Patience the Trial

In continuing our study on the Holy Spirit, we are continuing to study the Fruit of the Spirit, those characteristics of Christ that are granted to us when we take him as our savior.

Galatians 5:22–23 CSB

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things.

We have previously looked at love, joy, and peace. This morning we will be looking at patience.

I am reminded of many, many Christians who have gone through various trials and troublesome situations in life. I can think of an cousin of mine who lost a young adult daughter to heart attack, leaving three young children without their mother. This happened three months after my cousin’s husband was lost to a rare and fast moving form cancer and soon afterward, her mother was left a widow as her father succumbed to a long bout with a slow-moving and painful form of cancer.

I watched that family stagger with blow after blow to their loved ones. But this was also a family that was wholeheartedly dedicated to the Lord and accomplishing his work. It was a beautiful thing to observe their steadfast faith in Father God during a time that others might have taken up cursing God for their lot in life.

I observed a quiet strength and forbearance in that family that I admired. I remembered that strength when my own father faced his mortal end.

We’ll be studying in James 1 this morning. This is a message that I have preached many times before as it is one that has sustained me as I have gone through my own trials in life. I know I have preached it here before, but my hope is that, even if you have heard it before, it might speak to you in a new way and encourage you at this point in your life.’

James 1:2–9 CSB

2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. 5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, 8 being double-minded and unstable in all his ways. 9 Let the brother of humble circumstances boast in his exaltation,

[pray]

We all experience trouble in life. This is what it means to live in a fallen world.

How many of have been through a trial in life?

How many of you are in the middle of a trial right now?

If you haven’t just come out of a trial or you’re not in the middle of a trial, watch out… because you’ve got one coming your way!

We all go through trials. It’s how we respond to them that is telling.

God never promised that life would be easy. In fact Jesus promised the exact opposite on several occasions.

We all have home relationships: spouses, children, parents, extended family, in-laws. There are times that these relationships give us cause to worry. Relationships are rough because when they bring trouble, they consume all our energy and thought life.

We all have work relationships: jobs or employees. We have jobs come and go… at times we struggle financially. There are times when we must go out and find new work and those times are stressful.

When life gives you lemons, what do you make? [Lemonade!]

I. Trials Bring Spiritual Growth

The first thing to remember is that the trial is not always something devastating. And there are some positive benefits to the trial, when we are willing to embrace them and learn from the experience.

James 1:2–4 CSB

When we encounter trouble in this life, we have a choice as to how we will respond.

How do you respond to trouble?

Do you deal with your trouble loudly (wail and moan-post on Facebook)?

Or do you deal with your trouble quietly (brood in silence-worry and anxiety)?

There is another alternative found in our text for today.

A. Find Joy in the Trial

Trials should be considered something that is joyful rather than dreadful.

James 1:2 CSB

2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials,

This verse used to really confuse me, because this is not what the world teaches at all.

This is a hard truth and it is a hard lesson… in fact it is extremely difficult. When we are tested in life, we can be anything but joyful. We are not patient and we turn into whining and petulant children. We just want the tough times to end.

A. Joy - this is more than just a little bit of happiness. The text says “all joy,” or “complete rejoicing.”

B. Trials - we sometimes translate this as trouble. Occasionally we might see it translated as temptations, but that’s not a good translation. The truest sense of the word in the Greek is trial, or exam, or testing. We’ll explore that further in verse 3.

Principle: When your patience is tested, find joy instead of grumbling.

We can have courage in the face of trials in our lives! Why? Because we KNOW that Jesus has overcome the world! We have HOPE and we have PEACE!

Jesus told us...

John 16:33 CSB

33 I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”

Our response to the trial is telling about our level of dependence upon God.

I have struggled with this in my own life. When trouble has come, I have complained bitterly to God and begged for Him to take it away. I get that God can take our complaints. He’s a big God. However, there are times that the trial is God’s design to prepare us for the task that is coming.

What if God just did as I asked and took away the trouble as soon as I got a little bit uncomfortable?

[I would never grow spiritually.]

B. Find Endurance in your Faith

Additionally trials and testing help us to increase our faith stamina by building endurance within.

James 1:3 CSB

3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

“the testing of your faith”

A. Testing - this phrase is like testing to see if your faith is genuine or false.

This is like that marker they use at the cash register on your $20 bills. That marker is a test to see if that bill is genuine or false.

The test is the marker for our faith to see if our faith in God is strong enough to produce endurance.

