Three old men were at the doctor for a memory test. The doctor said to the first old man, "What is one plus one?"
"Two hundred seventy-four," he replied.
The doctor said to the second man, "It's your turn. What is one plus one?"
"Tuesday," replied the second man.
The doctor said to the third man, "Okay, your turn. What's one plus one?"
"Two," said the third man.
"That's great!" said the doctor. "How did you get that?"
"Simple," said the third man. "I subtracted 274 from Tuesday." (John Fehlen, Stanwood, Washington; www.PreachingToday. com)
It seems that no matter how old you get, you’re always taking a test of some kind. If it’s not a memory test, it’s a medical test, a test in school, or a test of wills with your 5-year-old granddaughter. Life is full of tests, some of which are easy like those tests you used to take in school. But some of the tests of life are very hard like a diagnosis of cancer, or living with constant pain, or losing someone you love.
Most of us figured out how to pass those tests in school, but How do you pass the tests of life? How do you come out on the other side of the trial a better person, not a bitter one? How do you come out more like Christ and less like the devil?
Well, there is a little book in the New Testament, which God put there to show us how. The Holy Spirit moved on the heart of the pastor of the church in First Century Jerusalem to write this book. The church had experienced hunger and poverty when a drought came to the area, so much so that they were dependent on relief from generous Gentile believers far away (Acts 11:27-30). They had also suffered great persecution, with the government executing one of its key leaders and imprisoning others (Acts 12:1-5).
The pastor of the Jerusalem church was no stranger to suffering, and he writes to a group of Jewish believers in Jesus, who were suffering too. They had been scattered throughout the Roman Empire (James 1:1) and were far away from home where they experienced discrimination and oppression from strangers (James 2:6-7).
In this context, the Holy Spirit moves a pastor in pain to write to people in pain with a message that still resonates today. If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to James 1, James 1, where we have the introduction to that message and the start of an answer to the question: How do you pass the tests of life?
James 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings. (ESV)
James, the pastor of the church in Jerusalem, is writing to Jewish believers dispersed throughout the Roman world, and he says to them…
James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds… (ESV)
Now, wait a minute! That doesn’t make sense, but it is absolutely necessary if you are going to pass the tests of life. If you want to come out on the other side of the trial a better person, and not a bitter one, you must first of all…
REJOICE IN THE TRIAL.
“Count it all joy” the Bible says. Be joyful even when life doesn’t make sense. Now, that doesn’t mean laugh it off when trouble comes.
It means have a good attitude in the midst of your pain. Turn your pouting into praise in times of adversity.
That’s what Jeff and Rebecca Payne did just this last November (28, 2016) when they got stuck in traffic on the way from their wedding ceremony to the reception. An accident on U.S. Route 35 in Ohio had stopped the traffic, and they were stuck.
Well, after sitting still for an hour, a couple of other drivers noticed the wedding dress and asked what [the newlyweds] would be doing if they weren't stuck in traffic. The drivers then suggested that the couple have their first dance right there on the highway.
Jeff and Rebecca decided to do it. They got out of the car and danced to an Alison Krauss song, which a bystander played on his Spotify Web Player.
Another bystander, who filmed the dance, said that the newlyweds “were two sports. They handled the whole thing so well. They did great. The dance turned it into a party.”
Soon after that, a friend of the groom's father pulled up in the opposite lane. The Paynes hopped over a guardrail, got into his waiting car, and proceeded to their reception.” (“Wedded Couple Stuck in Traffic Take First Dance on Highway,” The Huffington Post, 11-29-16; www.PreachingToday.com)
I love that! Dancing in the middle of a traffic jam! It’s a picture of what God calls us to do when our lives get jammed up. Instead of fussing and fuming, get out and dance! Have a good attitude in the midst of your pain.
But that’s possible only if you have a genuine faith. You can have a good attitude only if you truly trust Christ with your life.
James 1:2-3 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. (ESV)
That word for “testing” was a word used in Bible days to describe genuine gold – i.e., gold without any impurities. And that’s what faith in Christ is like. It is a genuine faith, a real faith, a faith that really works!
When Sandy and I were anticipating the birth of our first-born, we did everything we could do to get prepared. I kid you not. We went to the library and checked out 20 books! We attended prepared child-birth classes, and talked to a lot of people.
We wanted to have that baby “naturally”, i.e., without anesthetics, because at the time Sandy was allergic to many of the anesthetics that doctors used back then. An allergic reaction could have been fatal to her, or the baby, or both.
