me do this? You see, this is one very smart volunteer. They know full well that the dental floss is not a rope—it simply is not strong enough to bear their weight. In this illustration our volunteer had faith in the belt but did not have faith in the dental floss. Please notice this: it was not the strength of their faith that made the difference, but rather the object of their faith. Why is the belt worthy of our faith? Because we know certain things about the belt. We know that belts like this or ropes are used for such things all of the time. We know that this belt is strong. The characteristics of the belt make it worth of our faith to hold our weight. But dental floss lacks these same characteristics and therefore is not trustworthty.

The exact same thing is true with our faith in God. When James says that trials will strengthen our faith it does not mean that our faith gets stronger, but that the object of our faith gets stronger. Think about our volunteer. What happened to him in the few seconds between untying the belt and tying the dental floss. Was he suddenly injected with a huge dose of faith? Did the Holy Spirit come down and boost his strength? No—absolutely nothing happened to him. The only variable was the object of his faith. He didn’t believe the dental floss but he did believe the belt. But would have happened if he didn’t know anything about the strength capacity of belts such as this? The only way he could be certain was to test the belt. Once he learned by experience about the strength of the belt, then he would have confidence—faith, in the belt.

This is what happens to us during times of testing and trials. Trials are the experiential part of our learning. In our study of the Bible and knowledge about Jesus we learn that Jesus is fully God and is the sovereign power over the universe. We know these things in our head, but times of testing give us a chance to experience them and solidify the truth in our heart. Is it true that God will never leave me or forsake me? Can I really know this until my faith is tested? Is it true that God will meet our emotional needs when we are lonely and depressed? We will never know these things for sure until they are tested in the real world.

How long would it take you to teach a seven year old that the weight of helium is less than the weight of oxygen and nitrogen—the elements that make up air? Well first you could show them the periodic table of the elements and explain that since helium is higher up on the chart that means it is lighter than nitrogen and oxygen. Or you teach them about atomic weights of each element. Nitrogen has an atomic weight of 14, oxygen is 16, but helium is only 4. Four is less than 14 or 16, therefore helium is lighter than air. Maybe they would grasp some of these concepts, but of you really wanted to teach them that helium is lighter than air, I would take them to the dollar store, buy a balloon filled with helium and let it float up in the air until you couldn’t see it anymore. Science experiments confirm the truth about scientific facts just as trials and testing confirm the truth about God’s word. Notice I said trials confirm the truth of the Bible. The Bible is true whether or not we ever test and confirm its truth. But when we experience trials we have the privilege of seeing the truthfulness of God and his word lived out in real life.

Are you beginning to see why James said that we should be joyful in our trials? We are joyful because we experience the goodness and faithfulness of God. Every Bible study we ever had about the character of God comes to life in times of testing. Every time we heard a sermon about God’s faithfulness takes on incredible new meaning when we see God’s faithfulness in action. If everything in your life is going smoothly, how can you ever know the truthfulness of Jesus’ promise when he said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you”? Of course it is a true statement. Jesus is 100% trustworthy in what he says. You know this promise is true in your heart, but your heart will not fully know it until you have bumps in the road of life. Trials have the effect of magnifying the goodness of God and that is always a great reason to be full of joy. Do you understand? You are not joyful because of the pain, but the pain reveals the goodness of God.

Once we understand this, the natural question that follows is “what if I struggle to believe God’s goodness—what if I doubt his goodness in times of testing? That is an excellent question and one we will reserve for next Sunday when we study the danger of doubt.

Rich Maurer

June 13, 2004