Hello and welcome to the Believers Bible Assembly This is the day that the Lord has

made and we're gonna rejoice and be glad in it Today we're going to talk

about maturing our faith through trials We need to know and understand that the trials of life

they are divinely orchestrated by the hands of a solvent God And the purpose of these

trials cause every trial has a purpose They're designed to shape us to grow us to

mature us into Christ likeness That's the purpose of trials coming Romans chapter 8 verse 29 says

for those who God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed To the image of his son

so that he would be the first born among many brothers And what we got to understand is that the

process of becoming Christ-like includes trials James in his epistle he's calling the believers to see trials as opportunities

for spiritual growth and maturity rather than obstacles in our lives So that's what I want to

do today I want us to open up the scriptures and we're going to examine

how God uses trials adversities to mature us and grow us in our faith We're gonna go

to the book of James and we're gonna look specifically at James chapter 1 verses

trials as opportunities rather than obstacles in our lives First thing we need to know and understands this

Trials are a certainty James says in verse 2 of chapter 1 he says consider

it pure joy my brothers and sisters when you face various trials of many kinds he says

consider it pure joy Another translation says count it all as joy when you face various trials Many kinds of

trials Now when I first read this scripture I had problems with it because I could

not understand how you can connect joy with trials And not only trials various types of trials many kinds

of trials But as I grew in my faith and I grew in my understanding of who God is

I can understand and put in a proper perspective what James was talking about He says regardless of what

you're going through you can have joy because the end result is going to be Christ's rightness

The end result is going to be spiritual growth and maturity So he says count

it all joy consider it pure joy when you face various trials of many kinds

James was saying it's not a matter of if but when Trials are gonna come

It's inevitable for every believer You can't avoid it And these many trials that come they come in

different forms they come in different shapes They can be emotional trials They could be financial trials they

could be physical trials they could be relational trials but they come in It's not

a matter of if but it's a matter of when They come in But we

can be encouraged by the words of Jesus in John 16:33 He says in this world you will have trouble

you will have trials you will have tribulations you're gonna have sorrows but he encourages us with

this but take heart be of good cheer I have overcome the world So our faith grows

as we understand and submit to the authority of Christ and the word of God

Knowing that trials are gonna come trouble is gonna come but in Christ we are overcomers

In Christ we are victorious When everything is said and done we will overcome whatever

that trial is emotional financial physical or relational that's coming our way And that's the good news that you and

I have We are not in this alone First Peter 4:12 says this beloved do not be surprised

at the fiery trial that has come upon you because the trial that's come upon you

is to test the quality of your faith Don't be surprised at the fiery trials that has

come upon you as though something strange were happening to you What is Peter saying As a believer walking in

the ways of Christ fiery trials are gonna come So why are you surprised when they come Jesus said they

were gonna come The apostle Paul said he was gonna come Now Peter is telling his congregation they

are gonna come So why are you surprised when they come as though something strange were

happening to you These trials come not to destroy us but to test the quality of your faith

And that brings me to my second point Trials are a test of faith Faith

is not tested is not faith You can say you got mountain moving faith You can say I got faith

the size of a mustard seed You can talk all the faith talk but when trials come it's to

test the quality of your faith When trials come why are you surprised as though something strange were happening

to you We got to change our mindset We got to change our perspective on trials

They come to build our faith up They come to grow spiritually but your faith will be tested

It's not a matter of if but it's a matter of when In verse 3 he said that

the testing of our faith produces perseverance It produces patience And what is patience trusting God You're

trusting God completely through this trial through this test And the test is Are you going to trust God for

the outcomes of your life or are you going to let this trial destroy you Whatever that trial

might be They come in different shapes and forms emotional financial physical relational Your faith is gonna be tested But

it's in the process of your faith being tested that patience perseverance now is built

up in you Your faith in God is gonna increase Your reliance on God and

His word is going to increase You're going to lean more now on the everlasting arms of God That's the

end result of your faith being tested God doesn't test us or allow us to come to destroy us but

to develop and grow mature us in our faith And what trials reveal is whether our

faith is genuine and grounded in Christ Trials come to reveal Something is gonna be

revealed when the trial comes It's either gonna be patience and perseverance or the genuineness of your faith is going

to be exposed See that's the difference between a true believer and a churchgoer or somebody who only has

a relationship with Christ on Sundays This walk with the Lord is 24/7 365 and in

this faith walk We're gonna be dealing with some stuff and your faith is gonna be

tested and trials are gonna come So when these trials come it's gonna reveal some things And one of

the things it's gonna reveal is whether or not your faith is genuine and rooted and grounded in Christ

