3 Things to Remember When Hard

Times Hit

Wednesday, June 10, 2020

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Life is hard. Does anyone wish to argue about that? In a recent Sunday School class
our teacher asked us to list the areas where we felt God might be testing us. Right
off the bat someone mentioned health. Either we struggle or our loved ones struggle
with sickness. Then someone mentioned problems on the job. Heads nodded across
the room. Then we talked about stress related to our children. When our teacher
asked if the challenges ended when our kids were out of the house (our class is
mostly in our 50s and early 60s), we all said no. The problems change, but once a
parent, always a parent. Then someone mentioned betrayal. The class got solemn
when we heard that word because we’ve all had friends who let us down. In some
cases, we had a spouse who deserted us. When the teacher mentioned money as a
cause of potential problems, he smiled and said some people have the problem of
too much money. “I doubt if any of us have that issue,” he said. But money (or the
lack thereof) tends to be the number one cause of marital discord.

Your trials are designed just for you

Someone spoke up to say that God fits the trial to the person so that what happens
to me can’t be compared with what happens to you. Our struggles are not all the
same because we have a wise Heavenly Father who fits the trial to the
person.James would agree with that sentiment. In a sense his whole letter is about

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how to respond properly when we are under pressure. He has already reminded us
that trials are a necessary part of our spiritual growth (James 1:2–4) and that there
is a blessing reserved for those who respond rightly (James 1:12) and do not blame
God when hard times comes (James 1:13–15). In our text (James 1:16–18) he
advances the argument by reminding us that God is good all the time, even during
our hardest trials. We can say it this way: God is not on trial during our trials; we
are. He uses hard times to put our faith to the test. This passage shows us three
things we need to remember if we are going to pass the test with flying colors.

1. Remember God’s Love

“Don’t be deceived, my beloved brothers” (v. 16).  When hard times come, it’s easy to
blame God for our problems. Like Adam in the Garden of Eden, we are experts at
passing the buck.

God is not on trial during our trials; we are

It’s not my fault. I didn’t deserve this. You started it. The devil made me do it. I
couldn’t control myself. They had it in for me.The whole thing was rigged.I’ve had a
string of bad luck. If I were older/younger/richer/smarter/single/married/better
educated/better connected, this wouldn’t have happened to me. In the end all our
excuses lead us back to God. He is the one with whom we have to do. He made us, he
gave us life, and one day we will give an account to him. All our well-oiled excuses
will be exposed as lies when we stand in the blinding light of his perfection.So don’t
be deceived into thinking you can blame God for the temptations you face. That’s the
first thing James wants us to see.

All our excuses lead back to God

He adds an important truth when he calls his readers “my beloved brothers.” That’s
not just a term of affection. As a practical matter, James wouldn’t have known all the
Jewish Christians who were scattered in many places (see James 1:1). It’s not as if
he’s saying, “I love you guys.” No doubt that was true, but the phrase means much
more than that. James is reminding his readers that they were greatly loved by God.
They were brothers and sisters in Christ who had experienced the love of God in a
deep way. He is really saying, “When you are tempted to give up, remember how
much God loves you.” H. B. Charles Jr. says it this way: “The peril of the unredeemed
sinner is unbelief. The peril of the redeemed sinner is misbelief.”

Beware of "misbelief"!
We “misbelieve” when we forget what it cost God to save us.We “misbelieve” when
we forget the pit from which we were rescued.We “misbelieve” when we accuse God

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of mistreating us. There really is no cure for “misbelief” except replacing falsehood
with the truth. I met a woman who came to Christ from a background of brokenness
that included almost every sin you might imagine. When she came to church, she
had no trouble believing she was a sinner. In an email to me she enumerated many
of her sins, and then she said this:
One night I was driving home in rush hour traffic on the freeway and listening to a
Christian radio station. I can’t tell you exactly who was speaking, but someone was
talking about the crucifixion and I didn’t know what happened—I started crying and
saying something like "Oh Jesus, please forgive me for sinning against you, I am so
sorry, after all that you did for me, look what I have done to you—I know who you are
now." And the feeling in that car was overwhelming. I didn’t know what was going on
them—but I know now. The Holy Spirit swooped down on me, he called me to Jesus
and I came. Isn’t that something - the most incredible experience of my life and it
happened in a rush hour traffic jam on a cold night in November. I left the house that
morning and came back that night a different woman—and I had no clue what was
going on.
To quote my favorite song which seems so very appropriate, and which in one
sentence certainly sums up what has happened since I came to Christ: "Amazing
grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me, once I was lost but now I’m
found, was blind but now I see.”
She signed her note, “Lingering at the foot of the cross.�� That’s exactly where we
ought to be all the time. As long as we linger at the cross, contemplating what Jesus
did for us, we are not likely to be deceived when hard times come.

