Growing Pains January 13, 2019 James 1:2-12

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George McDaniel
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1 I. Introduction go like this: Growing Pains January 13, 2019 James 1:2-12 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a poem entitled The Rainy Day. The last couple of lines Thy fate is the common fate of all, Into each life some rain must fall, Everyone who has ever lived has experienced troubles rainy days. In the Book of Job, in Job 5:7, we read Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward. We expect occasional troubles in our jobs, our society, our church and even in our families. We know that we will experience disappointment, physical & emotional pain, disease, injury, and eventually, if the Lord tarries, death. All this is true for Christians as well as for non-christians. Trials come to all people. Christians can also expect trouble because of their faith, Jesus said in John 15:20, Remember what I told you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. As we saw last week, James wrote this book to help Christians grow or mature in their Christian walk. Trials or testings are part of the maturing process. As compared to the rest of the world, children of God, Christians have the resources to turn defeat into victory and trial into triumph. We don t have to be victims; we can be victors. Trials and testings are like growing pains and with the right attitudes there will be victory leading to spiritual growth and maturity. In today s Scripture James gave 4 commands along with the accompanying attitude for persevering through trial leading to victory in the end. The first of these we see in verse 2: Consider it pure joy, my brothers II. 4 Commands and Attitudes to Victory in Trial A. Command: Consider; Attitude: a joyful attitude The first word consider other translations have the word count is in the imperative, i.e. it is a command. Consider or count is a financial term and really it means to evaluate. Paul used the same word in Philippians turn to Philippians 3:7-8. When Paul became a Christian, he evaluated, i.e., he considered his life. Things that seemed important were really loss or worthless. Now the important thing was to know God and to be one of His children. The attitude necessary with which to consider or evaluate trials is a joyful attitude. It isn t normal to look upon trials or troubles with joy. But the means to victory through a trial is to have a joyful attitude. This is a matter of will, not of feelings; it is a conscious, determined effort. Common sense tells 1

2 us that James isn t saying to rejoice when facing a testing experience. No one in his right mind rejoices because the doctor tells him he has cancer. Financial problems are never a source of ethereal ecstasy. One commentator wrote: The word consider should rather be translated, think forward. As you live in the present consider the future, think forward to the future. In Christ s crucifixion we have an example of joy in testing, in Hebrews 12:2 we read, Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer 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. The excruciating pain of the cross was not a source of rejoicing to Jesus. He was joyful in the trial because of His ability to look forward to the future and know what His crucifixion would accomplish. In the midst of trials, we, too, need to look to the future. Trials are not liabilities but privileges. Like growing pains in a child, they will lead to the growth in our Christian life and will draw us closer to God at the same time. This is why we can have a joyful attitude. Warren Wiersbe sums it up this way: Our values determine our evaluations. If we value comfort more than character, then trials will upset us. If we value the material and physical more than the spiritual, we will not be able to count it all joy. If we live only for the present and forget the future, then trials will make us bitter, not better. Job had the right outlook in Job 23:10 when he said, But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. Finally, notice that James didn t say, If you face trials. He said, Whenever. Trials of different shapes, sizes, and degree will come to all of us Into each life some rain must fall. We will not all experience the same trials or difficulties, but they will come. B. Command: Know; Attitude: an understanding mind Verse 3 tells us how it is possible to consider it pure joy when we face trials : because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Know is in the imperative it s the next command. The way to Know is to have an understanding mind this is the attitude for persevering: an understanding mind. So what do Christians know or understand? 1. We know testing works for us, not against us. Just as testing gold means to get rid of the impurities. God tests us to bring out the best in us. Romans 8:28 says, And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. We may not understand what purpose God has in a test, but we can know we understand in faith that it is for our good. 2

3 2. We also know we understand that testing isn t meant to make us weaker; it is to make us stronger. Testing is to help us mature. Paul put it this way in Romans 5:3-4 but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. The Christian is like an athlete. To become stronger or faster, an athlete undergoes training. They lift heavier and heavier weights; they run longer and longer distances. At the time all the effort and work is painful and one may even feel like quitting, but the end result is a stronger or faster athlete. The same is true for the Christian. With this in mind, Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:10, That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. Paul understood that victory in testing made him strong in the Lord. The only way the Lord can develop patience or perseverance and character in our lives is through trials. Perseverance can t develop through reading a book, praying, or even listening to sermons. We must go through the difficulties of life, learning to trust God and to obey Him. The result of successfully going through trials will be character and perseverance. When we understand this, we can face trials joyfully. We know what trials will do in us and for us and we know the end result will bring glory to God. As we read about Abraham and Joseph, Moses and David, Peter and Paul we see that God used trials to develop perseverance in them, and He can use trials to develop perseverance in us as well. C. Command: Let; Attitude: a surrendered will But God cannot build our character without our cooperation. Look at James 1:4; a better translation would read Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. This way it s easy to see the 3 rd command: Let. The attitude necessary to carry out this command is a surrendered will. God cannot make us mature and complete without our willing submission a surrendered will. When we learn to rejoice in our trials and come to understand that our heavenly Father uses them to strengthen us and to help us mature and not harm us, we are ready to see trials as being beneficial. God wants to develop Christians that are mature and complete. If Christians shelter themselves from trials or even run away from them, they will never mature. This is as sad as a baby never growing up. But God cannot and will not work in us without our consent. There must be a surrendered will. In Philippians 2:8 we read the Jesus being found in appearance as a man, humbled himself and became obedient to death even death on a cross. The maturing Christian doesn t resist God s will; he accepts it willingly and obeys it joyfully. As Ephesians 6:6 says, we need to do the will of God from the heart. If we try to go through trials without surrendered wills, we will end up more like immature children than mature adults. 3

