Sunday
Morning Bible Study
May 25, 2003
How to Survive Trials pt 2
We’re in the middle of a series on Trials.
Two weeks ago we addressed the question “Why do we go through
trials?” This week we continue dealing
with “How to survive trials”.
1. Be careful about complaining
Complaining is going to be a natural thing. God knows we’re struggling. It’s
important to be honest about what we’re feeling.
Though Job didn’t curse God, he did to a lot of complaining
Many of David’s psalms are complaints.
But these aren’t reasons to get comfortable being in a place of
complaining.
God doesn’t want us to stay in a place of complaining.
One of the things that seemed to irritate God the most with the Israelites
as they wandered in the wilderness was their constant complaining.
(Num 21:4-9 KJV) And
they journeyed from mount Hor
by the way of the Red sea,
to compass the land of Edom:
and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. {5} And the
people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up
out of Egypt
to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water;
and our soul loatheth this light bread. {6} And the LORD sent fiery serpents
among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel
died.
The people were complaining and it seems that the Lord felt that they
needed to learn a lesson.
I don’t look at this as if God is somehow sensitive and He reacts with
anger to our complaining. I think that God is big enough to listen to our
complaints.
But He doesn’t want to leave us in a place where we only complain.
Sometimes complaining gets us into trouble.
Illustration
Ole Nellie
Farmer Joe decided his injuries from the accident were serious enough to
take the trucking company (responsible for the accident) to court. In court the
trucking company’s fancy lawyer was questioning farmer Joe. Didn’t you say, at
the scene of the accident, “I’m fine,” said the lawyer. Farmer Joe responded,
“Well I’ll tell you what happened. I had just loaded my favorite mule Nellie
into the.......” “I didn’t ask for any details,” the lawyer interrupted, “just
answer the question.” “Did you not say, at the scene of the accident, ‘I’m
fine!’” Farmer Joe said, “Well I had just got Nellie into the trailer and I was
driving down the road...” The lawyer interrupted again and said, “Judge, I am
trying to establish the fact that, at the scene of the accident, this man told
the Highway Patrolman on the scene that he was just fine. Now several weeks after
the accident he is trying to sue my client. I believe he is a fraud. Please
tell him to simply answer the question.” By this time the Judge was fairly
interested in Farmer Joe’s answer and said to the lawyer, “I’d like to hear
what he has to say about his favorite mule Nellie.” Joe thanked the Judge and
proceeded, “Well as I was saying, I had just loaded Nellie, my favorite mule,
into the trailer and was driving her down the highway when this huge semi-truck
and trailer ran the stop sign and smacked my truck right in the side. I was
thrown into one ditch and Nellie was thrown into the other. I was hurting real
bad and didn’t want to move. However, I could hear ole Nellie moaning and
groaning. I knew she was in terrible shape just by her groans. Shortly after
the accident a Highway Patrolman came on the scene. He could hear Nellie
moaning and groaning so he went over to her. After he looked at her then he
took out his gun and shot her between the eyes. Then the Patrolman came across
the road with his gun in his hand and looked at me. He said, “Your mule was in
such bad shape I had to shoot her. How are you feeling?”
{7} Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned,
for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that
he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. {8} And the
LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it
shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it,
shall live. {9} And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and
it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the
serpent of brass, he lived.
This thing of brass seems to me to be something I just don’t understand.
Yet that’s what faith is all about, learning to trust in something you
don’t understand.
It was to teach the people to learn faith – to learn to trust the Lord.
It takes faith to look up at some silly brass serpent on a pole and expect
to be healed. Yet those who displayed that faith and looked to the serpent were
healed.
Our complaining really centers on our lack of faith. We are having a hard
time seeing why we should be in a difficult time. We don’t understand why. We
don’t trust that God knows what He’s doing or that He is able to help us or
that He wants to help us.
God desires that we learn to trust Him.
Jesus used the story of the brass serpent to talk about the lesson of
learning to trust God:
(John 3:14-18 KJV) And
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man
be lifted up: {15} That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
eternal life. {16} For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
{17} For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the
world through him might be saved. {18} He that believeth on him is not
condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not
believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
We need to learn to look to Jesus even when we’re going through our
wilderness times.