2. Remember God’s Goodness

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father
of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (v. 17). The
change in subject seems abrupt, but the flow of thought is clear. We must not blame
God for our temptations because evil desire leads to sin that leads to death (vv. 13–
15). Twice James warns us not to blame God for our problems. When we sin, we
have only ourselves to blame.

Everything good comes from God

Verse 17 sets up a contrast. Everything good in this world ultimately comes from God.
If it’s good, God made it, he gave it, or he sent it. The familiar words of the Doxology
state this very plainly: “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.” I wonder if we
really believe that. Not long ago I asked a friend how he was doing. He laughed and
said, “I’m upright and taking nourishment.” I laughed with him. But do we realize that
“in him (that is, God) we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28)? Do we
understand that we are alive right now because God wants us alive? We breathe

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because he gives us air to breathe and lungs to take it in. If God withdrew his hand of
blessing, not one of us would take another breath. We see and hear and move and
think and laugh and clap and dream and cry all because of God. I suppose we all
know that, but rarely do we think of it. Rarely do we stop to give thanks for the
blessing of life itself. But recently we heard the sad news that Vice President Joe
Biden’s son Beau died at the age of 46 from brain cancer. Here is one of the most
powerful men on earth, and yet his son dies of cancer. The list of the sick and
suffering seems to have no end. Death comes to all of us sooner or later.

Linger at the foot of the cross

If you can read my words, you must be alive. If you are alive, it is a gift from God. If
God has given you the gift of life, will you not give thanks to him? We ought to
ponder Paul’s question in 1 Corinthians 4:7, “What do you have that you did not
receive?” Do you boast of your wealth or your fame or your talent or your
accomplishments? Do you think you good looks owe only to your DNA? Who gave
you your talent, your strength, your creativity, your ingenuity? Who gave you the
blessings you take for granted?

The Gentle Rain from Heaven

James emphasizes this when he says that every good gift “comes down” from the
Father of lights. William Shakespeare reminds us that
“The quality of mercy is not strained.It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven.”
These famous lines from The Merchant of Venice are true in every way. Mercy
always comes down. It starts with God and moves to man, it begins in heaven and
ends on earth. You don’t bargain for mercy because to make a bargain you’ve got to
have something to offer, and we have nothing to offer God. Mercy is indeed like the
gentle rain that softens the hard soil of the human heart.

We are alive because God wants us to be alive

We need this because we are sinners worse than we know. Even the best Christian
would have no hope of heaven without the shining mercy of God. If God did not
forgive and keep on forgiving, if he did not continue to pour out his mercy like the
“gentle rain from heaven,” we would be utterly and completely lost.What kind of God
do we serve?He’s completely good.He’s constantly good.He’s unchangeably good.

God will never not be good

God will never not be good.God could never be less than good.Everything he does is
good.

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“I am a witness”
I’m sure you’ve been in churches where they do the call-and-response that goes like
this:Preacher: God is good.Congregation: All the time.Preacher: And all the
time.Congregation. God is good.When I mentioned this in a sermon, someone told
me their church does that in a slightly different way. They say it in five parts, one for
each finger on their right hand. It goes like this:

In every situation, no matter what

God is good.All the time.In every situation.No matter what.God is good.You should
hold up your right hand and say that right now, touching each finger in turn. Once you
do it, it will stick in your mind.When I mentioned the basic call-and-response in a
written sermon a few years ago, someone in Nigeria wrote back and said that in their
churches, after saying “God is good, all the time, and all the time, God is good,” the
congregation says in unison, “I am a witness.”

"I am a witness"
That’s really good because it brings the truth home. It’s one thing to say “God is good”
as an abstract statement, almost like a theological cheer for the home team. It’s
even better if you think about those other statements, “In every situation” and “No
matter what.” But best of all is to make it personal by adding, “I am a
witness.”Sometimes it’s hard to say. Even when we think we know what will happen
tomorrow, life can turn on a dime. No one knows what a day may bring forth. That’s
a solemn fact. Life is not just one thing. It’s good and bad, sickness and health,
weeping and rejoicing, life and death, war and peace, all mixed together.That’s why
we need a God in whom there is no shadow of turning. He is the still point in our
changing world. He is not good today and bad tomorrow. He does not capriciously
change his mind and decide to be kind today and harsh tomorrow.We are like
that.God is not.When you are tempted to give up, remember the goodness of
God.When you feel like giving in to temptation, remember the goodness of
God.When you want to resign from life, remember the goodness of God.

