While I'm In It

Praise and Worship:

Offering and Prayer:

Monthly Theme: The Gospel Under Pressure

Scripture:

James 1:2–4 NIV

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.

Introduction: When Life Doesn’t Make Sense

There are some difficult things in life that we can understand. If I make a bad decision and experience the consequences, I may not like what happened, but at least I understand how I got there. If I ignore good advice and things go wrong, I can look back and say, “I probably should have listened.”

But some of the hardest seasons in life are the ones that don’t make sense.

You’re trying to do the right thing. You’re praying. You’re trusting God. You’re treating people right. You’re trying to be faithful. And yet something happens that leaves you asking, “God, why am I going through this?”

And usually when we're in something difficult, our first prayer is pretty simple:

“God, get me out of this.”

Get me out of this situation. Get me out of this financial problem. Get me out of this conflict. Get me out of this uncertainty. Get me out of this pain. Get me out of this waiting season.

And there's nothing wrong with praying for God to get you out.

But what happens when God doesn't get you out immediately?

What happens when you pray on Monday and you're still in it Tuesday? You pray Tuesday and you're still in it Wednesday. You pray this month and you're still dealing with it next month.

What do you do while you're in it?

Title, Prayer:

While I’m In It

Application: Finding Joy In the Middle Of The Weight

James writes something that almost sounds unreasonable when you're hurting.

But think about someone working out with weights. Nobody goes into the gym, picks up a weight and says, “I hope this is as easy as possible.” If the weight offers no resistance, it isn’t doing much to develop you. The resistance is part of the process.

When you lift a weight, your muscles are placed under stress. They are being challenged beyond what is comfortable. And if you keep working against that resistance, over time something begins to happen. You become stronger. The weight that once felt impossible eventually becomes manageable. What changed? The weight may not have changed. You changed.

That's what James is trying to help us understand about trials.

We usually pray, “God, take the weight away.” And there is nothing wrong with that prayer. There are times when God removes the weight. There are times when God opens the door. There are times when God changes the circumstances. There are times when God brings deliverance.

But there are also times when God doesn't immediately remove the weight.

And maybe one reason is that God is doing something in us while we're carrying it.

We tend to measure God's activity by whether our circumstances are changing. “God, if You're working, fix this. God, if You're listening, remove this. God, if You're with me, make this easier.” But what if God is working even when the circumstances haven't changed yet?

What if God is strengthening your faith?

What if God is developing your patience?

What if God is teaching you how to pray?

What if God is teaching you how to depend on Him?

What if God is developing something in you that comfort could never develop?

There are things we learn about God in difficult seasons that we might never learn when everything is going well. You can know that God is a provider because Scripture says He provides. But there is something different about knowing God as your provider when you didn't know how you were going to make it. You can know that God gives peace because the Bible says He does. But there is something different about experiencing peace when everything around you says you should be falling apart.

The resistance doesn't mean the exercise isn't working. The resistance is part of what makes the exercise work.

And the same can be true spiritually.

Maybe instead of only asking, “God, when are You going to remove this weight?” we also need to ask, “God, what are You developing in me while I'm carrying it?”

Point One: Trials Test The Reality of Our Faith

James says, “When your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.”

Notice that James doesn't say if your faith is tested. He says when.

Trials are not strange interruptions to the Christian life. They are part of living in a broken world. Jesus told His disciples in John 16:33, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.” Jesus never promised His followers a trouble-free life.

But He did promise something else: “But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

That's important because the presence of trouble doesn't mean the absence of God.

Sometimes we discover what we really believe when what we believe is tested.

It's easy to say, “God is my provider,” when the bank account looks good. It's different when money is tight. It's easy to say, “God is my healer,” when we're healthy. It's different when the doctor gives us news we didn't want to hear. It's easy to say, “God will make a way,” when we can already see the way. It's different when every door seems closed.

That's when faith becomes more than something we say.

It becomes something we stand on.

Think about Abraham. God promised him a son, and then Abraham had to wait. And wait. And wait. The promise was real, but the waiting tested his faith.

Think about Joseph. God gave him dreams about his future, but before Joseph ever reached the palace, he went through a pit, slavery, false accusations and prison. If Joseph had judged God's faithfulness by his circumstances, he might have concluded that God had forgotten him. But God was still working when Joseph couldn't see it.

Think about Job. Job lost almost everything and couldn't understand why. Yet in the middle of his pain he declared, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.”

That's faith under pressure.

A trial doesn't create everything that's inside us. Sometimes a trial reveals what's already there.

Pressure reveals our fears. Pressure reveals our doubts. Pressure reveals our priorities. Pressure reveals where we've actually placed our trust.

And that isn't always a bad thing.

Because when God shows me where my faith is weak, He isn't showing me so He can shame me. He is showing me where I need to grow.

The test is not necessarily designed to destroy your faith. The test can develop your faith.

That's why James says the testing of your faith produces endurance.

Point Two: God Can Use What Hurts To Develop What Lasts

James continues in verse 4: “So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”

Notice those words: “Let it grow.”

That means there is a process happening.