Well, the day finally came for the baby to arrive. We lived just a block from the hospital, so I asked Sandy if she wanted to walk or ride in the car. They had told us in the prepared child-birth classes that walking would hasten the delivery, but I learned real quick that you don’t ask a woman in labor if she wants to walk. We hopped in the car and quickly made it to the hospital, where a last-minute ultrasound put a look of concern on the face of Sandy’s doctor. He looked at us and said, “Did you know? This baby is breech. We’ll have to take it by cesarean section.”
That meant surgery and some sort of anesthetic. I didn’t know if Sandy would survive the procedure.
Now, I had trusted Christ with my life at the age of six. I grew up in a Christian home and had just completed three years of Bible School, two years in a Christian liberal arts school, and three years of seminary.
Up until that point, my faith had never really been tested, but that morning, in that hospital room, facing the death of someone I dearly loved, I discovered something. I discovered that my faith was real. It was more than just an academic exercise. It was genuine. Faith in Christ really works!
I can’t explain it, but God gave us both real peace that day, a peace that went beyond all comprehension. Sandy cried and I was silent, but we both knew that no matter what happed, whether Sandy or the baby lived or died, God would never leave us. He gave us that calm assurance by which we could genuinely say, “It is well with my soul.”
As it turned out, Sandy lived through that surgery. She ended up having two more babies by cesarean, and now all three of our babies have babies of their own.
Let me tell you something. When you put your faith in Jesus Christ, it is real! When you trust Christ with your life, you have a faith that will carry you through the hardest of times. When you truly believe in Jesus, you have a faith that will give you the strength to keep on going even when most people quit. Sandy and I have proved that time and time again, even now when we’re dealing with her growing disabilities.
Faith in Christ really works! Tell me. Have you trusted Christ with your life? Have you put your faith in Him? If not, I urge you to do it today. Call upon the Lord and ask Him to save you from your sins. Put your life in His hands. Then you too will not only have the assurance of eternal life, but you will have an assurance that will carry you through anything THIS life throws at you.
How do you pass the tests of life? How do you come out on the other side of the trial a better person, more like Christ? Well, first of all, rejoice in the trial: have a good attitude because of a genuine faith in Christ. Then second…
REMAIN THROUGH THE TRIAL.
Don’t give up! Don’t run away from the pain. Instead, persevere during the trial. Endure the suffering until you’ve encountered the victory!
James 1:4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (ESV)
If you choose to remain steadfast through the trial, that trial will be effective in making you a more complete person, more mature, more perfect.
Recently, Sandy and I have enjoyed watching History Channel’s Forged in Fire, where each episode features four bladesmiths competing to make the best sword through three rounds of competition.
It’s quite the process, taking raw steel, forging it in the fire, hammering it out, forging and hammering, forging and hammering, forging and hammering until the bladesmith gets the shape he wants. He carefully controls every hit and every heat treat. Then at just the right time, he lifts the blade red with heat and plunges it into a bucket or pipe filled with oil to quench it. Sometimes it comes out of the oil on fire, but the process is absolutely necessary to harden the steel and get it ready for its intended purpose.
However, at that point the process is still not complete. The bladesmith goes on to grind the blade to fine-tune its shape. Then he attaches a handle, and sharpen the blade’s edge so that it cuts like it’s supposed to.
In the last round of the competition, the whole process takes five days, after which the two remaining bladesmiths present their swords to the judges in the hopes of winning $10,000 and the title of “Forged in Fire Champion.”
Well, God is the ultimate “Forged in Fire Champion” when it comes to His work on you and me. He takes us in our raw state and puts us in the fire. Then he hammers on us and puts us in the fire again, forging and hammering, forging and hammering, forging and hammering, until we become strong and ready for His intended purpose.
Sometimes, we feel like we’re going to break under the pressure, but God is the Master Bladesmith. He carefully controls every hit, every heat-treat, and every grind until His work is complete and we are all that He has designed us to be.
So don’t run from the pain; don’t try to escape the pressure through drugs or alcohol or any other means. Just let the Lord complete His work in your life, and remain faithful to Him until you see real results in your own life.
Two frogs fell into a can of cream – or so I’ve heard it told.
The sides of the can were shiny and steep,
The cream was deep and cold.
“Oh, what’s the use?” said number one,
“Tis fate – no help’s around –
Good bye, my friend! Good bye sad world!”
And weeping still, he drowned.
But number two of sterner stuff, dog paddled in surprise.
The while he wiped his creamy face and dried his creamy eyes.
“I’ll swim awhile, at least,” he said – or so I’ve heard he said –
“It really wouldn’t help the world if one more frog were dead.”
