When Faith Is Tested

James 1:1-8;22
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
5 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.
6 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.
7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

I Peter 1:7
7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

If we are going to make it through this life, we as believers must train our spiritual ear to hear from God. This will not happen if we allow ourselves to become antsy, too anxious, and if we are headstrong on trying to fix things in our own strength.

In order to train our spiritual ear, we must: establish a diligent prayer life, study God’s Word, and set aside some quiet time to meditate on God’s Word.

The success of our life here on earth is going to be determined by our relationship with God. We can seek after everything else this world has to offer, but if God is not our priority, everything else will be useless. Only what we do for Christ is going to last.

Proverbs 4:7
Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

God desires to give us wisdom, so that we can draw understanding from His Word. We are all facing some serious tests and trials in this world; And it is going to take the wisdom of God to give us an understanding of how to successfully pass these tests and trials. When we dive into God’s Word for guidance, we must approach it with the mindset that we are going to deal with our test and trials exactly how God has instructed us to.

James, whom many scholars believe to be the half-brother of Jesus, wrote this letter to prepare his fellow brothers and sisters in the faith, for the adversity that they would face because of their faith in Christ. They were being oppressed, imprisoned, and deprived of possessions and livelihood. James wanted them to grasp how their faith related to their tests and trials. He wanted them to know that just as their faith in Christ had a purpose and value, so also was there a purpose and value to their tests and trials. James wanted them to understand that if they endured any test and trial with the right attitude and obedience to God, the outcome would be to their benefit. James wanted his fellow believers to show the rest of the world how to live out their faith, even in the midst of what they were going through.

This is what God is looking for in our society today. He is looking for believers today, who will seek Him for the wisdom and understanding to live out their faith in the presence of this corrupt world. This is truly what will make a difference, when other people know that we are facing some adversity, yet we still choose to remain faithful to God.

In his letter, James wasn’t just telling his fellow believers what to do, but he was also telling them how to do it. For example, don’t just tell me how to pray, but show/teach me to pray. The disciples asked Jesus to do what? Teach us to pray. And Jesus responded, “When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.…”(Luke 11:1-4) The disciples saw Jesus doing everything that He was teaching them. He wasn’t just a talker, or someone out here just blowing out words…Jesus was a doer. Likewise, our doing is going to have a greater impact on others than us just running our mouths.

When we’re going through trials, we must ask the Lord to give us wisdom and understanding of how to navigate the path.

“Lord, give me understanding of how to deal with this.” “Lord, help me not to stumble onto a tripwire.” Yes, there will be some traps in our path. We may encounter other people who will try to provoke us to disgrace our testimony. When we are using our spiritual ear, The Holy Spirit will give us understanding and an alertness of what this trap is designed to do to us, and we must then exercise Godly wisdom by choosing not to yield to the danger.

Also, in His letter, James wanted his fellow believers to understand how the principles of faith and works can come together to produce something great.

James admonishes his fellow believers, that faith without works is dead.(James 2:17) This lets us know that our actions must be an outward expression of our beliefs. A person’s actions will always reveal their true beliefs. What are we acting on today? What is our life showing? What are our actions showing? What is our attitude showing?

In our studying of the scriptures, we should approach them with the thought God wants us to gain insight on how the tests and trials that we face are so important to spiritual growth. God wants us to understand that there is a process to growing and maturing our faith.

Now let’s be honest, in the process of growing our faith there will be times where it won’t feel good. In Deuteronomy 8, God tells the children of Israel that He has led them into the wilderness to test them; to prune them, to humble them, to uncover what is truly in their heart. God allows us to go through things, in order to bring out the best in us.

There is a value to our trials. They aren’t just here to afflict or knock us out, but they come to strengthen us, to make us wiser, to make us tougher.

As you are reading this, you may be currently dealing with some tough stuff in your life. I want to encourage you with these words. Count it all joy when you fall into diverse situation. We must understand that our approach and attitude towards the situation will affect the process. When these issues arise we can rejoice.

How can we rejoice when our money is running short? How can we rejoice when we are dealing with health issues? How can we rejoice when we’re dealing with issues on the job? In our own strength, we can’t, but when we decide to cast all of our cares and burdens upon the Lord, through prayer, it can be done.

The process that we are going through is working some patience. Sometimes we want the heat to quit. Sometimes we want to turn off the heat, but God says not yet. You might think that you don’t have what it takes, but you are tougher than you realize. You may want to stop the heat of your trial, but God is refining you. In the midst of your adversity, what you truly stand for is being revealed. When God sees you holding on to His unchanging hand, He will stand with you just as He stood with the three Hebrew boys who were cast into the fiery furnace. What the devil meant for bad, God is working out for your good.

None of us can walk through this life, immune from trials. They are just part of the journey, but when they come we can rejoice, knowing that the trial will produce patience within us. Now, we don’t go looking for a trial or test, in order to acquire patience, but we should be arming ourselves up in prayer and God’s Word, so that we will be prepared for when they do come to us.

Whatever you’re going through, whatever you’re going to face, have this mindset: This is going to work together for my good.

We’ve got to understand that a tried faith, exercised the way God intended produces Godly virtues and develops Christian character. We’ll be able to remain calm under pressure.

Faith under fire refines and makes better quality of our faith. Fire has a purpose, that is to purify something. Just like when gold is heated to purge out the impurities.

There are things in our heart that God has to purge out.

God wants to get the glory out of our life. He will often reveal things to us that aren’t to His liking, and if we are willing to let these things go, then the Lord can be glorified in our life. So when He reveals these impurities to us, let’s be willing to let them go, so that we will not make a mockery of the Lord’s name in front of the rest of the world. When we accept Christ, we become God’s ambassadors to the rest of the world. As believers, we must demonstrate to the unsaved, how to conduct one’s self in good times and tough times, so that our life will be an outward witness of the peace, joy, strength, and integrity that God can bring into their life, if they’d receive the gift of salvation.

When your faith is tested, I want you to remember that God has provided everything you need to pass your test or trial. David said, “I’ve never seen the righteous forsaken nor His seed begging bread.” That same God that walked with David, is the same God who has promised never to leave you.

Written By Minister David Boyd