Speaker 1: God's goal is conforming us to Christ and he will
Speaker 1: not be satisfied till you get there.
Speaker 2: Dr. Tony Evans says even painful circumstances can serve God's
Speaker 2: purpose in shaping us.
Speaker 1: He's saying it is to remind you of your humanity
Speaker 1: and you can do nothing without me.
Speaker 2: This is the Alternative Broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings
Speaker 2: from the archives of Dr.
Speaker 3: Tony Evans.
Speaker 2: Are the tough times in your life going to take
Speaker 2: you apart? or put you back together better than ever.
Speaker 2: Join Dr. Evans in James chapter one, verse five, as
Speaker 2: he explains why the difference is up to you.
Speaker 1: Now there are three kinds of people who will hear
Speaker 1: this message today.
Speaker 3: Those who are in a trial.
Speaker 1: You, as you sit under the sound of my voice,
Speaker 1: are going through difficult trouble in life. A second group,
Speaker 1: are those who are exiting a trial. You've broken free
Speaker 1: and finally you've gotten to breathe a sigh of relief.
Speaker 1: The third group are those who are about to enter
Speaker 1: into a trial, you just don't know it yet. So
Speaker 1: there is a word for everyone here because it applies
Speaker 1: either you're in it, on your way out of it,
Speaker 1: or heading towards it. Some are or will be or
Speaker 1: have come out of physical trials. Something is wrong with
Speaker 1: the body and it won't go away. You feel bad,
Speaker 1: it affects your functioning at work, you've become more short-tempered
Speaker 1: with people because of how you feel, you're aggravated by
Speaker 1: the inconvenience or by the pain, or if it's a
Speaker 1: physical dilemma bad enough, you're afraid because of the trouble
Speaker 1: of physical debilitations. Trials can come in the color called emotional.
Speaker 1: where something plagues the mind and you cannot get rid
Speaker 1: of the trouble, something that happens that you cannot forget,
Speaker 1: something that goes on that is discouraging and it occupies
Speaker 1: your mind and it is traumatic.
Speaker 3: Some can come by circumstances.
Speaker 1: A loved one who dies an untimely death, a child
Speaker 1: who creates havoc in any number of circumstances.
Speaker 3: Could be, along that line, familial, family.
Speaker 1: A wife who doesn't understand, a husband who is an
Speaker 1: evil person, a disappointment with efforts put forth to do
Speaker 1: the best you.
Speaker 3: Can at home.
Speaker 1: In any case, it is a trial because it is
Speaker 1: a circumstance that is causing you pain. Jesus said in
Speaker 1: John 16, 33, in this life, you will have tribulation.
Speaker 3: Bank on it.
Speaker 1: James says, when you encounter various trials. So the issue
Speaker 1: is not if, but when. Please notice, however, his clarification
Speaker 1: in verse 2. Consider it all joy, my brethren, when
Speaker 1: you encounter various trials. Please don't misread this. Consider it
Speaker 1: all joy, my brethren, when you create various trials. Trials
Speaker 1: created of the temptation he begins to speak of in
Speaker 1: verse 13, when a man is tempted to do evil.
Speaker 1: He is talking now about trials you encounter. You just
Speaker 1: run into them because you're living. So if you're going
Speaker 1: through a tough time, don't be surprised. If life is
Speaker 1: crashing in on you at this moment, don't be shocked.
Speaker 1: It comes with this thing called life. That leads to
Speaker 1: a second point that is critical. the reason for trials.
Speaker 1: He gives the reality of trials. You can't avoid them.
Speaker 1: But now he wants to discuss the reason for them, beginning.
Speaker 3: In verse 3. Knowing.
Speaker 1: The Greek word knowing is from the word gnosko, and
Speaker 1: that carries the concept of knowledge via experience.
Speaker 3: Knowing. Knowing. Why is this critical?
Speaker 1: Because if you face a trial and don't know, if
Speaker 1: you can't connect the right set of data with the
Speaker 1: experience that you're going through, the trial will control you
Speaker 1: rather than you controlling the trial. The problem is not
Speaker 1: that many people in this room are undergoing trials. That's
Speaker 1: not the problem because everybody undergoes trials. The problem is
Speaker 1: that many who undergo trials don't know. They do not
Speaker 1: know how to connect spiritual knowledge.
