Wisdom For Life's Trials – Dr. Charles Stanley
♪♪♪ male announcer: "In Touch"
with Dr. Charles Stanley, celebrating 45 years
of God's faithfulness. Next on "In Touch,"
"Wisdom for Life's Trials." Dr. Charles Stanley: One of the
most frequently asked questions is this: Why is it that God, who's
a loving Father, allows His children to go through
such terrible trials? Painful, sorrowing trials. Why does He do it? We say that He's omnipotent
and that He's a God of love. And if He's a God of love and a
God of omnipotence, which means He's all-powerful, He should
love us enough not to let that happen. And if He really and truly loves
us, why does He let it happen? Does it just happen? That is, has He just created
everything, walked away and just let things transpire? Or does He have
anything to do with it? I think about all these
tornadoes, for example, and floods and all the heartache
and the burdens and the trials that people go through. Where is God in all that? And there is an answer
in the Word of God. It's the only place you can
get the real answer. People have all kind of answers. They'll say, Well, God created
the world and then He just turned away and let it just
unfold the way it would choose to unfold. Some people would say, Well,
I don't know what happens. It doesn't make any difference. It's just happening and here we
are, we're sort of victims. Well that's no real peaceful,
tranquil, helpful kind of attitude. So what does the Word of God
say about the trials that you and I face? Well, I want you to turn if you
will to James chapter one, because he deals with this whole
issue of facing these trials in our life and facing them wisely. And when you first begin to read
this, if I were not a believer, I would probably read this
second verse and say, Count me out. Because there's no way
I could do this. So look if you will in James
one; and then I want you to notice it may appear that he's
talking about three or four different things, but he's
talking about the same thing, "James, a bondservant of God and
of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes who are dispersed
abroad: Greetings." That, he's talking about all the
Jews who've been dispersed and scattered all over the world
because of their captivity and so forth. The he says, "Consider it all
joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,"
knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. "And let endurance have its
perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete,
lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom,
let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without
reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith
without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the
surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the winds. For that man ought not to expect
that he will receive anything from the Lord, Being a
double-minded man, unstable in all of his ways. But the brother of humble
circumstances is to glory in his high position; And the rich man
is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering
grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with a
scorching wind and withers the grass; and the flowers fall off
and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich
man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away. Blessed is the man who
perseveres under trial, for once He has been approved, he will
receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised
to those who love him." Now, as I said it looks like
he's talking about three or four different things, but he's not. And he makes a statement in this
very first part of this chapter that I think most anyone reading
it for the first time, or maybe several times, would say,
Now wait a minute. Does he really and truly mean
that I am to have joy when I encounter various trials? In other words, we might say,
joy, or, put it this way, trials and tears; trials and heartache;
trials and burdens; trial and rejection; trial and suffering. But trial and joy, those
two don't go together. Well, they don't go together
unless you understand God's viewpoint of what
life's all about. And so, when I look at this
chapter and realize that here's what He says and He says this
specifically and clearly, "Consider it all joy, my
brethren, when," not if you encounter, but when you
encounter trials. And when he says, notice various
trials; that covers everything. All kinds of difficulty and
hardship and trials that people go through. He says, "When you
encounter them." Encounter them means
they come upon you. In other words, sometimes a
sudden situation, not something that you bring upon
yourself necessarily. When you do that, he says
we are to rejoice. And when he talks about joy,
he's not talking about this happy, frivolous feeling. He's talking about an inner
sense of calmness and quietness and peace and tranquility and
assurance that's far more than just clapping and saying
I'm happy that I'm going through this trial. That's not what he's talking
about at all. Something much, much
deeper than that. And if you'll notice how he says
this, he says, "Count it all joy when you encounter these trials,
knowing that," knowing that something's happening. And so, it's what I, watch this,
it's what I know during these trials and while these trials
are coming on that make the difference of whether I'll be
able to survive or not. So all of us could think about
some trial we've been through. And I think about the people who
have been through so many trials when it comes to physical and
natural calamities that are taking place, even right
now while we're speaking. And they have a
reason to question. Wait a minute now. How am I to rejoice