3. Remember God’s Grace

 “Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind
of firstfruits of his creatures” (v. 18). As James thinks of the goodness of God, he
naturally turns to an illustration his readers would understand. The phrase “brought
us forth” translates a Greek word that means “to give birth.” What do we know about
this divine birth?

It Starts with God.

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The text says God saved us “of his own will.” Whatever else we can say about our
“free will,” let’s be clear on one key point. Salvation doesn’t start with us; it starts with
God. I’m reminded of the new convert who rose with great joy in a prayer meeting to
share his testimony of how Jesus saved him. Afterwards, an older Christian, thinking
to admonish him, said, “My brother, what you shared was wonderful, but you didn’t
say anything about your part in salvation.” The new convert replied, “My part in
salvation was to run from the Lord as fast as I could. God’s part was to pursue me
until he found me and saved me by his grace.” James would agree with that
answer. Salvation is of the Lord. We sometimes say, “I found the Lord,” which is
perfectly true. But if the Lord didn’t find us first, we would never find him on our own.

It Produces New Life.

Why do we need new life? The answer is simple. We need “new” life because the
“old” life we were born with is filled with sin and disobedience. As James has just
said in verses 14–15, lust leads to sin and sin leads to death.Warren Wiersbe says it
this way:
“By granting us a new birth, God declares that he cannot accept the old birth.... He
rejects your first birth (no matter how noble it might have been in the eyes of men),
and he announces that you need a second birth”  (Be Mature, p. 53).
That’s why Jesus said, “You must be born again” (John 3:7). The new birth is not an
option if you wish to go to heaven. Even the best among us need to be born again.It
is a gift of God, given by grace and received by faith.

It Comes by the Word of Truth.

This is why we preach the Word!It is not our words that bring life. I can talk until I’m
blue in the face, but my words can never give life. My words are human words. They
have all the limitations that go with my flesh. My words may amuse or comfort or
anger or embitter. They may instruct or they may challenge. But my words in and of
themselves have no power to give life.

Only God can give life

But the Word of God is different. Because it comes from God, it has ultimate
authority. Because it is true, it is 100% reliable. Hebrews 4:12 reminds us that the
Word of God is “alive and active.” It is a sword that lays bare the hidden secrets of
the heart. When we preach God’s Word in the power of God’s Spirit, it penetrates
every heart, reveals every sin, exposes every excuse, shows us our need, and then
leads us to the cross of Christ where we can be forgiven.

It Utterly Transforms Us.

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The Jewish readers in the first century were familiar with the concept of “firstfruits.”
Each year the early part of the harvest was set aside for the Lord as a testimony that
the whole harvest belonged to God. To call us “firstfruits” means that we are a sign
to the world that a great harvest is underway. God intends to use us to display his
grace to the whole world. We are to be “Exhibit A” of what God can do in through
fallible, broken people.You might say our job is to be fallible and broken. We’ve got
that part nailed.God’s job is to show his grace through people like us. He’s working
at that day and night.

We are fallible, broken people

That puts our trials in a new perspective. Recently I came across this quote on a
friend’s Facebook page: “When it is all finished, you will discover it was never
random.” If your life seems random at the moment, you may be sure that it is not all
finished. We are never really “finished” in this life because God always has more
work to do in us.As we come to the end of this message, let’s wrap up by reminding
ourselves of truth we’ve heard before: It’s not about me. It’s about God. It’s not about
now. It’s about eternity.

No Halfway Hope
Very often the here-and-now won’t make sense to us. I have no magic formula to give
you that will dispel your fears, clear away your confusion, and wipe away your tears.
We are reminded over and over that into each life some rain must fall. Sometimes it
sprinkles, sometimes it pours, and sometimes the flood waters threaten to
overwhelm us. Said another way, if you ever get to the place where all your questions
are answered, all your problems are gone, and all your trials have vanished, sit back
and relax. You’ve made it to heaven. Between now and then, there are “dangers, toils
and snares” ahead of us. No one is exempt from the troubles of this life. But the
grace that has taken us this far will safely lead us home to God.Someone going
through a hard time posted this on Facebook:
Hope is tough. You can't really halfway hope. Either you hope for something or you
don't.
Then came this insight:
Our God is good, and faithful, and gracious, and he loves to show those attributes to
us if we pay enough attention to catch them. We have been trying to pay attention to
those attributes, to hope more in what is unseen than in what is seen.
What a beautiful way to put it. I’m glad our hope doesn’t depend on the fickle sway of
circumstances but on the solid rock called God. That’s what James is talking about
in this passage.When hard times come . . .Remember God’s love,Remember God’s
goodness, andRemember God’s grace.A good memory of the right things will keep
you strong when hard times hit.