COME TAKE A WALK: TRIUMPH OVER THE TRIALS OF LIFE

Sermon Notes, June 3, 2018

Rev. Garry McGlinchy

            Pastor Garry's sermon, the first in the series Come, Take a Walk, a journey through the book of James,  was titled "Triumph Over the Trials of Life."  It was based on James 1: 1-12.

            Pastor started with a discussion about carnivals, or county fairs, or parades and told about one of his favorite carnivals in Stuarts Draft when he was a little boy. One of the events for kids was “Needle in a Haystack.” He never participated in it, one reason being he didn’t want to dive into a haystack and he certainly didn’t want to get poked by a needle! Finding a needle in a haystack is a difficult task.. Even more difficult is finding a human being on this planet that has never gone through a trial.
            Senior saints have trials. They say that old age is not for sissies; they know what trials are: aches and pains ganging up on them, medical bills piling up over the income they don’t have and the loss of friends and loved ones that challenge their emotions as well. Young people have trials: family crisis, job stress, heavy financial debt, broken relationships. Even babies have trials. Why do you think they kick and scream so much?
            There are two ways we can react or respond to trials. We can moan and groan and continue the life of misery, allowing the trials of life to harden our hearts and make us bitter; or we can seek God and find joy, comfort and hope in His Word. James 1:1-12 give us examples of this.
            Verses 2 and 3 say, “Consider it pure joy when you face trials…” Have you done that lately? Verse 3, “Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” We’re living in a time where it seems like trials are just waiting for us. We live in a world that’s filled with sadness and anger and bitterness and doubt. All of those accompany trials. But if we capture the big picture, we can have a time of rejoicing. Paul and Silas did. They rejoiced in an inner cell of a prison, in Acts 16.  Pastor told the story of the time he hid his report card from his mom as a child, and she took him to jail.  It was a small town where everyone knew everybody, and he was not really in danger, but he was scared and intimidated.  Life in a jail cell was not a place where he wanted to rejoice!
           Verses 3 and 4 say that the testing of our faith starts in perseverance, and perseverance leads to spiritual maturity.  God uses the trials of our lives to help conform us into the likeness of Christ. (Romans 8:28-37) God sees you like an artist sees an empty canvas, or a block of wood.  He knows what He wants to make of you, and He makes it happen.  The trials may hurt, but if we know their purpose, we can face them with absolute, pure, unadulterated joy.
James 1:5 says that if we lack wisdom we should ask God, and He will give it.  We should ask for wisdom when a trial overtakes us.  He will give it generously and without rebuking us.  We are do-it-yourself people: we want to fix it ourselves.  We wait to ask Him for wisdom until we're in the middle of a big mess. If we stop and  ask "Lord, how do you want to fix it?  Give me wisdom for how to fix it," we will have a completely different outlook on the trial. He will give us that wisdom. 
             Of course our first reaction is "Why me?  Why is this happening to me?" Ask God for Wisdom to understand how to endure that trial, and how to use it to glorify God, and how to use it to share the Good News about His Son.  Pastor says God has given him the ability to look back at his life in detail and see the good, the bad, and the ugly.  What he uses the most are those times that were absolutely ugly.  Those are the times when he can pull out when he was just not doing well, and he can share them to bring to someone who is going through the same thing he went through.  He gives us those times so we can use them to share His Good News.
             Pastor Garry's favorite thing from his childhood prison stint was when the sheriff came in and talked to him.  The sheriff told him that he had done the same thing when he was a child.  He, too had problems in school, so he hid his report card.  Garry related to that.  He said he was a "late bloomer."   Right there on that bench the sheriff used his experience to share the Gospel with him.  Even though he was raised in the church, he didn't understand God's love for him until that moment, when the sheriff shared the Good News of Jesus with him.  He heard a good word from a guy who used the personal experience of his trials to share the gospel with the child Garry. 
             So the next time you are experiencing a trial, think about this fact.  Maybe you're going to come in contact with someone who is going through the same thing you are going through now.  And you can use that for God's glory.  Isn't that cool?  It's crazy cool!
            James 1:6-12, "But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt."  If you doubt you shouldn't expect to receive anything from the Lord.  Be humble in what God has given you. Poor or rich, life is fragile.
           Verse 12 says "Blessed is the one who perseveres."  We are to remain steadfast in trials.  We think of bad things first, but there is a lot of good, too.  Some trials are unexpected, and some we do the groundwork for ourselves.  God can receive glory in both.