Speaker 3: With unavoidable circumstances in life. Trials.
Speaker 1: Are the launching pad for your next level of spiritual growth.
Speaker 1: Trials are the launching pad for your next level of
Speaker 1: spiritual growth. He says three things about the reason for trials.
Speaker 1: Number one, you are to know that your faith is
Speaker 1: being tested. He says in verse three, knowing that the
Speaker 1: testing of your faith. Whenever you are going through a
Speaker 1: circumstance God is putting your faith on the witness stand
Speaker 1: to testify.
Speaker 3: Let me say that again.
Speaker 1: Whenever you go through a trial, because remember, God could
Speaker 1: have stopped that trial from.
Speaker 3: Getting to you.
Speaker 1: He could have blocked it like he blocks a lot
Speaker 1: of trials we won't even know we even had till
Speaker 1: we get to heaven. If God let everything that could
Speaker 1: come at us, come at us, we would.
Speaker 3: Be screaming 24 hours a day.
Speaker 1: Because Satan has always got something he wants to do
Speaker 1: to disrupt our lives. So if God let it through,
Speaker 1: he let it through with a purpose. If he let
Speaker 1: it slip through his fingers, so to speak, nothing slips through.
Speaker 1: But if he let it get by, he knew something
Speaker 1: that he wants you to know. And that is he
Speaker 1: wants to put your.
Speaker 3: Faith on a witness stand.
Speaker 1: A trial is designed to go beyond saying amen. A
Speaker 1: trial is designed to go beyond saying that was a
Speaker 1: good sermon, pastor.
Speaker 4: Amen.
Speaker 3: A trial is designed to.
Speaker 1: Go beyond feeling good on Sunday morning. It is time
Speaker 1: to testify. And what he does is he puts what
Speaker 1: you believe to the test by allowing a circumstance to
Speaker 1: get through the line of scrimmage to your life. Or
Speaker 1: as David says in Psalm 17, 3, trials are designed
Speaker 1: to test the heart so that it can be revealed
Speaker 1: what is there.
Speaker 3: God, through trial, will.
Speaker 1: Identify weaknesses in order to develop faith and make it stronger.
Speaker 1: To remove impurities, trials are designed to bring you to
Speaker 1: the point where your faith stands the test.
Speaker 3: No matter how hot the fire. Look with me.
Speaker 1: Just turn over a couple of pages to 1 Peter
Speaker 1: chapter 1.
Speaker 3: Where he says a similar thing.
Speaker 1: He says in verse 6, in this you greatly rejoice,
Speaker 1: even though now for a little while, if necessary, you
Speaker 1: will be distressed by various trials.
Speaker 3: Same concept.
Speaker 1: The proof of your faith being more precious than gold,
Speaker 1: which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be
Speaker 1: found to result in praise and glory and honor at
Speaker 1: the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 3: The proving of your faith.
Speaker 1: The test will not end till the faith has been
Speaker 1: proven until you exercise your faith. That means apply what
Speaker 1: you know about God as revealed in his word to
Speaker 1: the trial that you are going through. God is after
Speaker 1: developing you through testing you. And that is why Job
Speaker 1: says in Job 13, 15, Though he slay me, yet
Speaker 1: will I trust him. As his faith was being tested,
Speaker 1: his faith came through as fire. He didn't walk out
Speaker 1: on God, blame God. Trials hurt, but trials hurt as
Speaker 1: part of a test.
Speaker 3: Okay?
Speaker 1: The second reason is, is to expand your endurance. Notice
Speaker 1: verse three, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
Speaker 1: This word endurance is from two Greek words. That means
Speaker 1: remain under, to remain under. It means to be able
Speaker 1: to endure or handle the trial until its purpose has
Speaker 1: been complete. Now I got this firsthand here since I
Speaker 1: came back on vacation and I decided I'm gonna start
Speaker 1: getting up early in the morning and going to the gym.
