God’s Faithfulness in Troubles
Introduction
Billy and his teammates were disappointed and angry. They had lost the ball game to a team that had resorted to unnecessary roughness.
Billy went home and told his mother, “Before the game we decided that we would try hard and not cheat or say any bad words. The fellows on the other team played rough, cheated and said bad words, and they won. God was on their side, Mother, not on ours.”
Mother saw how bad Billy felt. When Father came home, she told him what had happened. Father looked thoughtfully, then he went to Billy and said cheerfully, “Well, I heard you won today!”
“Then you heard wrong, because we lost!” Billy said angrily.
“But Billy, I heard that there were two contests. You won the more important one.”
“What do you mean?”
Father said, “My son, you lost the ball game, but you won the big, more important event. You and your teammates conquered anger, cheating, and bad language. You won, and I am proud of you!”
A smile came over Billy’s face. “Why, that is so,” he said. “God was on our side after all, wasn’t He?”
Thesis: God rewards perseverance, not self-pity.
God Helps Us Face Trails with Joy, vv. 2-8, 12
A. Exegesis
- Joy = confidence that all circumstances “work together for good for those who love the Lord,” Romans 8:28.
- When God sends trials, it is a sign that God trusts you. That is joy!
- Trials develop our character.
- We need God’s wisdom to know how to handle our trials. We get it by trusting God and asking God for wisdom.
- Double-minded = to believe and doubt at once, to be in two minds.
B. Illustration–>example of Jesus, Hebrews 5:7-10.
C. Application–>Life is joyous when we believe (without doubting) that God is Sovereign and Good, v. 17.
God Helps Us Face Poverty with Rejoicing, vv. 9-11
A. Exegesis
- Rejoice = boasting
- God regards poverty as a spiritually high position.
- God regards wealth as a spiritually low position.
- Riches fade when times get hot.
- Rich people’s faith falters and fails when times get difficult.
B. Illustration
Louis Stead stood on the beach with her four-year-old daughter and watched her husband drown as he tried to rescue a child in the waters off Long Island, New York. The loss of her husband and persistent health problems kept her off the mission field and brought a testing time in her life. Left without sufficient support, she and her daughter experienced poverty and hunger. On one night she sent her daughter to bed, knowing that there was no food for breakfast. She prayed for a miracle. The next morning, someone left food and money on her doorstep. The Lord answered her prayer. In joyful response, she wrote the following words:
‘Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, Just to take Him at His word;
Just to rest upon His promise, Just to know, “Thus saith the Lord.”
I’m so glad I learned to trust Him, Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend;
And I know that He is with me, Will be with me to the end.
Jesus! Jesus! How I trust Him! How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er!
Jesus! Jesus! Precious Jesus! O for grace to trust Him more!
C. Application
- Do not depend / rejoice on your riches or ingenuity to get you through tough times.
- Depend / Rejoice in God to get you through tough times.
God Helps Us Face Temptations with the Word of Truth, vv. 13-18
A. Exegesis
- The temptation to do evil does not come from God, but from our selfish will.
- Self-conceited lust produces sin, which leads to spiritual and physical death.
- The truth of God’s Word exposes sin in its stark reality.
B. Illustration–Dieting and get your mind off yourself, 1 Corinthians 10:13.
C. Application–God’s Word gives life.