GROWING THROUGH ADVERSITY - Pt 3

James 1: 1-12 “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”

I read about a young man who wanted to get into the business of growing peaches. He made the leap and worked very hard. He invested everything he had in a peach orchard. The orchard had blossomed beautifully but then a late frost destroyed his entire crop.

The next Sunday he was absent in church causing his pastor to make a visit to find out why he had been absent. The young man said, “Pastor, I’m not coming to church any more because I just can’t worship a God who cares so little for me that He would let a frost kill all my peaches.” The wise and kind pastor replied, “Son, God loves you better than He loves your peaches. God understands that while peaches can grown without frost, Christians cannot grow without trials. God is in the business of growing Christians; not peaches.”

Let’s think about some reasons why God allows adversities to come into the lives of His children.

II. THE REASON FOR ADVERSITY – Notice verses 3-4 “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”

When adversity comes to the believer, he can always know that there’s a divine purpose attached to it. Notice the words “knowing this.” James is saying that he wants us to understand that when trials come they are not by accident and are not without rhyme or reason. God doesn’t work that way. He is sovereign and has a purpose in mind. Notice what adversities produce in the life of the believer.

A. Adversity Purifies Faith – Notice the first part of verse 3 “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith. . .”

The word “trying” speaks of the process in the purifying of precious metals. The picture here is the heating of that metal in order for the impurities to be removed. In his book, “How to Solve Conflicts: A Practical Study of the Book of James” Dr. George Sweeting wrote, “A Christian is like a tea bag. He is not worth much until he has been through hot water.”

The child of God is put into the fire in order to purge his life of all the impurities. An Old Testament character knew this. We read in Job 23:10 “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”

Adversity is often God’s way of bring us to the place of dealing with things that are displeasing to Him. Our lives need to be purified.

There are times when the only way we look up is lying flat on our backs. There are many of us who are so stubborn that God has to take drastic means to get our attention.

B. Adversity Produces Forbearance – Notice verse 3 again “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.”

According to Strong’s Greek Dictionary, the word “patience” means “cheerful (or hopeful) endurance, constancy: -- enduring, patience, patient continuance (waiting).” James is talking about perseverance. He is telling us that one of the ways God makes strong Christians is through trials.

God’s desire is for us to be strong spiritually. The Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:10 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” William Burkitt’s Notes On The New Testament reads, “A Christian, above all men, needs resolution, and a daring courage: if he be possessed with fear, he is unfit to go into the field; if dispirited with strong impressions of danger, how unready for the encounter!”

How does James say that God builds strong believers? He does so by allowing or bringing adversities into our lives.

C. Adversity Permits Finishing – Notice verse 4 “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”

It’s interesting to me that James uses the word “perfect” two times in this one verse. The word means “complete or mature.” So in the first place James is saying let “patience” or “forbearance” have its complete work. How many people have you seen that have bailed out when hardships come?

I remember hearing a missionary to the Germans say that he was leaving the mission field because they just couldn’t take the hardships they were going through. I told my wife about it and her response was “where is God in that person’s life?” And she was right. Is God sovereign? Could he have stopped the hardship if He had wanted? Was there a purpose in the hardship? The answer to all of these questions was, “Yes!” God was allowing adversity in his life for a purpose and he ended up going back to the States and getting out of the ministry. He did not allow “patience to have her perfect (or complete) work.”

The last “perfect” in verse 4 talks about the believer being “perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” God wants spiritual maturity in the life of each child of His.
Trials are part of God’s way of helping us mature spiritually.

These are reasons for the believer going through adversity. Adversity is not fun, easy, or without a purpose. God knows what He’s doing and there are good reasons why adversity comes into our life. Let’s allow God to do what He needs to do in our life to bring us to where He can use us.

In next week’s CHALLENGING CONCEPTS we will explore THE REWARDS OF ADVERSITY.

That’s my view; how about you!