First Peter chapter 1 verse 6 to 7 talks about how in this our living hope in Christ you greatly

rejoice So now for a little while you may have had to suffer in various trials So that the proven

character of your faith more precious than gold which perishes even though refined by fire may

result in praise glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ Peter saying you have

to be grounded in this living hope which is Christ And so you're going to rejoice now when you're

going through various trials James says consider it all joy Peter said rejoice because you only have to deal

with what you're dealing with for a little while And the purpose of that is so that

your character of your faith can be proven And then it gives an analogy about how gold

has to go through fire in order for it to be refined You and I

have to go through fire trials trouble tribulation so that our faith which is more precious than gold

will result now in praise glory and honor But we all got to go through this so

that we can grow so we can be spiritually mature But in the process things

are gonna be revealed about who you are and your walk with Christ These trials that come they're not designed

to destroy us But to develop and grow and mature us to reveal the genuineness

of our faith Romans chapter 5 verse 3 and 4 talks about how suffering produces perseverance

And how perseverance will now reveal your character who you are the genuineness of your faith and depending

upon what's revealed you now can have hope That's the whole purpose of returning our faith to trials is to

produce something in us that's going to get us through We already have the Holy Spirit that's going to

empower us to give us the wisdom that we need but we got to go through it And when we

come through it our faith will be more refined we'll be more spiritually mature and we

continue to deal with the issues of life as they come But listen to what James says in verse

complete lacking nothing Let me read this to you from the amplifier It says and let endurance have

its perfect result and do a thorough work so that you may be perfect and completely

developed in your faith lacking nothing Trials produce spiritual maturity but we have to let

the process Work itself out And when the process has worked itself out then your faith will be complete

and you will lack for nothing But we have to let perseverance finish its work

because we know that God is working Romans 8:28 God is working all things together for the good for those

who love him who are called according to His purpose God is working There's a process that's

occurring He's working But you and I we have to let the patience that we have

to have while God is working We got to let it finish his work We can't be

so quick to throw in the towel give up quick because God is working through the trials To make us

whole to mature us into Christ's likeness But we have to let the process finish its work meaning we

have to cooperate With God's process And how do we do that By knowing understand #1 that

God is working #2 he's gonna finish the work So in the meantime in between time

what do we have to do We have to persevere We got to have patience We

got to trust God and the work that he's doing in and through our lives It may not look

like we want to look but when the process is done you can't help but give God the praise

give God the glory Philippians 16 assures us of this He who began a good work in

you will carry it on to completion That's the promise This process trials that producing

al maturity The fact that God is working the fact that we have to cooperate with God's process We have

to know and understand that the good work that God started in you he's gonna carry it through to

completion But do you have the patience to wait on God to complete his finished work Are

you gonna throw in the towel and go back to what you know go back to what's

so mean to you All we're doing is delaying the process because God is faithful to his word

We ain't gotta worry about God doing his part But the question is are we cooperating with God

in the process through our faith through our patience Number 4 seeking the wisdom of God In

verse 5 it says if any of you lack wisdom what to do You should ask of God And

this is what God is gonna do He's gonna give you all the wisdom that you

need He's gonna give you the wisdom that you asked for and he's not gonna fault you for

asking him for it The amplifier says if any of you lacks wisdom to guide him through a

decision or circumstance He is to ask God who gives to everyone gently without rebuke or blame and

it will be given to him But we have to ask God for the wisdom how to

navigate through this trial Now he's with you because he promised he'll never leave you nor forsake you and

he's leading and guiding you but you have to seek the wisdom of God You have to

ask them Wisdom is just not knowledge but it's the ability to apply the knowledge A bunch of

people running around here with a head full of knowledge but they don't have wisdom The application of

that knowledge What to do with the knowledge that I have when to do it

That's when you gotta ask God's direction for this Matthew 7:7 when you ask you

will receive James says in chapter 4 you have not because you what ask not

God has a part to play We have a part to play We have to cooperate with God We

got to go where God is leading us where the Holy Spirit is leading us We have to go with

the flow We got to depend on his wisdom to lead us and guide us through this trial

If not we're gonna go back and forth back and forth back and forth back

and forth back and forth Wisdom is just not knowledge but the ability to apply God's

truth to your life We need to have a divine perspective When we're going through these

trials as before it's not if you're going but when We need to have a divine perspective

We have to start looking at trials as opportunities for spiritual growth and maturity not as

obstacles in our life That's looking at it from a divine perspective God where are you taking me right now

What are you trying to developing me right now What are you trying to mature me right now And when

we do that we're looking at it from a divine perspective and not using our human reasoning

to try to figure out what's going on So we're definitely gonna mess up now We're trying to use

our human mental ability to try to figure out what God is doing God who

was spirit relates to us through the spirit And so in order for us to understand God we have to

understand God spiritually not with our human minds We need to look at and understand the bigger picture

rather than what's going on in my life right now This trial the circumstance this problem What's the bigger picture