An hour or two he kicked and swam –
Not once he stopped to mutter,
But kicked and swam, and swam and kicked,
Then hopped out, via butter. (T. C. Hamlet)
How do you pass the tests of life? How do you come out on the other side of the trial a better person, more like Christ? Well, 1st, Rejoice in the trial. 2nd, Remain steadfast through the trial. Don’t give up! And third…
REQUEST WISDOM FROM THE TRIAL.
Ask God to use your pain to make you more skillful at living your life for His glory. Don’t ask God so much to remove the trouble, but to help you make a right use of it.
James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. (ESV)
Now, wisdom in the Bible is the skill of living a godly life. It’s not just head knowledge. It’s the ability to apply that knowledge to living the life God wants you to live. James himself describes this wisdom in chapter 3. Take a look at it.
James 3:17-18 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. (ESV)
Isn’t that what you really want – the pure, peaceful harvest of righteousness in your own life?
Then ask God for it! Ask God to give you that kind of wisdom from your pain.
In his commentary on the book of James, Warren Wiersbe describes an older woman who was going through some great trials. She had had a stroke, her husband had gone blind, and then she nearly died in the hospital. In the middle of all this, her pastor saw her in church one Sunday and assured her that he was praying for her.
“What are you asking God to do?” she asked. Her question startled the pastor.
“Well,” he replied. “I’m asking God to help you and strengthen you.”
“I appreciate that,” she said. “But pray about one more thing. Pray that I’ll have the wisdom not to waste all of this” (Warren Wiersbe, Be Mature).
That’s the way to pray when trouble comes! Ask God for the wisdom not to waste the pain, but to learn all that He wants to teach you in that pain. That’s a prayer God will answer generously and without reproach. Go back to James 1…
James 1:5-6 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. (ESV)
If you’re going to ask God for wisdom from your trial, make sure you ask in faith. Make sure you ask believing that God will give you that wisdom, because unsure people are unsettled. They are like the waves, driven by the wind of their circumstances. On the other hand, people of faith are like the great ocean liners. They cut through the waves and stay on course no matter how much the wind blows. Unsure people are unsettled.
More than that unsure people are unanswered.
James 1:7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord… (ESV)
The answer FROM God depends on assurance IN God. Unsure people are unsettled. Unsure people are unanswered.
And unsure people are unstable.
James 1:8 …he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. (ESV)
Unsure people are like two-headed monsters, whose heads cannot agree. They stagger helplessly here and there in their thinking – not sure what they believe or where they’re going.
So ask in faith. Ask God for wisdom in the midst of your trial, being sure that He will give it to you generously and without scolding you.
Dan McConchie, vice president of government affairs at Americans United for Life, was riding his motorcycle through a suburban intersection when a car came into his lane and pushed him into on-coming traffic. When he woke two weeks later in a Level 1 trauma center, he was a mess. Six broken ribs, deflated left lung, broken clavicle, broken shoulder blade, and five broken vertebrae. Worst of all, amidst all the broken bones, he had a spinal-cord injury that left him a paraplegic. The neurosurgeon told his wife that it would be a “miracle” if he'd ever walk again.
Eight years later Dan is still in a wheelchair.
“What I learned,” Dan said, “is that this life isn't for our comfort. Instead, the purpose of this life is that we become conformed to the image of Christ. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen when everything is unicorns and rainbows. It instead happens when life is tough, when we are forced to rely upon God through prayer just to make it through the day. That is when He is most at work in our lives molding us into who he designed us to be.”
“My prayers are different today than they were eight years ago. Back then, I looked at God like Santa Claus. I asked him to send nice things my way. Now, I have one prayer that I pray more than any other: ‘Lord, may I be able to say at the end of today that I was faithful.’” (Dan McConchie,”Prayer and Faith in the Midst of Personal Tragedy,” Washington Times, 3-22-16; www. PreachingToday.com)
My dear friends, that’s the way to pass the tests of life! Rejoice IN the trial. Remain THROUGH the trial. And request wisdom FROM the trial.
Fanny Crosby is another person who learned how to grow through her trials. When she was only six weeks old, a careless doctor treated her for a minor eye inflammation and caused her to go completely and permanently blind.
Yet Fanny Crosby harbored no bitterness against the physician. In fact, she once said of him, “If I could meet him now, I would say thank you over and over again for making me blind.” She believed that her blindness was a gift from God to help her write the hymns that flowed from her pen, more than 8,000 in her lifetime. Listen to the words of one of those hymns:
Perfect submission – all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest;
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
Fanny Crosby got better through her trials, not bitter. You can too! Just ask God to help you.
