I know BOFF and Stray used to post the word of the day, and I'm sure I won't do nearly as well as they did, but I felt the Lord leading me to share this with you guys this morning.

This is taken from a sermon of Matt Chandler, a pastor in Dallas. One of my favorite sermons and always a call back to reality.

Scripture: James 1:2-8
"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."

Trials will come. Not if. They will come. We are called to count it all as joy because God is good. God doesn't say, "If you experience trials or if you happen to be this small portion of people who are going to go through trials and struggles…" That's not what he does, because that's not the reality we live in. It's not if. It is when. When you face trials of various kinds.

What does God mean by trial? Is he talking about difficult marriages? Well, that would fit in the category of various. Is God talking about a sick child or parent? That would be a variety of trial. What about losing a job? It's all there. There is no wiggle room here. If you're enduring a trial, there it is.

Let's jump to vs. 3:
"…for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

If we take this conversation out of the spiritual world and we just set it into your life experience, how have you matured? How have you grown? Have you not matured and grown by falling and failing and stumbling? Has growth into maturity for us physically, intellectually, and as a person come because everything has always gone our way and everything we chose to do was spot-on, right, and perfect? No! We learned by scraping our knees, by failing.

Are we to believe then that the way we mature spiritually is completely different? Absolutely not! I'm as guilty of this as any. I want life to be great. Sunshine everyday. Business is great, everyday. My family is healthy, everyday. The absolute fact, is that God GIVES us trials to depend on him. So whatever you are going through this morning, please know that there is a Father in heaven that LONGS for you to lean on Him. He wants to hold your hand and guide you. I'll leave with this passage taken from the transcript of the sermon, originally penned by A.W. Tozer, that we as hunters can identify very readily with the new life that comes from disking a field...

"The unplanted field is smug, contented, protected from the shock of the plow and the agitation of the harrow. Such a field, as it lies year after year, becomes a familiar landmark to the crow and the blue jay. Safe and undisturbed, it sprawls lazily in the sunshine, the picture of sleepy contentment. But it is paying a terrible price for its tranquility: never does it see the miracle of growth; never does it feel the motions of mounting life nor see the wonders of bursting seed nor the beauty of ripening grain. Fruit it can never know because it is afraid of the plow and the harrow.

In direct opposite to this, the cultivated field has yielded itself to the adventure of living. The protecting fence has opened to admit the plow, and the plow has come as plows always come, practical, cruel, business-like and in a hurry. Peace has been shattered by the shouting farmer and the rattle of machinery. The field has felt the travail of change; it has been upset, turned over, bruised and broken, but its rewards come hard upon its labors. The seed shoots up into the daylight its miracle of life, curious, exploring the new
world above it. All over the field the hand of God is at work in the age-old and ever renewed service of creation. New things are born, to grow, mature, and consummate the grand prophecy latent in the seed when it entered the ground. Nature's wonders follow the plow.
"

Father I thank you for these men. I thank you for Aldeer and the "community" we share here. I pray that as we all go through today Lord, that we seek your face and your hand. Whatever trial each man that has read this is facing, Father, I pray that you will be with him through that. Guide and direct the actions of this man. Shape and mold him in your will. I pray that we will all come to know you and have a personal relationship with you. Father bless this place and these members. Shower them with grace and mercy.

In Jesus name, Amen.


The whole sermon can be found here if you would like to watch...
http://thevillagechurch.net/resources/sermons/detail/trials--temptations/

Awesome stuff, Thank You for posting

Well Done! Thanks for lifting us up and encouraging us today.

Lord, thank you for your Grace, Mercy and Love.

Thanks for posting!

That's good stuff brother! Thanks you for sharing.

Good stuff brother

Excellent post

Great Words!!

Thank you for bringing them to us today!!


God Bless,
David B.

That was good. A great reminder. Thank you

Thanks.

It's 9:50pm on Friday now and I decided to check the general forum for I think the first time today and I am so very glad that I did. Thank you for posting this. I really needed to hear that. I'm not currently facing any life altering trials but I praise God for the ones that I have faced in the past. I truly mean that and I'm sure most of my fellow believers feel the same way. For those of us who believe in Christ, at the end of our trials comes triumph. Being triumphant in Christ is an awesome feeling. I don't mean to say that all trials end the way we want them to but any trial that a Christian faces in some way or another brings us closer to Christ and in that there is triumph.