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“Better? Or Bitter?”

The same sun that melts the wax hardens the clay. The same heat that melts butter hardens egg. Think about that. How is it that two people, who have equal opportunities, can go through the same trial or troubles and yet one of them ends up becoming bitter and the other ends up as a better person? I am convinced it’s not the circumstances you go through in life that make you or break you but what you allow God to do through those circumstances.

James chapter 1 verse 1… James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, I am a doulos, slave, bondservant and I have no rights only privileges

To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: “Count it Joy”

The New English Bible says it this way “count yourselves supremely happy” when you encounter various trials… oh great a letter of encouragement from Pastor James whacko!

This goes against all that makes sense… Trials… Joy… pain… maturity… what’s that? I was told Jesus would make my life easier. Jesus is the best but not the

easiest… You see He is in this for keeps… He desires to mold you and shape you into His image and trials are His best tool. So…

verse 2 My brethren, count (Think forward… fast forward and see the end of what God is doing.) As Corrie Ten Boom said, “faith is seeing through the fog”… Jesus did it too when he saw you and I, as He counted the joy of obtaining you and I as He endured the cross…) it all joy when (When… not if, but when) cause you will! fall into various trials, It is said you are either going into one, in the middle of one or coming out of one

Anthony Pabovano said it well…

"Pain is a part of the process... From the shedding of blood that initiates birth to the last gasp of astonishment in the face of death, we are encircled in suffering. The biography of a human being is also a history of anguish. The way one reacts to the suffering of life matters more, in creative and human terms, than the

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suffering itself. We become the people we are through the disadvantages and conflicts we prefer to more comfortable alternatives."

Joy… deep settled confidence that God is in control… Do you really believe it? Do you believe that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose? No promise you will ever see it, you may never know why…

you lost your job. God is working it together.

You may never know why your child died at age 12… God is working it together for good.

What is he talking about… well let me start by sharing what he is not talking about. Count it all Joy not happy… happy, happening… circumstantial… He’s not talking about emotional feel happy and have warm fuzzies during your trial stuff. Nor is he demanding we enjoy our trials, or that trials are joy.

He is not telling us to throw a party when we find out we lost our

job, or that we should get excited about our spouse having an affair. Hearing of our neighbor’s child being diagnosed with cancer is not something we jump up and down about. But if they, we belong to God the promise is true… All things work together… All… and if all then we can count it joy (deep settled confidence that God is in control) Only God can turn what Satan has meant for evil into good.

3 knowing (ginôskontes). Present active participle of ginôskô Knowing from experience… experiential knowledge. The other knowing in the Greek is an intuitive knowing… Somehow you

know… this is not that… you know that this testing produces patience.

knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. Patience or perseverance is an active word not just sitting back and letting it happen… “staying power”, “heroic endurance”4 But

patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect

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(mature… dearest Church we need to grow up!) maturity takes time… no short cuts and complete, lacking nothing.

I wish I could tell you becoming a Christian immunizes you from trials and hardships, but it doesn’t. Difficulties and persecutions are par for the course.

Trials don’t bring maturity… going through them with endurance and

patience produces maturity… practice doesn’t make perfect… perfect practice makes perfect.

Trials, pain and suffering are all catalysts… they will produce. They will make you better or bitter. what Satan throws our way as a temptation, God allows to be a trial. Satan wants to use the event to tear us down and wipe us out; God wants to use the same event to show us how faithful He is and how real He can be.

I am convinced it is not the

experiences of life that make or break us but what we allow God to do with them.

SEATTLE In 1976…

I don’t always pass the test… I know this ginôskô from experience. Hospital… God I don’t want it Help me learn it!!!

Psalm 30:11-12 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;

You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,

12 To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent.

Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

Pain is experienced by everyone!!!

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Sheldon Kopp “Life can be counted on to provide all the pain that any of us might

need.”

Paul Claudel “Jesus didn’t come to explain away suffering or to remove it. He

came to fill it with His presence.”

Jesus is near and close to those in pain.

Isaiah 43:2 – When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And

through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.When you walk through the fire,

you shall not be burned,Nor shall the flame scorch you.

Psalm 34:18 – The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart And saves such

as have a contrite spirit.

Psalm 147:3 – He heals the brokenhearted, And binds up their wounds.

Isaiah 61:1 – The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has

anointed Me. To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the

brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison

to those who are bound.

Why Pain and Suffering?

Pain and suffering make no sense apart from eternity! Without some eternal

purpose there would be little or no purpose.

Philippians 3:10-11 – that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and

the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means,

I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

A.W. Tozer “It’s doubtful that God can use any man greatly until he’s hurt deeply.

In weakness, God’s strength can be revealed. Joseph was jailed, David driven into

hiding, Paul imprisoned, and Christ crucified, but even in defeat, God’s servants

are not destroyed. Part of the miracle of grace is that broken vessels can be made

whole, with even more capacity than before.”

In the book of Job it says that God will test us and try us until we “come forth as gold.” Job 23:10.

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2 Corinthians 12:9-10 – And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for

My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather

boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I

take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses,

for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Tim Hansel: “Haven’t you asked God to heal you? Of course I have,

He has healed me of the need to be healed.”

MacDonald. “No words can express how much the world owes to sorrow. Most of

the Psalms were born in difficulty. Most of the Epistles were written in prisons.