The test is the cocoon for the butterfly. It must struggle its way out of the cocoon so that its wings are strong enough to sustain flight.

The test is boot camp for the new soldier. Boot camp must be difficult if it is to produce a soldier worthy of withstanding the rigors of war.

The test is suffering the petty lies and misunderstanding that you will endure in a ministry setting.

Do you think Jesus didn’t suffer the same or much worse?

B. Faith - the word for faith here indicates a strong confidence or a strong reliance upon something or someone. In this case that reliance is upon God, who is the sustainer of our faith.

When we go through trials and we choose to respond to the situation with faith in God, this builds up our endurance and stamina.

“produces endurance”

C. Endurance -Some translations render this word as patience. Even though patience is our word for the day, I think the better translation here is endurance. The word endurance is indicative of the internal fortitude necessary to withstand great hardship or stress. Patience on the other hand is the result of endurance.

I often explain that faith is like a muscle. If you exercise your faith muscle and use it regularly it will remain healthy and strong. But if you ignore it and immobilize it, it will atrophy and become weak, you won’t be able to use it to lift anything.

The exercise of faith produces endurance. Having endurance means that you will have the strength necessary to stay the course throughout a time of trial. James, in another letter, wrote in Hebrews 12...

Hebrews 12:1–3 CSB

1 Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, 2 keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, so that you won’t grow weary and give up.

That “cloud of witnesses” refers to all of the faithful saints that we read about in Hebrews 11: Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab… All of those great and faithful lovers of God.

The author tells us how to achieve that level of faith...

Set aside every encumbrance (that which slows us in our race) - the sin, the doubt, the double-mindedness

Run with endurance

Fix our eyes on Jesus

Remember what Jesus endured and

Be willing to participate in your own endurance

Here’s the secret from that verse: When we suffer for our faith we are participants with Christ in His suffering and the very thing that we forget about when trouble comes our way...

Principle: Our trials bring us closer to Jesus

Why do we seek to avoid our trials in life? By avoiding the trials in life, we escape intimacy with Jesus and we stunt our spiritual growth. Instead we should be willing to embrace the trials in our lives. But that’s like having to kiss Aunt Lou at the family Christmas party.

C. Find Maturity in Your Endurance

The other thing that we are looking for is a mature spiritual life. We should always be working toward a deeper connection with Christ and a deeper way of walking with the Spirit.

James 1:4 CSB

4 And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

endurance = perseverence

A. Perfect Result - the wording here means to let endurance come to its fullest fruition in you. To let endurance become complete in you.

The meaning of this verse struck me a few years ago. A pastor friend of mine read it this way...“Let endurance have its perfect result in you.” Finally, a light came on and I understood this verse.

This is not just some academic exercise in allowing endurance to mature to some random perfect result. This is about endurance working in me! And that means that I have an important part to play in the process.

Principle: I AM THE ONLY PERSON who can block this perfect result in my life.

Because I AM THE ONLY PERSON who can decide whether I am going to stay the course or if I am going to give up.

So, if we MUST endure the trial, how do we get THROUGH the trial?

We cannot expect to go through the trial unmarked by the trial.

If we are to participate in the trial with Jesus Christ, then we WILL BE scarred by the trial.

The trial and the scarring will not be quickly forgotten

The scarring produces the character of Christ within us ONLY when we engage in the process prescribed in James 1:2-4.

=====

II. Pray for Wisdom

James 1:5–9 CSB

5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, 8 being double-minded and unstable in all his ways. 9 Let the brother of humble circumstances boast in his exaltation,

When we find ourselves in various kinds of trouble and our faith is being tested, we turn to prayer.

“let him ask of God”

Principle: turn to prayer when your faith is running low.

I do this all the time.

Whenever I feel stressed or stretched too thin and wonder how my problems will be solved, I turn to prayer.

When there is too much month at the end of my income, I turn to prayer.

When my relationships are tested, I turn to prayer.

When a friend or family member has problems in their lives, I turn to prayer.

My prayers tend to be simple expressions of trust in God to handle the problem.

My practice is to go to God in prayer and lay it at His feet. Then I try to leave it to Him.

Philippians 4:6–7 CSB

6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Principle: Prayer centers our thoughts on God and reminds us of His way of thinking.

We can find total faith and God and peace in the midst of problems if we just pray and give our worries to God.

A. God Gives Generously

One of the most beautiful promises in the Bible is that God will help us through the trials that we have in this life.

