Sermon Series
How to Face Our Future! – Part 2
"How to Profit from Your Problems"
Pastor Jerry
James 1:2-6
------------------------------------- Message Synopsis -------------------------------------
I want to ask you a personal question this morning?
Do any of you ever have problems?
Even if you don’t have any personal problems right now, you have the social problems of the pandemic.
Yes! We have problems, both personal and socially.
So, today, we're going to look at
"How to Profit From Your Problems". James is the most practical book in the New Testament. It is the
"How To" manual for the Christian life.
How can you be happy if you have problems? The key is the phrase
"because you know". Your attitude is determined by your understanding.
Actually, there are 4 facts of life from James that will help you with the problems you go thru:
I.
HERE’S FOUR "FACTS OF LIFE" YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Problems are inevitable
Scripture doesn't say,
"If you encounter problems consider it joy" but
whenever -- count on it, you're going to have problems. Jesus said
"In the world you will have tribulation." Count on it.
The second fact of life from James that you need to know…
- Problems are unpredictable.
James says,
"...whenever you face problems ..." - it is unexpected. Trials are not planned. We seldom can anticipate the problems we're going to experience in life.
The third fact of life from James that you need to know…
- Problems are of many kinds
They come in all shapes and sizes. There are a wide variety of them. They vary in intensity, they vary in variety, they vary in duration. Some are minor inconveniences. Some are major crises.
The fourth fact of life from James that you need to know…
- Problems are purposeful
YES problems have a purpose. Problems can be a warning light that something wrong. Pain can produce change. It has value in our lives.
What value?
Three
purposes of problems in your life:
1) Problems purify my faith.
James uses the word "testing.” Job said
"God has tested me through the refining fire and I have come out as pure gold." The first things trials do is test our faith. They purify us. You don't know what's inside until you face problems. God is much more interested in what’s inside you, in building faith, than He is in building bodies, or homes, or things.
A second
purpose of problems in your life:
2) Problems fortify our patience.
"...the testing of your faith develops perseverance." James is talking about staying power, not a passive patience, endurance. We don't like pressure and we do everything we can to avoid it. People run from it. But God uses problems in our lives to teach us how to handle pressure, how to never give up. Endurance, patience today, is a rare quality.
A third
purpose of problems in your life:
3) Problems sanctify my character.
They make me like Jesus. They help me to grow.
"The testing of your faith produces perseverance that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." That's God's long range goal. His ultimate purpose is He wants you to mature. In the Christian life, character is the bottom line.
God's number one purpose in your life is to make you like Jesus Christ.
The Bible says there are two ways that God makes us like Jesus:
(1) Through the word of God. John 17:17
"Sanctify them through Thy truth. Thy word is truth." James 1:22-25
"The word makes us like Jesus" it builds our character, matures us. Reading the Bible, the Word of God, letting it guide us is being like Jesus.
But, God demands even more in the second way.
(2) Through the circumstances of life. So many Christians say, "
Everything was going great when I first became a believer. Then all of these problems came. Maybe God doesn't love me. Maybe I'm not a Christian." You are exactly where God wants you. You're in a character course.
He's making you like Jesus. Romans 8:28
"We know that all things work together for good" if we love God and are called according to His purpose." The secret of Romans 8:28 is 8:29
"For whom he did foreknow He did predestine to become conformed to the image of the Son of God." Why do all things work together for good?
In order to make me like Christ.
Ephesians says
"We are God's workmanship" -- God wants to make a mature person out of you.
He wants us to be kind, caring, faithful. That is a picture of Jesus Christ. That's what He wants you to be like.
These are four facts you needed to know!
- Problems are are inevitable
- Problems are unpredictable.
- Problems are of many kinds
- Problems are purposeful
And then there are three things you
need to do.
II.
HERE’S HOW TO HANDLE YOUR PROBLEMS
- Rejoice "Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials ..." (v2). Don't misunderstand what he's saying. He's not saying "Fake it. God never asks you to deny reality. We don't rejoice for the problem, we rejoice in the problem. We don't thank God for the situation. One of the most misunderstood verses in the Bible is I Thessalonians 5:18 "In everything give thanks for this is the will of God concerning you in Christ Jesus." If you want to know God's will for your life it's simple. "In everything give thanks." It does not say, "For everything give thanks."
Why? It means we can thank God because we know that He can even take the bad in our lives and turn it around and bring good out of it. I don't care where your problems come from.
God can use them all for your growth and His glory. What makes a difference?
Your attitude! Although I cannot control the circumstances that happen to me in life,
I can control how I will respond to them. You can choose to rejoice in any situation. The Bible says choose to rejoice.
The second thing you
need to do (to handle your problems):
- Request Pray. Of all times to pray, pray when you've got problems. What do you pray about? v. 5 "If any of you lack wisdom, you should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to him." Wisdom is seeing life from God's point of view. Pray for wisdom to understand the problem and see what your part in it can be. Request.
The third thing you
need to do (to handle your problems):
- Relax Trust God to know what's best for your life. Co-operate with His purpose so you don't short circuit the process. That's what's called faith. "When he asks he must believe and not doubt." Let Go! Relax. Let God work.
These are four facts you needed to know! These are three things you need to do!
- Problems are inevitable 1. Rejoice
- Problems are unpredictable. 2. Request
- Problems are of many kinds 3. Relax
- Problems are purposeful
My heart breaks when I think about the heartache and pain many people in our church and in the community feel during this pandemic. It's not always easy to have a joyful heart in the middle of problems. The Bible says the devil wants to use problems to defeat you, but God wants to use those problems to develop you.
Which will it be?
God cares.
He cares about you very much. God sees everything you're going through. God has the power to do something about that problem. He could change it in a snap. Why doesn't He?
Because there's a greater purpose.
God wants you to profit from your problems:
The greater purpose is what He wants to do in you. God is more interested in building your character than in making life comfortable. Once you've learned those qualities, He may be free to remove that situation. But, nothing comes into your life without the Heavenly Father's permission. Come to Jesus,
“cast all your cares upon Him.”…it will be well with your soul!