And so we have to look at and understand the bigger picture And trust God's plan

for your life I know that what I'm sharing with you today some people are going to have a problem

grasping it Because we're overwhelmed with the problem we're overwhelmed with the situation We're thinking about it

day and night We're trying to figure it out never mind how to fix it how to

make it make sense You ain't gonna make it make sense because you can't But when you look

at it from God's perspective from a divine perspective that will give you that peace that will give

you that perseverance and patience that you need I don't know what God is doing I don't know when

he's gonna be finished but I trust him I know we got a bigger plan

than this Whatever this is I know this is temporary Trouble don't last always So I'm in

midst of this trial I trust God I'm gonna trust him I don't know what

he's doing I don't know when he's gonna do it but I know he's doing something He's working

and when everything is said and done I'm gonna come out like pure gold But in

the meantime in between time we have to trust him Proverbs 3:5 to 6 trust in the Lord with

all your heart and lean not to your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge

Him and He will make your path straight He's gonna remove any obstacle any trial that's blocking your way

but you got to trust him We got to understand what Isaiah 55:8 to 9 says My thoughts are not

your thoughts and my ways are not your ways The higher the greater We must

trust in God's ways We must trust in God's thoughts which are higher than ours and that's gonna get

us through whatever trial you're dealing with in your life And that leads me to my

final point Our faith must be fixed on the word of God Our faith must be fixed in the

promises of God James chapter 1 verse 7 to 6 If you lack wisdom you have to ask God

who's gonna give it to you But when you ask you must believe and not doubt Another

translation says but he must ask in faith with no doubting Because he the one who

doubts is like a wave of the sea blown and tossed by the wind Verse

expect to receive anything from the Lord Verse 8 says such a person is a double-minded

person unstable in all they do The new Li translation says the loyalty is divided between

God and the world and they are unstable in everything they do Listen If you want to be

to our faith through trials our faith must be fixed In the word of God our faith must be

fixed in the promises of God Today we cannot afford to be double-minded Our loyalties cannot be divided

between God and the world But our faith must be fixed Our faith must be firm Our

faith must be unwavering Our faith in who God and His word Our faith must be fixed

in Jesus Christ the author and the finisher of our faith Our faith must be fixed on

God's plan for your life But you'll never know God's plan if you don't know God and

you don't know His word Hebrews 11:6 says without faith it is impossible to please God You're not going to

get through a trial without unwavering faith in God It's impossible It's not going to happen You're

gonna continue to be tossed to and fro back and forth going up and down

Like the Israelites in the wilderness they wandered for 40 years The trip didn't take no 40 years

but because of their lack of faith they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years They eventually got to the

promised land And what hindered them their faith was not fixed in the promise of

God God wants to get you to a place in your life What's hindering you It's not God it's a

faith and specifically our faith in the midst of trials Without faith it's impossible to please God

So I don't know how people are trying to please God without faith This is the promise that

God made to us in Psalm 112 verses 6 to 7 The righteous will never be shaken

Who's the righteous We are the righteous Not because of anything we've done but what Christ has done in us

We are the righteousness of God in Christ And the verse says the writers will

never be shaken Chas go on to say they will have no fear of bad news meaning it

doesn't matter what comes our way It don't matter what trial is coming The righteous Those who

have put their faith and trust in God will never be shaken We won't be moved

because our faith is fixed We know that God has a plan for our life We know that all

we have to do is endure and this endurance is just temporary We know and understand that

we're not in this by ourselves that God is with us and if God before

us who can be against us We know that God will never ever ever ever ever

ever ever ever Leave us nor forsake us That's why the righteous will never be shaken

And because of this they will have no fear of bad news Because these various trials

that James was talking about they back to back back to back It's not like you're going through one and

then you got time to breathe and go through another No they're back to back You're

dealing with multiple trials at the same time But you and I who put our

faith and trust in God We'll never be shaken and we will have no fear of bad news

So let me leave you with this this morning Trust the process Trust the process No

and understand that God always has a purpose for allowing trials to come into our life Listen we got

to get this God is not causing the trial But he's allowing the trial to come

into our lives And every trial is an opportunity to grow deeper in our faith which is

going to develop our character and your true genuine self is gonna come out And that true genuine self if

you walking with the Lord it's gonna be Christ-like So when we face these trials with joy we can

endure them with faith As we continue to seek God's wisdom God's guidance and God's direction to navigate us as

we're going through these trials And when we do this we're maturing we're growing spiritually into

the image of Christ James gives us a final word of encouragement in James chapter 1 verse 12

and he says this Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because having stood the test that person

will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love him The word says

for those who persevered on the trial They have dealt with everything emotionally financially relationally physically They persevered on

the trials They passed the tests That person will receive the crown of life God has promised

us a reward for those who have demonstrated their faithfulness by end during trials and tests in this

life I pray that this message has been a blessing to you and that your faith in God in

this word has been increased And that you know that you can get through these

tests in life wherever they may come wherever they might be Because God he's with you and He's promised that

he will never ever leave you or forsake you Be blessed