Most of the greatest thoughts of the greatest thinkers of all time had to pass

through the fire. Bunyan wrote Pilgrim’s Progress from jail. Florence Nightingale,

too ill to move from her bed reorganized the hospitals in England. Semi-paralyzed

and under the constant menace of apoplexy, Pasteur was tireless in his attack on

disease. During the greater part of life, American historian Francis Parkman

suffered so acutely that he could not work for more than five minutes at a time. His

eyesight was so wretched that he could scrawl only a few gigantic words on a

manuscript, yet he contrived to write twenty magnificent volumes of history.

Sometimes it seems that when God is about to make preeminent use of a man, he

puts him through the fire. ~

Romans 5:3-5 – And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that

tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character,

hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured

out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

I know this!!! Why can’t I live it? Why can’t I count it joy when I encounter

various trials?

2 Corinthians 4:16 – Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward

man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.

Jesus loves us enough to strip you and I of everything until

we get the hint. He wants all of us, ALL!!!

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Psalm 118:5-9 – I called on the Lord in distress;The Lord answered me and set

me in a broad place 6 The Lord is on my side;I will not fear.What can man do to

me? 7 The Lord is for me among those who help me;Therefore I shall see my

desire on those who hate me.8 It is better to trust in the LordThan to put

confidence in man 9 It is better to trust in the LordThan to put confidence in

princes.

Knowledge proceeds action but knowledge without action nullifies knowledge

(James … doers of the Word not just hearers).

How can we consider it joy? Here is where the action comes in …

Nehemiah 8:10 – Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet,

and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our

Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

= FEELING (Root word “happening” circumstantial.

“Pain is inevitable, but misery is optional. We cannot avoid pain, but we

can avoid joy.”

“It has been suggested that our cup of joy can only be as deep as our cup of sorrow.”

= ATTITUDE “deep settled confidence that God is in control of every area

of my life.

All things work together? Convinced?

Jesus wants to be the First one or thing for you to turn to! He is not all you need

until He is all you have.

Philippians 4:4-7 – Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let

your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for

nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your

requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all

understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

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Muller in his N.I.V. commentary states NO ANXIETY! There must be no anxiety

or worry about anything. To care in a virtue but to foster cares in sin, for such

anxiety is not trust in God, but a trusting in oneself, which come to inward

suffering, fears and worry. The cure for anxiety is prayer to God and

commitment of our way unto the Lord. Pray and pray some more.

Ecclesiastes 11:10 – Therefore remove [banish, never to come back] sorrow from

your heart,And put away evil from your flesh,For childhood and

youth are vanity.

1 Peter 5:7 – casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

Psalm 55:22 – Cast your burden on the Lord,And He shall sustain you;He shall

never permit the righteous to be moved.

Be anxious for nothing … Cast all your anxiety, cast your cares. Divine

imperatives “Not to be avoided or evaded; a command”

O What a peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pain we bear, all because we did

not carry everything to God in prayer. So simple. Why can’t we do it?

The most don’t do that’s in the Bible, more than don’t fornicate, or lie or cheat or

steal, DON’T WORRY!!!

Power in Praise

Psalm 51:8 – Make me hear joy and gladness, That the bones You have broken

may rejoice.

As Lightfoot states, “It implies all pangs and afflictions undergone in the struggle

against sin either within or without. The agony of Gethsemane, not less than the

agony of Calvary, will be reproduced however faintly in the faithful servant of

Christ.”

C. S. Lewis wisely said, “God foresaw your tribulation, has specially armed you to

go through it, not without pain but without stain.” ~

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Quoting Tim Hansel “All of our theology must eventually become biography. The

constant challenge in this life we call Christian is the translation of all we believe

to be true into our day-to-day lifestyle.” ~

Count it Joy… deep settled confidence that God is in control

Malachi 3:3 says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."

A woman in a bible study was puzzled by this verse and wanted to get the low down of what it meant…

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She watched a sweat poured from his brow due to the intensity of the heat from the fire he sat so close to. She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.

The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"

He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy - when I see my image in it."

This is why we can count it joy… He is refining us molding

and shaping us into His image… day by day… making us

complete/mature

There is no box made by God nor us but that the sides can’t be flattened out and the top blown off to make a dance floor on which to celebrate life”

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Every Christian should have a song in his heart. In Ephesians 5:19 the apostle Paul speaks of "singing and making melody" in our hearts to the Lord. This verse should encourage everyone who finds it difficult to carry a tune that's suitable for listening ears. Whether with the lips or in the heart only, singing can characterize our lives, even under the worst of circumstances. Many times that is precisely when God gives us a song to sing.

American pastor and author James H. Brookes told of visiting a friend's house and hearing the music of a bird singing. It was not the ordinary sound of chirping; instead it resembled the strains of a lovely melody. At first Brookes didn't know where it was coming from; but when he glanced around the room, he saw a beautiful bullfinch in a birdcage. The lady of the house explained that it had been taught to sing that way at night. The teacher would repeat the notes time and again until the bird was able to mimic them. But this was possible only because it was dark and the bird's attention would not be diverted.

How often we learn our sweetest songs when the blackness of trial closes in around us. This was David's experience. Cast down and almost despairing of life, he said,"...in the night His song shall be with me." Elihu spoke of God giving "songs in the night" (Job 35:10).

Oh, friend, let's not despair when the darkness of trouble descends upon us. God is with us; God will help us; God will give us a song.