4 An example of an unsurrendered will is the prophet Jonah. As you remember, God sent him to Nineveh, but he refused and ran away. Before he did what God wanted him to do, God had to chasten Jonah with a big fish. But even then Jonah didn t obey from his heart; he didn t grow from the experience. We see that in the last chapter. Jonah acted like a spoiled child. He was impatient and upset with the sun, the wind, the gourd, the worm and especially God. Jonah never surrendered his will to God and he never matured. If you are going to grow from the trials that come your way, you need to have a surrendered will to God. D. Command: Ask; Attitude: a believing heart Finally, in the 5 th verse we find the 4 th and last command ask and the 4 th attitude---a believing heart. To be able to have joy in the face of trials, to be able to persevere in tribulation, to mature through troubles, we need wisdom so that we won t waste the opportunities God is giving us. Wisdom helps us understand how to use times of testing for our good and for God s glory. To do that we need God s wisdom turn to Proverbs 3:5-7. James not only tells us what to ask for, he tells us how to ask. We are to ask in faith we need to have a believing heart. We don t have to be afraid. God will give generously and without scolding us. We just need to trust God His character, His purpose, His promises, His love. Prayer for wisdom must be, like all prayers, a prayer of faith in God. If a Christian doesn t ask in faith, he won t be resting on God he will be forfeiting God s peace. James wrote that some Christians are like the wave of the sea. They say, I believe God is going to work this out, but then they jump to it themselves and make their own decisions. One day they turn a problem over to the Lord and trust Him. But then the next day they do not believe or trust Him, instead they decide that nothing has shown up by way of solution, so they try to solve it themselves. Such an attitude will lose God s blessing and most likely the answer to prayer. Regardless of how he views himself, such a double-minded person is trying to serve 2 gods which Jesus said is impossible; in Matthew 6:24.He said, Either you will hate the one and love the other or you will be devoted to one and despise the other. III. A Closing Application In verses 9-11 James applied these principles to two different kinds of Christians: the poor and the rich. Money and social standing can lead to real problems among Christians, but God s testings have a way of leveling us. When testing comes to the poor man, if he lets God have his way, he will be able to rejoice that he possesses spiritual riches that cannot be taken from him. When testing comes to the rich man and he also lets God have His way, he will be able to rejoice that, unlike his earthly riches, his riches 4

5 in Christ cannot wither or fade away. It s not a person s material resources that get him through the testings of life, it is his spiritual resources. IV. Conclusion So what is your attitude towards testing that comes your way? Do you try to squirm out of it anyway you can? Do you ask, Why is this happening to me? Or do you ask what you can learn from going through a particular test? James finished his discussion of testing with a beatitude: Blessed or joyful 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. James started and ended this section with joy. Outlook determines outcome. James isn t saying that a sinner is saved by enduring trials. James is saying that believers those who love God are rewarded after enduring trials. They are rewarded by growth in their Christian character. They are also rewarded by bringing glory to God and by being granted a crown of life when Jesus Christ returns. God doesn t help us by removing the tests, but by making the tests work for us and for our good. Satan wants to use the tests to tear us down, but God in His omnipotence uses them to build us up. As James implied in the benediction, love is the motivation for each command and attitude towards testing. We can have a joyful attitude as we face trials because we love God and He loves us and He will not harm us. We can have an understanding mind because in His love, God has shared His truth with us. We have His word and all His promises turn to Luke 12: It s because of our love for God that we surrender our will and obey Him Jesus said in John 14:23, Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. So when testing comes your way and it surely will come don t throw your hands up in despair. Instead, if you are a child of God, remember that He loves you and as the caring heavenly Father, He wants only the best for you. Ask Him for wisdom so that the trial will make you into the man or woman He would have you become and that through it all you would bring praise and honor and glory to His name. Let me close with some words from Isaiah turn to Isaiah 40:

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