This is the Gospel. We must learn to
trust Jesus. Jesus has paid for our sins
by dying on the cross in our place. God
offers you complete forgiveness, spiritual healing, if you will look to Jesus
and trust Him.
Help comes when we learn to trust, not when we complain.
2. Pray
James told us to pray when we were having tough times:
(James 5:13
KJV) Is any among you afflicted? let him pray.
afflicted – kakopatheo –
to suffer (endure) evils (hardships, troubles)
(Wuest) Is anyone among you suffering misfortune? Let him keep on
constantly praying.
For example: Jehoshaphat woke up one day to find his little kingdom
surrounded with enemy armies. Jehoshaphat didn’t know what to do, so he called
for the nation to fast and pray. The
people gathered in Jerusalem while
Jehoshaphat led them in prayer:
(2 Chr 20:12
KJV) O our God, wilt
thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that
cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.
God’s response to Jehoshaphat was that in this situation, they didn’t need
to do anything. God was going to take
care of the enemy and all the people had to do was to watch.
When the day of battle came, Jehoshaphat gave an example to the people of
how he was trusting in the Lord by sending the worship team out in front of the
people rather than the army. As the
people began to praise the Lord, the enemy was destroyed.
Paul also gave us an example of prayer during affliction:
(2 Cor 12:7-10 KJV) And lest I should be exalted above measure
through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the
flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet
me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
Paul is telling of a difficulty that he had, something that had been
allowed in his life to keep him humble. The
difficulty was a “messenger of Satan”, reminding us of Job, whom God allowed to
be tested by Satan.
buffet – kolaphizo – to
strike with the fist, give one a blow with the fist
{8} For this thing I besought
the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
besought – parakaleo – to call to one’s side, call
for, summon. This is also the same Greek
word that is translated “encourage” or “comfort”.
Paul’s request reminds us of Jesus asking the Father in the garden, “let
this cup pass from me” (Mat. 25:39-44).
Matthew records that Jesus also prayed three times for His cup to
depart.
{9} And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my
strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory
in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. {10} Therefore I
take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions,
in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
Paul found his answer in God’s grace.
He found that the weaker he became, the stronger Jesus could be inside of
him. And that’s what Paul wanted, more
of Jesus.
Did Paul really find that God’s grace was enough for him?
Paul began his second letter to the Corinthians by writing,
(2 Cor 1:3-5 KJV) Blessed
be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and
the God of all comfort; {4} Who comforteth us in all our tribulation,
that we may be able to comfort them
which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. {5} For as the
sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation
also aboundeth by Christ.
comforteth – parakaleo – to call to one’s side, call
for, summon. This is same word that was
translated “besought” in 2Cor. 12:8. And
Paul uses it or a form of it FIVE times in these three verses. He has definitely been “comforted” by God,
who is the “Father or mercies” (and GRACE) and the “God of ALL comfort”.
God is the one who really knows how to comfort us. The Holy Spirit Himself is called the
“comforter” by Jesus (John 14:16).
Paul found comfort in prayer.
3. Trust
(1 Pet 4:19
KJV) Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of
God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful
Creator.
commit the keeping – paratithemi
– to place beside; to deposit; to entrust, commit to one’s charge
God wants us to learn to trust Him with our lives, knowing that He knows
what He’s doing.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego
These three young Jewish men were being told that they had to bow down to
Nebuchadnezzar’s statue or else face being thrown into the fiery furnace.
We too often face times when the world wants us to bow down to their
things, but God wants us to stand for Him.
They replied to Nebuchadnezzar:
(Dan 3:17-18 KJV) If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to
deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine
hand, O king. {18} But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not
serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
They had faith that God would take care of them, either by taking them home
in death, or by protecting them in the fire.
God promises His people:
(Isa 43:2 KJV) When thou
passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be
burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
They took their stand for God. As a result, they were thrown into a “fiery
furnace” that was hotter than any furnace had ever been heated. Yet they
weren’t alone in the fire.