over all this? What is my attitude? What is the proper attitude
when you and I go through these trials in life? Well, when I think about that
and I think about what God says in this passage
and ask the question. Well first of all, he says,
"Count it all joy." And then it looks like he
switches the subject to wisdom. Well, he's not
switching the subject. Here's what he's saying. In order to understand the
trial, and in order to understand it in a fashion that
I'm able to have this deep sense of joy down inside in spite
of what's happening, I have to have wisdom. I need wisdom to know
how to look at this. So, let's define wisdom. Wisdom is simply this. The Bible says all wisdom starts
with reverencing God. Wisdom is viewing things,
listen, seeing things from God's viewpoint and then
responding according to scriptural principles. It isn't enough for me to see as
God sees it, but I'm to respond in the way that fits who I am as
a follower of Jesus and to fit the Holy Scriptures. So it's seeing it as He sees it
and following the scriptural principles that He gives to us. And when we do that, for
example, I think it's pretty evident we will be able to
evaluate circumstances in people and make the right decision. And we'll be able to make
decisions based on the past experiences in our life, the
present situation that's there and the future plans
that we have. But looking back in the past,
how has God worked in our life in the past, and
different situations. And then, likewise, we have to
ask the question, If I'm wise, what would God have me to do
in this particular situation? Wisdom is viewing things
from God's viewpoint and responding accordingly. So, when it comes
to these trials, here's what he says,
if you'll notice again, and the way he says it. He says, "When you
encounter these things, you know something." He says, "Knowing that
the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its
perfect complete work lacking in nothing." That is, God is up to
something in our life when there are trials. Multitudes of people all across
this nation of ours who are undergoing all kind of
difficulty and hardship and trial and loss and
suffering and pain; and sometimes feeling
guilt that is false guilt, but sometimes feeling guilt
that is indeed legitimate. Now, wisdom enables us
to face trials confidently and triumphantly. And that's why He says,
"wisdom so that." So that God gives us wisdom,
enable us to face these things and to face them and come out,
listen, being blessed, not destroyed; being helped, not
hindered; expressing His love, not His disfavor. So whatever trial you're going
through, it doesn't make any difference what it is, it fits
this; because he said, various trials. So I want to think for just a
few moments about What is God's purpose for allowing these
things in your life? Well, the first one is this,
and that is to do what? To test our faith. Now watch this carefully. He uses a word here in the Greek
that would be sort of meaningless to you, but
the word is dokimion which means to approve. And if you'll turn to First
Peter, for example, one, verse seven, listen to what he says. He says, verse six, "In this you
greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if
necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,"
distressed by them. Listen to what he says, "So that
the proof," dokimion, the proof, the approval, "of your faith,
being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though
tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory
and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Now, what is he saying?
Simply this. He says, You and I can rejoice
even though we're going through this particular trial. Now how can we rejoice? He says, Knowing this. That the proof, that is this
test is to prove your faith genuine. So that the gen--watch this. Your faith under trial proving
to be genuine, he says, is more valuable to you
really than what? Than any kind of gold
or precious metals. He says there's nothing
to compare with it. So I ask you a question. Would you say that it's worth
going through a trial for God to build great faith in your life? I can tell you
that's the only way. He says these various trials,
he says here, proving that your faith. And so, He's not testing your
faith to say what's wrong with it. The proving of your faith is,
listen, to make it stronger and stronger because untested
faith is unreliable. A person's never been tested,
never been tried, they don't know whether they've got
any faith or not. It's the test and the trials in
life that build our faith and make our faith what God
intends for it to be. And so, one of His reasons for
allowing trials in our life is to build up faith; But there's
a second purpose and that's simply this. It also tests our
devotion to Christ. Let's say, for example, you have
a trial in your life and God is, sent this trial in
your life to do what? To test you and to enable you to
understand where you are on the scale of obedience with Him. And where is that? If He requires something of you
in some trial, are you willing to say, I don't like it; God, I,
this is not what I would choose, but I'm going to obey
You no matter what. And, listen, the only way you
and I know how obedient we're going to be is when our
obedience is tried, when we are tempted and tried,
as we would say. And we see these things and we
have opportunities to do the wrong thing or the right thing. How do you know how
obedient you are? On what scale of obedience
do you stand? Only when you're tested, only
when you're tried, only when you're offered alternatives
to obedience. And so, you can choose to
obey Him or not obey Him. So, how do we grow? We grow by being tested