Speaker 3: Well, I started my weightlifting program.
Speaker 1: And I started and I started with the curls and
Speaker 1: I started with the presses, you know, and I started
Speaker 1: with all this.
Speaker 3: 24 hours later, I was in a trial.
Speaker 1: I couldn't walk. My wife had to button my shirts.
Speaker 1: So I was in a mess and I was in
Speaker 1: agonizing pain.
Speaker 3: Why?
Speaker 1: Because I had pressed upon me weights that I had
Speaker 1: not been used to.
Speaker 3: And guess what?
Speaker 1: And the weights which were designed to help me were
Speaker 1: causing me more pain. But through the encouragement of the
Speaker 1: one working with me, I went back and I.
Speaker 3: Had to lift more weight. And I struggled as I
Speaker 3: felt the pain. And then he told me, he said,
Speaker 3: keep pressing on. Endure. Because as you work your way
Speaker 3: through it, This.
Speaker 1: Pain will subside and the process of physical development will occur.
Speaker 1: But if you quit, whenever you decide to start again,
Speaker 1: you got to go through this whole routine one more time.
Speaker 1: In the trials of life, God puts weights on you.
Speaker 1: And he says, don't quit, keep pumping. But when you
Speaker 1: pump the weights, it may produce more pain. But keep
Speaker 1: on pumping and don't quit because if you do, you're
Speaker 1: going to see muscle where flab had been. You're going
Speaker 1: to see spiritual development where weakness had occurred.
Speaker 3: He says keep going. Let your faith keep going. Trust him.
Speaker 1: It doesn't look like trusting him makes sense. Stay with
Speaker 1: him when you want to quit. He says it's like weight.
Speaker 1: It produces resistance, but it's designed for growth. like a
Speaker 1: kite that soars high. It only does so on a
Speaker 1: windy day. God allows the wind to blow in the
Speaker 1: spiritual lives of his children that they might soar higher
Speaker 1: in their spiritual lives, that they might grow to the
Speaker 1: next level of spiritual growth.
Speaker 2: When Dr. Evans returns, he'll give us three practical responses
Speaker 2: that can help us keep growing when we're going through
Speaker 2: a trial. Well, as we've been learning, sometimes the problems
Speaker 2: we encounter aren't just problems. They're spiritual issues that can't
Speaker 2: be resolved without supernatural help. To help you get that,
Speaker 2: we're featuring a great resource right now, Dr. Evans' 30-Day Devotional,
Speaker 2: Trusting God in Turbulent Times. Through scripture, encouraging insights, and
Speaker 2: practical challenges, Tony helps you find comfort and strength in
Speaker 2: God's faithfulness. even when life feels uncertain or overwhelming. We
Speaker 2: want you to have a copy of this powerful devotional
Speaker 2: book as our thank you gift when you make a
Speaker 2: contribution to support our work here on the air and
Speaker 2: around the world. Along with it, we'll also send you
Speaker 2: all 16 full-length lessons in Tony's current two-volume series, James,
Speaker 2: Time to Grow Up, available on CD, USB flash drive,
Speaker 2: or instantly downloadable MP3s. Visit TonyEvans.org to take advantage of
Speaker 2: this offer or call us at 1-800-800-3222 where resource team
Speaker 2: members are ready to help with your request. Again, that's TonyEvans.org
Speaker 2: or by phone 1-800-800-3222. We'll get back to today's message
Speaker 2: right after this.
Speaker 4: Life moves fast and sometimes the most important thing you
Speaker 4: can do is slow down. You're invited to join Dr.
Speaker 4: Tony Evans and special guests Priscilla Shire and Anthony Evans
Speaker 4: on a seven-day Caribbean cruise of rest and renewal. Beginning
Speaker 4: February 28th, set sail from Fort Lauderdale to visit stunning
Speaker 4: destinations like Nassau, Grand Turk, Amber Cove, and even a
Speaker 4: private island in the Bahamas. But this journey is more
Speaker 4: than scenic beauty. It's a time to reconnect with God
Speaker 4: and with others. You'll experience life-changing teachings, uplifting worship, and
Speaker 4: moments of peace that are hard to come by in
Speaker 4: the middle of everyday life. Whether it's a quiet morning
Speaker 4: on deck or a shared moment of praise with fellow believers,
Speaker 4: every part of this cruise is designed to refresh your
Speaker 4: body and your soul. Make plans now to step away
Speaker 4: so you can step back renewed. Visit TonyEvans.org for details
Speaker 4: and reservations. That's TonyEvans.org.
