God is in the Trials

GOD IS IN THE TRIALS

Introduction

I’m so excited to be able to speak this morning. 1st of all because of the people

I’m excited for this message specifically because it’s a great truth that God has revealed to me through His word and through my own personal experiences - it’s what has become my testimony. This is a word for everyone today.

Haley and I have been involved here at Solid Rock for about two years. In those two years, God has radically transformed our lives, and He’s done it in a variety of ways.

Through incredible people

Through incredible opportunities

Through incredible blessings

But also through incredible trials - man our faith has been tested, and through those trials, God has really revealed himself to us.

And that’s what I want to talk about today - TRIALS.

James, the brother of Jesus, writes..James 1:2 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

Did you know that scholars believe that James was actually the first book written in the New Testament? Meaning that after James’ greeting, these are the first written in the New Testament.. Consider it joy when you face trials.. Shows the relevance and importance of trials in our lives.

And we know we’ll face trials, but how in the world can we find joy in the trials? Here’s how: Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

So how can we consider it joy when we face trials of various kinds? Because we know that there is purpose in every trial. God is working in every trial we face, and that’s what I want to show you today.

The title of today’s sermon is this: GOD IS IN THE TRIALS

– Maybe you’re facing a trial because someone sinned against you - God is in the trial

– Maybe you’re facing a trial because God is testing you as He calls you into something great - God is in that trial.

– Maybe you’re facing a trial because of your own poor decisions. Yes, we’ve all done dumb things. And yes, God is still in the trial. He is still there to work it for good.

Regardless of why you face the trial, God wills for the trial be used for your good, according to His purpose.

Sometimes though, we just don’t understand why we go through things. Have you ever reached a place in your life where you stop and ask yourself, or you stop and ask God, “Why is this happening to me?!”

1. God’s plan is not our plan. (Isaiah 55:8-9, Jeremiah 29:11)

E. And THANK GOD His plan is not ours because here’s the reality… in the big picture, we do not know what’s best for us.

Isa 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

It’s important for us to understand that, by nature, our wants and desires are often going to naturally contradict God’s.

We serve an omniscient God, one who knows the end from the beginning. You think His plan is gonna look a little different than ours? Uh, yeah…

Compare me and my Father (God) to Luke and his father (myself).

Look at this picture. Think about the gap in wisdom and knowledge that stands between myself and Luke (he can’t even say his name). As large as that gap is, the gap of wisdom and knowledge between myself and God is exponentially greater.

You know, something changed in me when I became a father - parents, y’all know what I’m talking about. I love him so much and would do absolutely anything to protect this little boy. Sometimes, looking out for our children means doing things that upset them.. Amen, parents? Because they don’t understand the big picture, they can’t see things the way you do.

Luke loves to eat - everything..cat food…gets mad when I stop him… He doesn’t understand, but I’m doing what I’m doing out of love. I’ve got big plans for Luke’s life..I want him to do big things; I want him to have things.

Jesus said If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:11)

As much as we love our kids, God loves us that much more.

Just like Luke couldn’t make it on his own - I couldn’t make it on my own.

Sometimes facing things that we don’t like is part of God’s greater plan, that, in the moment, we just can’t understand.

A. When we face trials of various kinds in our lives, and we will. We all will. We have to know that God is in the trial - there’s purpose in every trial we face, especially when we don’t understand why we’re going through it. Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Foundation verse, “life verse”

Context makes it more powerful, more applicable: people in exile will be there for a while longer

He has a great plan - it’s HIS plan. It’s our job, not to understand every step of His plan, but to trust Him through every step..through every blessing and especially through every trial.

Proverbs 3:5-6 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

God is calling you to a place where, when you do face a trial, you don’t say “WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?” instead you say, “LORD, I DON’T UNDERSTAND RIGHT NOW WHY I’M FACING THIS, BUT I TRUST YOU.”

(So I don’t want to overgeneralize, but when you look throughout all of scripture, there are really two main reasons why God allows us to face trials.