in our faith. We grow in our devotion to
Christ by making wise decisions under fire. Then, one of the reasons He
sends trials in our life, watch this, because it provides Him an
opportunity to demonstrate His love for us, to demonstrate His
power in our life, and to demonstrate His care for us, His
intense care and love for us. If everything just sort of came
our way and there was no trial, no difficulty, no hardship,
we'd take Him for granted. When do you pray the most? Things get the worst. And so, one of the reasons we
have to be wise is to recognize the fact that sometimes
what is He doing? He's creating a situation in our
life whereby He can demonstrate, I can give you a job when
twenty-five people have asked for it and I gave it to you. I can supply your need when you
didn't have any earthly idea how it could possibly happen. I can heal you when you've had
all those bad reports. In other words, God is up to
something good in our life no matter what the trial may be. When God sends a trial or allows
one, He has an eternal purpose in mind. So, when I think about all that
and I think about the fact that He's always, one of His purpose
is always to produce Christ-like spirit in our life. He's always up to that. He--listen, watch this. Every trial in your life and my
life has a divine prescription on it. He knows exactly where we are,
where He wants us to be and how to get us there. And so, He's at work
in our life. And so, I could say to you this. If I were twenty-five or thirty
years of age, you could ignore a lot of this. But I'd-a been around a long,
enough times, long enough to tell you it works,
no matter what. It works, as long as
we respond wisely. And we don't want to blame
somebody else; and no matter what's going on, we want to
say, God what are You up to in my life? So He's working on
making us Christ-like. Now, the issue here is, look. We need wisdom to discern
the proper response. I'm going to give
you ten things. So I would encourage you
to write it down. If you can't write, get somebody
next to you who can. Because you're going to need it. Number one. Now watch what he said. He said, "Count it all joy when
you," find yourself in these various kinds of trials. Now here's the question
I'm going to answer. When can I rejoice? What must I believe in order to
rejoice in those difficulties? Number one, I must believe that
God is in control of the time and the intensity of my trial. If I'm going to be able to walk
through them triumphantly, I must believe that He is in
control of the time and the intensity of my trial, that
nothing's going on without His knowledge. Number two, that He has a
specific purpose for our trials. He does. Whether He sends it or He allows
it, He has a design in mind and a clear purpose in mind
for what He's doing. So I must believe that. I must believe He's in control;
must believe He has a purpose. And thirdly, I must believe that
this trial is designed to meet a specific need in my life. For example, when you pray,
you don't pray, Well, God just bless me. You pray for something specific. God does not send or allow
trials in our life haphazardly. He knows you; He knows His
purpose; He knows His goals; He knows what He wants you
to accomplish in life. And so, He designs it
to fit you. Now, if you, for example, you
ladies, you have a dress made, you don't go in and say, Oh,
just make it big as you want to. You wouldn't say that. Nor would a man just say, You
know, I wear a forty-one but give me a sixty-two. You wouldn't do that. You want it designed to fit you. God designs the trial, watch
this, to fit His purpose in your life. That's why it doesn't do me any
good to complain and moan and groan about it. Number four, the trial will
prove to be good if I respond in faith. It'll prove to be good for me
if I respond in faith. If I don't respond in faith
and object, then what happens? I just end up wasting my sorrow
and my hurt and my pain and gaining nothing from it. Then of course, the trial
can strengthen my faith. I must believe that. If I don't think the trial is
going to help me, strengthen me, develop Christ-likeness in me,
grow me up, enable me to be a better servant of God, then
you know what, I'm not going to respond right and I'm not
going to be blessed. But I must, in other words, if
I'm going to respond wisely, I must believe these things. Then of course, I must believe
that the trial is an opportunity to demonstrate perseverance
under pressure. Because one of our greatest
testimonies is when somebody sees you walking through some
very difficult trial in life and somehow in spite of it, while
other people would be crying and weeping and moaning, you
have a settled faith. You step forward. You don't hold back. You're very confident. You're very sure. You may be crying on the inside,
but there's perseverance on the outside that's very,
very evident. If I really and truly believe
that God is going to use these things in my life for something
good and I'm going to be able to persevere, I'm game,
I'm going to be able to walk through it confidently. Then of course, I must believe
that this trial will develop Christ-likeness in me; which we
said a few moments ago, that is His purpose. If I believe that, watch this. You're going through something
that's very, very painful. Do you believe that Jesus Christ
is using that to make you Christ-like? Grow you up, build your faith,
transform you, equip you for something future. If you don't believe that,
you won't respond correctly. But if you believe these things,
no matter what you're going through, you're going to come
through it triumphantly. Then, I think you have to, you
have to believe that this is going to help you measure where
