DIGGING DEEP NO. 942 – July 19th 2022 TURNING TRIALS INTO TRIUMPHS (PART 2) Jam.1: 2- 12.

Perhaps you have seen the bumper sticker that reads, “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade”. It is easier to smile at that statement than to practice it, but the basic philosophy is sound. Throughout the Bible are people who turned defeat into victory and trial into triumph. Instead of being victims, they became victors. If we are going to turn trials into triumphs, we must obey four imperatives: count (Jam.1: 2); know (Jam.1: 3); let (Jam.1: 4, 9- 11), and ask (Jam.1: 5- 8). Or to put it another way; there are four essentials for victory in trials: a joyful attitude, an understanding mind, a surrendered will, and a heart that wants to believe.

3. Let – A surrendered will – Jam.1: 4, 9- 12. God cannot build our character without our cooperation. If we resist Him, then He chastens us into submission. But if we submit to Him, then He can accomplish His work. He is not satisfied with a halfway job. God wants perfect work. He wants a finished product that is mature and complete. God’s goal for our lives is maturity. It will be a tragedy if our children remained little babies. We enjoy watching them mature, even though maturity brings dangers as well as delights. God wants the little children to become young men, and the young men He wants to become fathers.

Apostle Paul outlined three works that are involved in a complete Christian life Ephe.2: 8- 10.

Number one – there is the work God does for us, which is salvation. Jesus Christ completed this work on the cross. If we trust Him, He will save us.

Number two – there is the work God does in us “For we are His workmanship”. This work is known as sanctification. God builds our character and we become more like Jesus Christ “conformed to the image of His Son” Rom.8: 29.

Number three – there is the work God does through us and that is service. We are “created in Christ Jesus unto good works”. God builds character before He calls to service. He must work in us before He can work through us. God spent twenty-five years working with Abraham before He could give him his promised son. God worked thirteen years in Joseph’s life, putting him into various testing before He could put him on the throne of Egypt. God spent eighty years preparing Moses for forty years of service. Our Lord took three years training His disciples, building their character. But God cannot work in us without our consent. There must be a surrendered will. The mature person does not argue with God’s will; instead, he accepts it willingly and obeys it joyfully Ephe.6: 6. If we try to go through trials without surrendered wills, we will end up more like immature children than mature adults. Jonah is an illustration of this. God commanded Jonah to preach to the Gentiles at Nineveh, and he refused. God chastened Jonah before the prophet accepted his commission. But Jonah did not obey God from the heart. How do we know? Because in the last chapter of Jonah, the prophet is acting like a spoiled child! He is sitting outside the city pouting, hoping that God will send judgment. He is impatient with the sun, the wind, the gourd, the worm, and with God.

One difficult stage of maturing is weaning. Weaning is a step toward maturity and liberty; it is good for the child! God uses trials to wean us away from childish things. Jam.1: 9- 11 this principle is applied to two different kinds of Christians; the poor and the rich Jam.1: 9- 11. God’s testing has a way of leveling us. When testing comes to the poor man, he lets God have His way and rejoices that he possesses spiritual riches that cannot be taken from him. When testing comes to the rich man, he also lets God have His way, and he rejoices that his riches in Christ cannot wither or fade away. In other words, it is not your material resources that take you through the testing of life; it is your spiritual resources.