Here’s the first - pt. #2 for your notes…)

2. Maybe you’re out of God’s will, and He’s redirecting you. (Luke 15:11-17)

E. God has a call on your life. He has a plan for your life. There is a divine destiny that we are connected to. And if we are going our own way, away from God’s plan, He’s going to redirect us. He loves us too much to let us go astray - like the parable of the lost sheep. Have you ever been the lost sheep? Have you ever strayed and found yourself completely lost? I know I have. And thank God that He loves us enough to bring us back. Here’s what I want to show you - Sometimes God uses the trial to bring us back to Him.

I. Story of the Prodigal Son

Luke 15:11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

(When we ask for something from the Father, and we pursue something, we better make sure it is aligned with God’s will.. Because He may just give us what we ask for.)

13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.

(The younger son was in total rebellion of the Father at this point. He had done all of this on his own, of his own will.)

14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need.

(Even though the son was in rebellion, and even though he is the one who squandered his wealth, it was a TRIAL OUT OF HIS CONTROL (the famine) that ultimately brought him back to the father.

15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father…

Because of his own bad decisions and a trial out of his control, this guy went from living high on the hog to wanting to eat with the hogs.

Sometimes our Father allows us to hit rock bottom to show us that there’s nowhere to turn to but Him.

The prodigal son had to hit the lowest of lows in order to come to his senses. The trial is what got his attention - The trial is what brought him back to the father. And when he went back to the father, the father ran to him with open arms, smothered him with kisses, and threw a feast for him.

A. Can I say that no matter where you’re at in life this morning, no matter what you’ve done, no matter what kind of shame, guilt, or anger you’re carrying, God is calling you home. Maybe through the trial you’re facing today, God is telling you “son, just come to me” or “daughter, just come to me”.. He’s waiting with open arms.

Let me tell you a personal story, then I’ll move on to my last point.

When I surrendered my life to Jesus, I was 20 years old, and I was not in church, I was not in the Word.. Really I was not in anything except sin. I’d give you all the details if some of my students weren’t in the room, but you can use your imagination.

I had run as far away from God as I knew how. I had put my hopes in things and people of the world, and they had let me down big time.

And in my rebellion, please hear this, God had allowed me to reach a place of complete brokenness. This side of the grave, I was as close as you can be to the gates of hell. Some of y’all know what I’m talking about.. And my mom, who was probably tired of yelling at me to get my life together, bought me a devotional. That was my prodigal son moment. I came to my senses and realized that I had nowhere else to turn. I read the devotional. I went to my Bible, and I really dove into God’s word for the first time in my life. And I got saved at 20 years old reading my Bible. And it all came out of that place of brokenness - there was so much purpose in the trial that got me there.

(And once I gave my life to Jesus, the trials ceased, and I lived happily ever after, right? No, here’s the truth… If Christ is truly Lord of your life, you are guaranteed to face trials of many kinds. Here’s Point #3 for your notes..)

3. Maybe you’re in God’s will and He’s preparing (or growing) you. (1 Cor. 16:9, 1 Samuel 17:33-36, Mark 1:12, Romans 8:28)

E. Pursuing God, walking in His will, living the life that He intended us to live as Christians - that will not prevent you from facing trials and hardship. On the contrary, if you’re living for Christ, you are guaranteed to face trials of many kinds. Throughout the whole Bible, you see God’s people walk with Him but still experience trials. Name one person in the Bible that did great things for the Lord who DID NOT experience trials. You can’t.

So if God is using these trials to prepare us, then what is He preparing us for? He’s preparing us for the opportunity that awaits, for the next step in our destiny, for the calling that He has placed on each of our lives.

Here’s a great example..

I. 1 Sam 17:33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 36 Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”

(We all know the story of David and Goliath. We know that David, a shepherd boy, took down this giant undefeated warrior, Goliath. The part we sometimes skip over is the part where David looks back on the time that he took out a bear and a lion to protect his sheep. David stepped into this battle with Goliath voluntarily. It was the confidence, given to him by the Lord, through those TRIALS, with the lion and the bear, that prepared him for this epic moment. Y’all know that song ‘Confidence’ by Sanctus Real - “I will face my giants with confidence.” Here’s what I want to show you.. God has a great call on each of our lives, and stepping into the call requires great confidence - confidence that God instills in us through the battles we face in life.)