you are in your spiritual walk with God. Trials help us measure things. The last time I had a trial,
what did I do? Moaned and groaned
and complained. This time, somehow I have a
sense of quietness and calmness and peace and
assurance in my life. Why? Because God is growing you up. God is maturing you. God is working in your life. In other words,
what is He doing? He's making you the person
He designed you to be. God is at work in your life. Watch this. It doesn't mean that you are
no longer sensitive. It doesn't mean that you're not
sensitive to other people. But it means that things that go
on that used to trouble you don't because God has already
proven to you He will take you through this no matter what. Then of course, you will only
rejoice if you believe that God is going to walk with you
through this all the way through and accomplish something
good in the end of it. Do you believe He's with you? This is why I said before,
when a person says, I'm just desperate. And they are just crying and
weeping and desperation, don't know what to do. Well, where is Jesus? I'm not saying you should be
insensitive to pain and hurt. I'm just simply saying this. What's the wise response? The wise response is,
God, I don't like it. You say, Well, could you tell
God you don't like something? Well, you might as well tell
Him, He already knows anyway. He knows what you don't like. He knows how you're hurting. He knows every pain you have. He knows what you would change
and He knows you don't like Him at the moment. That doesn't bother Him. You know what He does? Huh-ha-ha! He just keeps the pressure on
till He breaks that stubborn will until you get down here
and you say, Okay God. Sometimes it's really funny when
you think about how patient He is, that no matter what we think
and how we feel, He knows what He's up to. And you know why I think
sometimes God may smile? Because here you are back here
complaining and moaning and groaning, and God sees this
awesome thing He's going to do in your life. And He's just saying, Hmm,
hmm, hmm, hmm. He's bringing you along, and He
knows that when you get over here, He, you're going to say,
Thank You, thank You, thank You, You didn't listen to my prayers! Thank You, dear God, that
You didn't do what I wanted You to do. Because, here's the reason: He
loves you too much to give in to your complaints when He's got
something awesome in your life. And then of course you've got to
believe that by His grace and power you're going
to overcome it. If you believe those ten things,
you have the wisdom to face anything in life that God
may allow in your life. Now, the question is,
How do you respond? The trials are there and
they're going to come and they're going to increase. And if you can just remember
when it gets tougher and tougher, He's got something
better and better, not worse and worse. The issue is, How do I respond
to the trials and the heartaches and the burdens and the things
God allows in my life, so that when He gets you to that point,
you're equipped and you're ready and your influence and the skill
in your life, and the testimony of your life will be weighty
in the life of someone who desperately needs what you know. Now you may say, I'm
not even a believer. I'm not even--I--
don't tell me this joy. I'm not even a believer. Well, I understand that. Well, let me ask you this. When you go through those
trials, what do you have? Well, you say, I have my mother,
my father, my friends. Mm-hm.
What can they do for you? Well, they can do thus and so. But when it comes down to the
critical things, there are some things nobody can help you do. They can't keep you alive one
second more, but God can. There are situations and
circumstances they can't protect you because they're not there. There are a thousand things
I could mention. The most important thing in
your life is your personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And that begins when you ask Him
to forgive you of your sins, trust His death at Calvary to
pay for your sins and ask Him to come into your life. And surrender your life to Him. Then you have Him
with you, in you. And as you walk wisely with Him,
all the things that we're talking about,
God'll take care of. So what is your choice? Watch this. Here's your choice,
to walk alone. You say, I'm not alone. I got all these folks. No, you only have
that temporarily. You either have life in Christ
or you don't have it. The wisest thing you could do in
this moment is to ask Christ into your life and to tell
Him that you knew that you'd blown it. You're not really equipped
to live a godly life. You're not even equipped to live
a happy life, a peaceful life. And you see, there are so many
folks around us who have this and have that and
have the other. And they've got all kind of
recognition and popularity and all the rest. When they go home at night and
they lie down and they cut out their lights, you know what? They are miserable. And if they aren't miserable,
they're worried. Cause let me ask you a question. Ask it to you as a believer. What do you have, that you
really have, that you really own, that you can really put
faith in, that you can really trust in, that you can't
lose in a moment? Not a thing. If you have Jesus,
you've got it all. And that's my prayer for you. And Father, I pray that the
Holy Spirit will awaken the heart of people who listen, who
watch; who have been deceived into believing that they're
okay, when the only hope of Heaven is Jesus. When the only true, ultimate,
eternal friend is Jesus. The only one who can take care
of every single area of life is Jesus. Grant them wisdom, the simple
wisdom to say "yes" even as they're listening. And we thank You for it,
in Jesus's name, amen. ♪♪♪