Speaker 3: What should your response be to trials?
Speaker 1: Let me give you three things you should do if
Speaker 1: you're going through a trial or when you go through one.
Speaker 1: Here are the three things you should do with regard
Speaker 1: to trials. I'm telling you, this is the quickest way
Speaker 1: to get out is to do these three things. Number one,
Speaker 1: verse two, count it all joy. Instead of bickering, complaining, whining, crying,
Speaker 1: seeking revenge, getting back, Because now you know that God
Speaker 1: is up to something, count it all joy.
Speaker 3: Now, don't misinterpret that.
Speaker 1: He does not mean to feel good about the pain
Speaker 1: of your problem. That's not what it means. He says, count,
Speaker 1: not feel. Evaluate your trials from the standpoint of joy.
Speaker 3: Now, what does that mean?
Speaker 1: That means say to yourself, self, God is up.
Speaker 3: To something here.
Speaker 1: God, I do not know what you're up to, but
Speaker 1: you let this trial come into my life, so you
Speaker 1: are obviously up to something. So I'm going to praise
Speaker 1: your name, not for the trial, but for what you're
Speaker 1: up to. That's what it means to count it all joy.
Speaker 1: Because you know that God is up to something, your
Speaker 1: first response should be, To count it all joy. Your
Speaker 1: outlook determines your outcome. Your attitude will determine your action.
Speaker 1: It is not about feeling, it's about counting. A decision
Speaker 1: of the will. Now what happens when you don't count
Speaker 1: it all joy? You lose the provision of grace. And
Speaker 1: grace is God's supply to take you through anything he
Speaker 1: gives you. He giveth more grace. So you nullify grace
Speaker 1: when you don't count it as joy. So if you're
Speaker 1: going through a trial, then you can make a decision,
Speaker 1: no matter how you feel to say, I decide to
Speaker 1: be joyful about what God is doing. Second thing you
Speaker 1: must do, go to God and ask him for wisdom.
Speaker 3: Ask for help. What are you asking him? To get
Speaker 3: you out?
Speaker 1: Uh-uh, because perseverance doesn't mean it's necessarily time to get out.
Speaker 1: You're asking him, here's the key, for wisdom. If any
Speaker 1: man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God.
Speaker 3: What is wisdom?
Speaker 1: You're going through a trial and yet you're supposed to
Speaker 1: count it joy.
Speaker 3: That's a paradox. That's a contradiction.
Speaker 1: How can I count joy what I'm going through? Make
Speaker 1: sense of this for me. Make sense of this for me.
Speaker 1: It doesn't mean it's going to take you out. It
Speaker 1: doesn't mean you're even going to know why you're going
Speaker 1: through it. But show me how I am to respond
Speaker 1: to get the most out of what you're doing right now.
Speaker 3: That's your prayer.
Speaker 1: Show me how to respond to get the most out
Speaker 1: of what you're doing for me right now.
Speaker 3: The Bible says in 2 Peter 2, 9, God is
Speaker 3: bigger than your trials.
Speaker 1: Listen, 1 Corinthians 10, 13 says that no temptation has
Speaker 1: overtaken you, but such as is common to man. So
Speaker 1: anything that you face, you're not the only one that's
Speaker 1: ever faced it. You're not the only one that will
Speaker 1: face it. And that's why fellowship is so important because
Speaker 1: you hook up with other people who have faced it
Speaker 1: and seeing God bring them through so that you know
Speaker 1: there's hope for you too. That's why you can't be
Speaker 1: a lone ranger Christian. There is commonality. You haven't been
Speaker 1: singled out. God is not picking on you. Why is
Speaker 1: this happening to me? Well, this happened to a bunch
Speaker 1: of other people that God had to teach the same
Speaker 1: thing with that he's teaching you too.