Mark 1:12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

(We don’t know a lot about the first 30 years of Jesus’ life. I’m sure it was all very important, nothing related to Jesus is irrelevant or inconsequential. But the most important part of Jesus’ life was his ministry that we believe lasted about 3 ½ years. So what started His ministry? After he was baptized by John, the Father spoke, the Spirit descended, and the Holy Spirit (God) sent Him directly into a great trial - a great test. Before He preached His first sermon, performed His first miracle, before he called the first disciple, He was put through a trial. If it was necessary for Jesus to experience trial before walking in His destiny, then it’s definitely necessary for us to experience trials before God uses us for His good - before we start walking in His will and our destiny.)

Personal Story: Growth from trials both personally and with Faith First.

A little over a year ago, we sat down and decided we were going to start a Christian school right here at Solid Rock. I was asked to be the school’s first principal. I was honored then, and I’m honored now. For a couple months I was absolutely stoked about the future - I mean there was nothing but excitement in the Price house. Haley was pregnant with our first child, and there was so much enthusiasm surrounding this new school. As the beginning of the school year drew close, I remember having his wide-eyed moment of realization that “I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I’M DOING. I’VE NEVER BEEN A PRINCIPAL BEFORE. I’VE NEVER WORKED IN FULL TIME MINISTRY BEFORE. HOW AM I GOING TO DO THIS?”. So I cried out to God and I asked Him to prepare me for this role. I said, “Lord, make me ready for what I’m about to step into. Just prepare me, God”

Remember what I said earlier about be careful what you pray for? It was like instantaneously, God said “okay son, I’ll prepare you.”

And trial after trial after trial just came raining down, back to back to back.

We got a report from the doctor that there were a couple big concerns with Luke and that we wouldn’t know until he was born. We just had to give it to God and trust Him.

Then we started running into one road bump after another with stuff pertaining to the school it seemed like every day. I mean outside of the detailed planning that had taken place leading up. It was like every other day there was something out of left field that we could not have prepared for.

In the midst of all this, Luke was born, and praise God he was an 8lb 13 oz bundle of perfectly healthy joy (insert picture of baby Luke) This was one of the greatest days of my life, and we’re certainly full of joy there, but the trials were still coming at us left and right in the middle of it. And now we’ve got this new trial that we’ve never experienced before - you can’t just sleep when you want to.

A few weeks after Luke was born, we had one of the the scariest nights of our lives - he just completely stopped breathing in the middle of the night. I mean, face was red starting to turn blue. Haley’s on the phone with 911 and I’m just crying out to God to please let my baby breathe. Thank the Lord, he got his breath back. Paramedics couldn’t tell us what the issue was, took him to the doctor and they couldn’t either. All I know is he couldn’t breathe, I prayed, he breathed..

That’s the point where everything came to a head. And I just broke down and cried out to God and said “WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?”

If we’re going to hear from God, then we have to get quiet. I locked myself in a room, determined to receive clarity from God before I left, and He led me to the book of James, and these words just jumped off the page at me.

A. James 1:2-4 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Testing = Dokimion (dok-im'-ee-on): The same word used to describe the testing of money - to see if it’s counterfeit or real. For various reasons, God will allow us to experience trials. Your faith, according to God’s will, will be tested. The trials that you experience are simply opportunities for your faith to grow, opportunities that direct you to the destiny that God has called you to.

Romans 8:28 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

‭‭(If you look in the Greek, you know what that word “all” means? It means all. Everything you went through, it wasn’t for nothing. What you’re facing right now, it’s not for nothing. What you will go through, it’s not for nothing. God is IN IT, and He’s going to grow you THROUGH IT. GOD is IN the trials.)