Turning Trouble Into Triumph
 # 1 Living With Integrity      James 1:1-12

Introduction
The final week of training for would-be Navy Seals
(Sea-Air-Land-Commandos), at the Coronado Naval Base in San Diego Cal. - is called Hell Week.
The sailors go through sleepless days and nights, physical testing; these men are transformed into some of the toughest human beings in the world.

As the final period of tortuous training begins on Sunday night, lights flash on as the recruits are awakened by an instructor.   Next to one ear, a machine gun with blanks is fired. A jet from a garden hose is digging into the other ear. On Monday: the six-man teams are ordered to run races with a 250-lb. rubber assault boat on their heads.
On Tuesday: with less than an hour's sleep the night before, they row  these boats to Mexican waters and back, a trip of eighteen miles.
On Wednesday: they continue the race with boats bouncing on their heads. That evening they run again. At midnight, they're ordered to lie naked in the cold pounding surf.  Every ten minutes, during the night they are made to stand up and get the full effect of the wind.
By Thursday: everyone is hallucinating.
By Friday afternoon: the week is over, and the new SEALS are lined up to be checked by a doctor.
The average basic training class is seventy-five men, and only thirty-eight go on to graduate, and become Sea-Air-Land-Commandos.
WHEN CHRISTIANS FACE THEIR BASIC TRAINING IN TRIALS, THERE ARE ALSO MANY CASUALTIES. 

Vs 12 TEMPTATION(lit.): "open, or high seas, deep water"
PICTURE: Of a person being in the open sea far away from land, and rescue
There are times when it seems that the Christian feels as if he is drowning in problems, struggles, and trials of life BUT  JAMES TEACHES US THAT WE CAN TURN TRIALS INTO TRIUMPH.

I. Develop a Joyful Attitude vs 2

 1. Expect Trials
Not “if” but “when” gk = subjective mood
  - not just possibility but inevitability
* if expect easy ride - in for rude awakening

"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
(John 16:33)

Trials Come For Various Reasons

 1. Simply Because We’re Human
   - sickness, accidents, disappointments etc.

 2. Because We Are Christians
Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you;
but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. (1 Peter 4:12-13)

 3. Because God Uses Them to Chasten Us
If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?    (Heb. 12:7)

4. Because God Uses Them Build You
    - what James is talking about

Fall Into = encounter

Divers = various - many shapes and degrees of trials
For the Jews, the trials were packaged as persecution. For us today, they could come in a variety of ways: loss of a job, a divorce, trouble with our children, severe financial strain, illness or death in the family, or relational problems. 

 2. Evaluate Trials   “Count”
* Evaluate trials in the light of what God is doing in your life.  

looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  (Heb. 12:2)

Every trial is an opportunity for God to build godly character into your life.

 3. Exult (Rejoice) In Trials

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,  (1 Peter 1:6-7)

* Consider it joy because God is at work even in the trials and the hardships of life.
  - most of us grow most under hardships.
  - that’s the time we draw close to God
  - that’s the time He’s doing His most enduring work in our lives.

Consider it pure joy  = pure joy - genuine joyfulness
 -the more we rejoice in our testings, the more we realize that they are not liabilities but privileges, ultimately beneficial and not harmful, no matter how destructive and painful the immediate experience of them might appear
 - the greatest part of the joy is drawing closer to the Lord

Illustrate Dr. R.A. Torrey was one of the great Bible teachers of a past generation.   He and Mrs. Torrey went through a time of great heartache when their 12-yr.-old daughter was accidentally killed.  The funeral was on a miserable, rainy day.  They stood around the grave and watched as the body of their little girl was put to rest.   As they turned away, Mrs. Torrey said, “I’m so glad that Elizabeth is with the Lord and not in that box.”

But even in having this eternal perspective, their hearts were broken.  Dr. Torrey said that the next day, as he was walking, the whole thing hit him — the loneliness, the years ahead without her presence, the heartbreak of an empty house, and all the other implications of her death.  As he reflected back on that moment he wrote:
 "And just then, this fountain, the Holy Spirit I had in my heart, broke forth with such power as I think I had never experienced before, and it was the most joyful moment I had ever known in my life!  Oh, how wonderful is the joy of the Holy Ghost!  It is an unspeakable, glorious thing to have your joy not in the things about you, not even in your dearly beloved friends, but to have within you a fountain ever springing up ... 365 days in every year, springing up under all circumstances unto everlasting life.”

If a Christian cannot rejoice in his trials, his values are not godly and biblical.

James is not talking saying, “yea I’m so glad I’ve got trouble.”
To consider it all joy in the midst of our trials is to respond with a deliberate, intelligent appraisal of our situation.  It is to see our experience from God’s perspective and recognize the trial, not as a happy experience in itself, but as the means of producing something very valuable in life.   

* THE ONLY WAY WE CAN HAVE A JOYFUL HEART EVEN IN THE MIDST OF LIFE’S TRIALS,  IS WHEN WE UNDERSTAND THE PURPOSE OF THOSE TRIALS.

II. Understand The Purpose of Trials vs 3
* God wants to use every trial you’ll ever face to bring about a strengthening of your faith in your God and His glory.

* Trials Reveal What’s Really In Our Hearts
 A person who becomes resentful and bitter when troubles come exposes his/her weak faith.
 A person who turns more and more to God as the troubles get worse and worse and asks God’s help to carry the burden demonstrates genuine mature faith.

   Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls--
   Yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will joy in the God of my salvation. (Hab. 3:17-18)

 2. Trials Produce Durability
Patience - not resignation to whatever happens,
but A STRONG AND TOUGH RESOLUTION IN THE MIDST OF EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE

* WHEN WE FACE THE TRIALS OF LIFE WITH UNSHAKABLE CONFIDENCE IN GOD, TRIALS ONLY SERVE TO MAKE US STRONGER.  They produce ENDURANCE - going the long haul with God.

 3. Trials Produce Maturity

Perfect = teleios = fully developed - purpose for which it was intended.
 * Endure trials so that the work God has begun in you is brought to completion.
  = SPIRITUAL MATURITY - CHRISTLIKENESS

Complete = “whole”
 * GOD USES TRIALS TO MAKE US ALL THAT HE WANTS US TO BE.

III. Surrender Your Will to God vs 4, 9-11
but LET patience have its perfect work
 - Let it accomplish what it was intended to accomp.

* TRIALS WILL NEVER ACCOMPLISH THEIR INTENDED PURPOSE UNLESS YOU ARE WILLING TO SURRENDER TO GOD AND TRUST HIM IN THE MIDST OF THOSE TRIALS.
  - many of us fight against God’s intended purpose and lose the blessing.
  - our first reaction is to avoid trials when trials may be the very thing we need to build our character and bring us to maturity.

 1. Surrender Is Crucial To Character
* God builds character before He calls us to serve.
 - must work in us before can work through us.
 — 25 years working on Abraham before He gave him his promised son.
 — Moses 40 yrs in backside of desert before ready to lead people out of Egypt.

* GOD IS MORE CONCERNED ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER THAN YOUR COMFORT.
 - as God builds your character in the midst of the trials we need to submit to Him and trust Him.

 2. Surrender Is Crucial To Maturity
 * to come to maturity and reflect Christlikeness, we must surrender our will to His;  otherwise, we will always be baby Christians.

IV. Ask God For Help    vs. 5-8

 1. Ask God For Wisdom
Why not ask for strength, or grace or deliverance?

  1. We Need Wisdom to See God’s Hand In Trials
* Sometimes we think God is not there.   Need Wisdom to understand He is always there.

* WE NEED ABILITY TO BE ABLE TO SEE THE SITUATION FROM GOD’S PERSPECTIVE.

  2. We Need Wisdom Not To Waste The Opportunity
 - wisdom helps us use circumstances for our good and God’s glory.
 - WISDOM TO GAIN FROM THE TRIAL

* ASK BECAUSE GOD HAS PROMISED TO GIVE YOU THE WISDOM YOU NEED IN THE MIDST OF TRIALS.

 Generously - unconditionally - just ask
  - give everything you need.
 Without reproach - not remind us of how dumb we are.  — not make fun of us or get annoyed with us.

 2. Ask In Faith
 - don’t doubt  -   are immature and set their course for a roller coaster ride of ups and downs

Doubter -Immature Believer - When he goes through a severe trial, he turns to human resources rather than singularly trusting the Lord for answers and for help.  Or he becomes bitter and resentful and seeks no help at all.  He does not renounce God, but he acts as if God’s doesn’t exist, doesn’t care, or isn’t capable of delivering him.
* WILL GOD GET ME THROUGH THIS OR NOT.

 * Doubting = instability in the Christian life.
*WHEN YOU DON’T TRUST GOD IN LIFE’S TRIALS YOU ARE IN FOR AN EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER RIDE.

Illustrate:  - Lobster fishing.  Tossed around on the water.  — Sick 7X .

  - When you’re going through trials and don’t have your faith firmly fixed in God — your insides are constantly turning and you become emotionally sick.

* THE WAY TO TURN TROUBLE INTO TRIUMPH IS TO PUT YOUR TRUST FIRMLY IN GOD AND TO ASK HIM FOR THE WISDOM TO SEE YOU THROUGH THE TROUBLE.

V. Remember Your Reward    vs 12
* The true believer is the one who never relinquishes his confident trust in God.
* it is faithful perseverance under troubles and trials that “approve” us.   --ie. Proves that we are truly children of God with faith firmly planted in Him.

* Being victorious in troubles and trials does not save us, but it gives evidence that we are saved.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.  (* Rom. 8:18)

Conclusion

The story is told of an elderly couple who had given their lives sacrificially as missionaries in God's foreign service.  Their health spent, their mission board called them home to retirement.  On the ship that carried them home was an ambassador and his wife who were coming home to retire as well.  As the ship slipped through the Atlantic, the missionary couple watched the ambassador as he drank and partied.  They heard his boisterous laughter and noticed his often crude behaviour.

As the boat pulled into port, the missionaries noticed a crowd of people on the dock.  The gangplank went down and an important-looking man came onto the boat to escort the ambassador and his wife to the dock.  The crowd closed around the public servant.  Cameras flashed.  The ambassador received a medal and his wife was presented with a dozen roses.  Meanwhile, God's representatives picked their way through the crowd.  They too were home, but no one was there to meet them.  As they walked silently toward the baggage claim area, tears were running down the missionary wife's cheeks.  Her husband tenderly asked, "What's wrong?"  She replied, "All of these years of serving the Lord and now we come home and there's no one here.  No medals for you, no roses for me."  He thought for a moment and then pulled her close and said, "Honey, we're not home yet!"