Speaker 3: So pray for wisdom. But how do you pray? Listen closely.
Speaker 1: He says, God will give it to you freely. He
Speaker 1: just would love to tell you what he wants you
Speaker 1: to learn. But let him ask in faith without doubting.
Speaker 1: For the one who doubts is like the surf of
Speaker 1: the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For let
Speaker 1: not that man think he will receive.
Speaker 3: Anything from the Lord. Okay?
Speaker 1: He talks about the double-minded person. This is the split
Speaker 1: personality Christian. This Christian is unstable and perplexed. See, faith
Speaker 1: says yes, unbelief says no, doubt says yes and no.
Speaker 1: This is a Christian who wants to go two ways
Speaker 1: at one time. They want to do it their way
Speaker 1: and still want God to do it his way. They
Speaker 1: want some of God and some of them. They want
Speaker 1: to see what God wants, but then they want to
Speaker 1: see what they want. They have a split personality, and
Speaker 1: God says, I'm not going to compromise what I'm going
Speaker 1: to do in your life. I got to have the
Speaker 1: whole thing, so give me the.
Speaker 3: Whole ball of wax.
Speaker 1: Turn it all over to me. God, you must show
Speaker 1: me what you're up to in my life. It's all
Speaker 1: in your hands. Give it all to me. If you're
Speaker 1: going to come to me, then bring it all to me.
Speaker 1: You only do what I tell you to do, what
Speaker 1: you're supposed to do, what I reveal to you to do,
Speaker 1: but you bring it all to me and stop half-stepping
Speaker 1: with this stuff. Many times believers come for counsel and
Speaker 1: talk about pray for me. And after you pray for
Speaker 1: them and tell them what God wants them to do,
Speaker 1: they still go out and do what they want to do.
Speaker 1: God says, you will not receive anything from me, and
Speaker 1: that's why you're not getting any answers to prayers.
Speaker 3: That's not why you're getting any solutions.
Speaker 1: Did you know that that mate that you want to
Speaker 1: leave may be God's test in your life to take
Speaker 1: you to the next spiritual level, and you just think,
Speaker 1: I don't want.
Speaker 3: To be married anymore. Did you know that?
Speaker 1: That that may be God's purpose for you, and he
Speaker 1: will keep you miserable, and every other mate you find
Speaker 1: will be as messed up as the mate you left
Speaker 1: because you never passed the test of what he was
Speaker 1: trying to teach you in the first place. See, because
Speaker 1: if God is against you, you can't find the right person.
Speaker 1: And then he says, praise. But let the brother of
Speaker 1: humble circumstance glory in his high position, and let the
Speaker 1: rich man glory in his humiliation, because like flowering glass
Speaker 1: he will pass away. For the sun rises, and it's
Speaker 1: a scorching wind, and withers the grass. and flower falls
Speaker 1: off the beauty of its appearance is destroyed so to
Speaker 1: the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will
Speaker 1: fade away very quickly he says give glory to God
Speaker 1: in the midst of your trial he gives two trials
Speaker 1: a poor man that doesn't have money got some of
Speaker 1: them here and the rich man who's running to something
Speaker 1: money can't get him out of we got some of
Speaker 1: them here Poor people who don't have money, he says,
Speaker 1: glory in your position in Christ. Rich people, you get
Speaker 1: sick and money can't buy that cancer out of you.
Speaker 1: Money can't buy that wayward child back home. Money can't
Speaker 1: buy that. So glory in your humiliations. If you run
Speaker 1: out of money, give glory to God. Lord, right now
Speaker 1: I've run out of money, but I want to thank you.
Speaker 3: I have my health.
Speaker 1: I want to thank you that you've taken care of me.
Speaker 1: I want to thank you that you've supplied my needs.
Speaker 1: I want to thank you there's food on my table.
Speaker 1: I want to thank you there's clothes on my back.