James 1:5 CSB

5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him.

“God, who gives to all generously [and without reproach—NASB]—[and ungrudgingly—CSB]”

First, we have to remind ourselves that God is generous and that He cares about the things that come to pass in our lives.

I believe that God cares about those things in our lives. I also believe that He has much better solutions in mind than I can ever discover on my own. So I ask Him for His help. And you know what happens? He shows up and handles it… eventually… as long as I keep my hands off and let Him work it out.

I’m not saying to ignore your problems. I expect God to take care of them unless they are problems of my own making. In that case, I need to work diligently to solve the consequences of my own mistakes. I can’t expect God to fix a problem that I caused. Though there have been times He has been gracious in helping out. We should have faith that God cares about our daily circumstances and is working these things out for His good in His timing.

Let me remind you:

Don’t ask God to simply take you out of your trial, because you rob yourself of spiritual growth.

Don’t ask God to magically solve problems of your own creation. Get to work solving those problems… Own up to them and take them on one by one.

The text says “if you lack wisdom”… it doesn’t say “ask anything you want from God…and it will be given”

The prayer here is for wisdom in how to face our trials.

Sometimes God will bring the solution to us.

Sometimes He will point us to our own flaws.

Sometimes He will bring us peace while we endure the solution. [Most often when we are submitted to His will]

When we ask for God to reveal to us how we should face a problem in life and we are genuinely submitted to His purpose, His plan, His way… then we can expect that He will 1) give us peace and 2) give us wisdom.

The purpose of prayer in the trial is not to coerce God to solve our problem or end our pain. The purpose of prayer is to remind us how to handle the problem with the strength of God. It is to remind us how to respond in a godly manner. It is to remind us to do what God wants us to do.

This takes us back to our principle:

Principle: Prayer centers our thoughts on God and reminds us of His way of thinking.

B. Ask in Faith

James 1:5–6 CSB

Now that we have the first thing in mind, “that God gives generously.” We have something else to remember here, this verse is about “lack of wisdom” or put in other terms it is about “not knowing what to do about our trial.”

WARNING: Sometimes people will read this and make it mean something else. Like if you lack “in riches” or lack “in material things” that all we have to do is ask God in faith without doubting and it will be given to us, just for making the demand of God. That's not what this verse is saying.

This verse should be taken in the context that we don’t know what to do about our troublesome situation. In that case, we can ask God to give us wisdom in our trial and he will give it to us.

So we are remembering these two things: 1) God gives generously, and 2) we are coming to this verse in a state of facing the unknown.

This verse says that if we ask God he will give us wisdom. But this is only asking, humbly, while standing on a foundation of trust in God.

When we are facing the trial, that is something that God has ordained that we must go through for the purpose of perfecting our faith and strengthening our connection with him, then the thing that we need most is wisdom.

But one thing that we must resist doing is doubting God.

C. Don’t Doubt God

James 1:6–8 CSB

6 But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, 8 being double-minded and unstable in all his ways.

When we are in these trials, the enemy will throw every lie at us that he can possibly think of.

This verse does not say that we will not doubt.

This verse does not say that if we doubt, that we are in sin.

It does not say that our doubting will disappoint God.

This says that doubting will put us into turmoil, like riding out a raging storm in a tiny, little boat with only one oar.

Of course we cannot expect the solution to come to us when we are in a state of lacking faith.

Definition: Faith is an active state of trusting in God. It requires confidence in God’s ability and active participation in bringing about His plan and His purpose.

Only when we are in a position of trust and faith in God are we humble enough to hear God’s direction, His rebuke, His correction, His solution.

D. Be Humble

Humility is also a key to finding patience in the trial...

James 1:9 CSB

9 Let the brother of humble circumstances boast in his exaltation,

One prayer I often give to God when I am in the trial is this one:

God, I submit to Your plan, Your will, Your purpose.

I do this because that is what I am truly looking for. When I catch myself being demanding with God, I must immediately turn my demeanor into one of submission.

It is not that God cannot take our demands, for He absolutely can. It is that our demands are nothing when it comes to His plan.

How is it that we always think that we know better than God?

How can we presume to tell God how He should solve our problems?

Conclusion

Here’s what I want you to take away from today’s message:

Life is difficult. You’re not alone.

When your patience is tested, find complete joy instead of grumbling.

Turn to prayer when your faith is wearing thin.

Don’t be the one who blocks God’s perfect result in your life.

Related Media

Related Sermons