(Dan 3:24-25 KJV) Then
Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said
unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the
fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. {25} He answered and
said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have
no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
I think that when you and I go through tough times, Jesus will be right
there with us.
Illustration
“Footprints”
One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with
the LORD. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he
noticed two sets of footprints in the sand; one belonged to him, and the other
to the LORD.
When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the
footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life
there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the
very lowest and saddest times in his life.
This really bothered him and he questioned the LORD about it. “LORD, You
said that once I decided to follow You, You’d walk with me all the way. But I
have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only
one set of footprints. I don’t understand why when I needed You most You would
leave me.”
The LORD replied, “My precious, precious child, I love you and I would
never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only
one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.”
You can trust Him. Let Him carry
you.
4. Be gracious
One of the difficult things for Job was that as he was going through his
great difficulty, his “friends” weren’t helping much. Instead they were just
making things worse.
As I’ve mentioned, to Job they were “miserable comforters” (Job 16:2).
As we’ve been moving through the book of Job, we’ve seen how critical and
judgmental they have been to Job.
They’ve accused Job of having some sort of secret sins that must have
caused all the trouble he was going through.
For some of you, as we’ve been trying to get through these middle chapters
in the book, you’ve thought about how misunderstood you’ve been as you’ve gone
through some of your trials.
But at the end of the story, there will be one thing that God will require
of Job before God restores his life.
(Job 42:7-10 KJV) And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken
these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is
kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me
the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. {8} Therefore take unto you
now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for
yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him
will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not
spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job. {9} So Eliphaz the
Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did
according as the LORD commanded them: the LORD also accepted Job. {10} And the
LORD turned the captivity of Job, when
he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had
before.
It was when Job prays for his friends that God turns Job’s life around.
I know that these guys were considered “friends” of Job, but when you read
the things that they’ve said to Job and you see how Job reacted to it, you get
the feeling that a HUGE rift had opened up between them. We’ve only gotten through chapter 10, and
there are still 28 chapters of accusations and rebuttals to go!
And God tells Job to drop any bitterness he has against them and pray for
them.
You may not have friends who are caring and compassionate. You may be going through a horrible
time. Yet God wants to overflow our
lives so much with His grace, that we can still be gracious to those around us.
6. Rejoice
(James 1:2-4 KJV) 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.
(1 Pet 1:6-7 KJV) Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a
season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: {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:
Both writers talk about “rejoicing” in our trials. Why? We need to realize that
something good is going to come out of this trial.
James sees trials developing our “endurance” or “patience”. He also sees them as being the things that
help us grow up and be “perfect”.
Peter sees trials as being the things that refine and develop our
faith. They are the things that help us
grow in learning to trust God.
God has something good in mind when He allows us to go through trials. When
we quote,
(Rom 8:28
KJV) And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose.
That doesn’t mean that God is going to turn all your bad investments into
big bucks, not necessarily. What God thinks is “good” is not necessarily the
thing that you might have in mind.
Illustration
This Is Good!
There is a story about a king in Africa and his close
friend that he grew up with. The friend had a habit of looking at every
situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) and remarking,
“This is good!” One day the king and his friend were out on a hunting
expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend
had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after
taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off.
Examining the situation the friend remarked as usual, “This is good!” To which
the king replied, “No, this is NOT good!” and proceeded to send his friend to
jail. About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he should have
known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured him and took them to their village.
They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the
stake. As they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king
was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone that was less
than whole. So untying the king, they sent him on his way. As he returned home,
he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt remorse for his
treatment of his friend. He went immediately to the jail to speak with his
friend. “You were right” he said, “it was good that my thumb was blown off.”
And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened. “And so I am
very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this.”
“No,” his friend replied, “this is good!” “What do you mean, ‘this is good’!
How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year?” “If I had NOT
been in jail, I would have been with you.”
God wants us to trust Him. But I
think that God would want to take us a step past closing our eyes, gritting our
teeth, and trusting Him. I think He wants
us to learn to rejoice. How else can you
say “whoopee” in a difficult time unless you trust that God is going to take
care of you?
You don’t have to understand why you are going through your trial. You only need to know that God is going to
take care of you in order to rejoice.