Speaker 1: In my poverty, I want to praise you. And then
Speaker 1: if you have a little money, but you got some
Speaker 1: money you can't buy.
Speaker 3: Lord, I want to glorify you. I want to.
Speaker 1: Glorify you that money can't buy me out of this
Speaker 1: so that I won't pull out MasterCard, Visa, or American Express.
Speaker 1: I'm going to run to Jesus Christ and ask him
Speaker 1: to do it. In other words, whether you're poor or rich,
Speaker 1: when life crashes in, give glory to God because God
Speaker 1: allows trials to force us back to him. Because when
Speaker 1: you get money, then you pay cash, you don't pray.
Speaker 1: That's what he's saying. He's saying it is to remind
Speaker 1: you of your humanity and you can do nothing without me.
Speaker 3: He closes with this verse, verse 12. Blessed, oh this
Speaker 3: is a good verse.
Speaker 1: Is a man who perseveres under trial for once he
Speaker 1: has been approved he will receive the crown of life
Speaker 1: which the Lord has promised to those who love him.
Speaker 1: This is the reward of trials. He says the reward
Speaker 1: of trials when the trial has been finished and the
Speaker 1: lesson has been learned, then approval will be given.
Speaker 3: Passed.
Speaker 1: And when you pass, you can graduate. When you graduate, what?
Speaker 1: You go across the stage, you get a diploma, and
Speaker 1: there's a cap on your head. He calls the cap
Speaker 1: in verse 12 the crown of life. God puts a cap,
Speaker 1: a graduation cap. He passed elementary school. He graduates to
Speaker 1: junior high.
Speaker 3: Yeah, more tests. He passed junior high. He graduates to high.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but more tests. He graduates from high. He goes
Speaker 1: to college.
Speaker 3: More tests. He graduates from college. He goes to the workplace.
Speaker 3: More tests.
Speaker 1: But he will graduate you from that trial. It took
Speaker 1: Abraham 25 years to graduate, to become the father of
Speaker 1: all nations when.
Speaker 3: He offered up Isaac.
Speaker 1: It took Moses 85 years to graduate, to lead the
Speaker 1: children of Israel. I don't know how long it's going
Speaker 1: to take you. You have a lot to say about
Speaker 1: that by how you take the test.
Speaker 3: I do know this.
Speaker 1: When you graduate, he will say pass, and your fondest
Speaker 1: dreams will come true, your greatest desires. Some of you
Speaker 1: single ladies are looking for a husband. God is waiting
Speaker 1: for you to pass the test. When you pass, then
Speaker 1: he's going to show up. Long as you fussing and
Speaker 1: fighting and complaining, you'll be alone. Many of you want
Speaker 1: a career move. God is saying, I'm going to keep
Speaker 1: letting them skip you until you pass my test. Then
Speaker 1: I'll let you pass their test. God will continue to
Speaker 1: do it until you pass the test.
Speaker 2: Dr. Tony Evans, talking about the upside of the downturns
Speaker 2: we face in life. part of his current series called James,
Speaker 2: Time to Grow Up. This two-volume, 16-lesson collection offers practical,
Speaker 2: clear direction for making wise, God-honoring decisions when things get confusing.
Speaker 2: And as I mentioned earlier, it's yours, along with a
Speaker 2: bonus of Dr. Evans' 30-day devotional, Trusting God in Turbulent Times,
Speaker 2: as our thank-you gift when you support Tony's ministry with
Speaker 2: a contribution. This unique package offer won't be available for long,
Speaker 2: so don't miss out. Visit TonyEvans.org to make the arrangements today.
Speaker 2: Or get some in-person help by requesting it through our
Speaker 2: resource team at 1-800-800-3222 any time of the day or night.
Speaker 2: That's TonyEvans.org or by phone at 1-800-800-3222. Trials and temptations
Speaker 2: are a part of life, but the choices we make
Speaker 2: in those moments can have lasting consequences. Next time, Dr.
Speaker 2: Evans looks at the price of temptation and shows how
Speaker 2: we can stand strong when facing the opportunity to give in.
Speaker 2: Be sure to join us.
Speaker 1: Thank you.