We want God to hurry, but God often works through process. We want immediate answers. God develops endurance. We want instant deliverance. God develops maturity. We want the situation to change. Sometimes God begins by changing us.

And nobody demonstrates this better than Jesus.

Hebrews 12:2 tells us to keep our eyes on Jesus, “Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame.”

Jesus didn't call the cross enjoyable.

The cross hurt.

The nails were real. The rejection was real. The betrayal was real. The suffering was real.

But Jesus could see beyond the suffering to what the Father was accomplishing through it.

On Friday, the cross looked like defeat.

On Saturday, the tomb looked like the end.

But Sunday revealed that God had been working all along.

The cross teaches us something powerful about suffering: what looks painful in the moment may be accomplishing something we cannot yet see.

That doesn't mean every painful event is something God caused. We live in a broken world. People make sinful choices. Bodies become sick. Relationships break. Tragedies happen. But the Gospel shows us that God is so powerful that even when evil produces suffering, evil does not get the final word.

God can take what was intended for destruction and bring redemption out of it.

God can take tears and produce testimony.

God can take weakness and teach dependence.

God can take disappointment and develop endurance.

God can take something you never would have chosen and use it to shape you into someone you never could have become without Him.

That's why our joy isn't based on the trial.

Our joy is based on the God who is with us in the trial.

I don't have to say, “I'm glad this happened.”

I can say, “I'm glad God hasn't left me while it's happening.”

I don't have to pretend the weight isn't heavy.

I can say, “God is giving me strength to carry what I couldn't carry by myself.”

I don't have to understand everything God is doing.

I can trust that He is doing something.

Benediction: Don’t Waste The Trial

Most of us have one prayer when we're going through something difficult: “Lord, get me out of this.”

And that's a legitimate prayer.

Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, “Father, if it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me.” Jesus Himself asked if there was another way.

But Jesus didn't stop there.

He said, “Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

That's mature faith.

“God, I want You to change this situation. But while I'm waiting for You to change the situation, don't let me miss what You're trying to change in me.”

Maybe that's the prayer somebody needs today.

“And maybe today God is going to get you out of it. But until He does, maybe our prayer needs to change. ‘God, while I’m in it, don’t let me waste it. While I’m in it, strengthen me. While I’m in it, teach me. While I’m in it, grow me. While I’m in it, do something in me.’”

“Lord, don't let me waste this trial.”

If I'm going to walk through it, teach me something.

If I'm going to carry the weight, make me stronger.

If I'm going to cry, draw me closer.

If I'm going to wait, develop my patience.

If I'm going to face uncertainty, deepen my trust.

If I'm going through the fire, don't let me come out exactly the way I went in.

Because this trial may be painful, but it doesn't have to be pointless.

You may not see what God is doing yet.

Joseph couldn't see the palace from the pit.

Israel couldn't see the Promised Land from the wilderness.

The disciples couldn't see resurrection while Jesus was hanging on the cross.

And maybe you can't see what God is doing from where you're standing right now.

But not being able to see what God is doing doesn't mean God isn't doing anything.

So don't give up in the middle of the process.

Don't throw away your faith because the weight got heavy.

Don't assume God has forgotten you because the answer hasn't come yet.

Keep trusting.

Keep praying.

Keep believing.

Keep growing.

Because one day you may look back at something you once begged God to take away and realize, “That's where God taught me how to trust Him. That's where God strengthened my faith. That's where God showed me who He really is.”

And that's when you begin to understand what James meant when he said:

“When trials of any kind come your way, consider it pure joy.”

Invitation/Closing Prayer:

Today, I want us to pray differently.

Maybe you've been praying, “God, get me out of this.” And we're still going to ask God for deliverance. We're still going to ask God to heal. We're still going to ask God to open doors. We're still going to ask God to change circumstances.

But today we're going to add another prayer:

“God, while I'm in it, do something in me.”

Father, some of us are carrying weights today that nobody else can see. Some are carrying disappointment. Some are carrying uncertainty. Some are carrying financial pressure. Some are carrying family situations. Some are waiting for answers. Some are dealing with doors that haven't opened. Some are carrying questions they can't answer.

Lord, You know every weight.

And yes, Father, we're asking You to move. We're asking You to heal. We're asking You to provide. We're asking You to restore. We're asking You to open doors. We're asking You to make a way.

But while we're waiting, Lord, don't let us waste the trial.

Strengthen our faith.

Develop our endurance.

Teach us patience.

Teach us dependence.

Teach us how to trust You when we can't trace You.

When the weight gets heavy, remind us that You are still with us. When we don't understand, remind us that You can see what we cannot see. When we feel like quitting, remind us that You're still working.

And Lord, give us joy—not because everything feels good, but because we know You are good.

Give us joy—not because we understand everything, but because we trust the One who does.

Give us joy—not because the trial is easy, but because the trial does not have the final word.

And when this season is over, let us come out stronger, wiser, closer to You, and more confident in Your faithfulness than when we went in.

This trial may be painful, but with You, it will not be pointless.

In Jesus' name, Amen.