Wisdom in Handling Various Trials

Transcript

GRM 539
9/21/1997
Wisdom in Handling Various Trials
James 1:28
Gil Rugh

We are going to be in James chapter 1 tonight. When we think of the book of James we think of the subject of works. And it's true. The book of James is concerned about saving faith. But saving faith will manifest itself in the things that we do. So it is James' conviction expressed clearly that faith without works is dead. You can have a dead faith. A faith that really isn't a saving faith that transforms the life and so transforms the conduct. James is also a book of action, of doing. As you might think, you talk about faith expressing itself in works, then you think of things you do. There are a 108 verses in the book of James and in those 108 verses there are 54 commands given, 54 imperatives in the book of James. So James is an action book, things you are to do.

When we think of this whole area of our faith and the expression of our faith, I think one of the most challenging things we have to deal with as believers is how do we handle trials, hardships, difficulties in our lives. And James begins his letter after a word of introduction in verse 1 by talking about this very matter of trials, tribulation, testing’s in our lives. It becomes clear trails and testing’s do two things for us. Number one, it reveals our character. Under pressure our character becomes more manifest and more clear to ourselves as well as others. But a second thing happens with pressure, trials, testing. It produces character. It is a necessary ingredient in the developing of our character and producing godliness as a people of God. We are going to focus on verses 2 to 8 for our consideration. This section that will really tie together how we are to handle trials, understanding what their purpose is and what is produced by them, providing the wisdom to get through these times.

Note what James says in verse 2, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance." Throughout this letter where James speaks firmly, 54 commands, he addresses them as “brethren” 15 times. So there is a warmth and a love for them in the context of seriously urging them to do what they should. It comes out of a family love for them. Brethren, here's what you should do in the midst of trials. "Consider it all joy." That's the command. Here's not a recommendation. Here is a command given by James under the direction of the Holy Spirit regarded as a cause of joy. This is something you arrive at as a result of careful consideration. You've deliberated on the subject and you realize this is a cause of joy. So my brethren, have it as your conviction that it is a matter for joy when you encounter various trials.

Now immediately we say this is not the normal response. This is abnormal. My first reaction under trails is not joy. My first reaction quite frankly is usually to question the Lord. Lord, why would you do this. Well, James gives part of the answer in His command. “Consider it all joy my brethren when you encounter various trials.”


Various trials doesn't have to do with the number particularly but it has to do with the variety or diversity of the trials. “Consider it all joy when you encounter various of trials”, all kinds of trials. This is the word that used of the multifaceted or varied grace of God in 1 Peter chapter 4 verse 10 where the gifts of the Spirit are a demonstration of the multifaceted, multicolored grace of God. So here the view of trials when you consider all kinds of trials. So we are not looking at just a particular trial or type of trial but all kinds of trials are included in this command to “consider it all joy.”

“When you encounter various trials.” That word "encounter" means to fall in and be surrounded by. So this doesn't mean you go looking for trials. We're not talking about what we call the martyr's complex. I'm looking for difficulty. I seek difficulty. But the reality of it is the difficulties will come and when difficulty comes, and not just comes but it's like you've fallen into it and it surrounds you. “You encounter” you're engulfed if you will by trials of any and all kind, “consider it all joy.”

When you encounter. That word "when" . . . whenever you encounter. When indicates that they will come. It's not if you encounter trials, consider it joy. But brethren my command and the command is given consider it joy, all joy, when you are surrounded, engulfed, if you will, when you encounter any and all kinds of trials and you will. When that happens, consider it joy.

These trials are brought on and what is the human cause we don't know, but behind it we will see the hand of God at work. Now this hand of God is sometimes using unbelievers. In the sermon on the mount in Matthew chapter 5 verses 10 to 12, maybe you ought to turn there and see it. This is one kind of trial. Matthew chapter 5. And James may have teaching like this in mind. Matthew 5:10, "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me." Rejoice, and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets which were before you." There's one kind of trialpersecution for righteousnessand what does Jesus say about that? “Rejoice and be glad”. So an example of a particular kind of trial. But James isn't limiting it to that because there are all kinds of trials that come into my life. Persecution for sharing the Gospel? Sure. But sometimes the trial is a bodily affliction. Sometimes it is a difficulty in the family. Sometimes it is something that has happened in another area. There are a variety of kinds of trials that come into our lives. And when they come what's my response to be? “Consider it all joy.”

Come back to James chapter 1. Foundational to considering trials joy, to handling trials properly is a correct understanding of what God is accomplishing through trials. The hardest thing about trials is they are unpleasant. They won't be a trial if they weren't unpleasant. Somebody pulls up to my house with a new car and says I just bought this for you and wanted to give you the keys. That's not a trial. Trials, by their very nature, are something that are unpleasant. That's why we have to be commanded to “consider it all joy when we encounter various trials” because that's not the normal human response. So, consider what God is doing when He does bring trials into our lives.


Verse 3, "Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance." And the connection here is the command to “consider” in verse 1 and the word "knowing" in verse 2. Consider it this way knowing this to be true. So again, as we were talking this morning, our action is rooted in our theology and our understanding of God and His working. “Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” And the picture here is like that proving more testing of a precious metal. You put it through the test to refine it, to prove it, to reveal it, to purify it. The testing of your faith.

When our faith in Christ is put to the test by the pressures that come to bear upon us, it's true character is revealed. So our faith is being put to the test. It's being tried and there is a refining process going on, a purifying process in one sense if you will. This testing of our faith produces endurance. Very simply the word "endurance" used here is a compound word. The word to live or remain and the word under, to remain under, to live under. That's endurance. The picture of being under pressure, under a load, and having the ability to stay, to hold up.

What happens is trials come into our life and they are the refining process and the strengthening process which enables us as God's people to live under pressure. And if you've been a Christian very long, you've already had some pressures in your life. If you've been a Christian a long time, you look back on a life that has pressures of all kinds. What is the characteristic of a mature saint, about a mature saint, an older person who has walked with God through the years? There is a staying power that characterizes them. This word has an active ingredient. It's not passive. The idea of a confident stand when the pressure is applied. One of the Greek lexicons says about this word, "It's the characteristic of a man who is unswerving from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to the faith and piety by even the greatest trials in suffering. It is that tenacity of spirit which holds up under the pressure while waiting God's time for reward or dismissal. So the trying of our faith, the trials are a testing time, a proving time for our faith and they will produce endurance. Present tense of this verb “to produce.” It's a process that goes on. We don't have instant accomplishment. But the trials when they come and the variety of trials that come that seem to engulf us are part of the ongoing process of producing endurance, staying power, if you will, stability under pressure. That is to characterize the people of God as they mature.

That's true in the physical realm. Young children have little endurance. They are not expected to have great endurance. The pressurethey are not yet built to bear it. But we expect as they get older that what? They will learn to handle more and more. Sometimes as parents you have discussions as your children are growing up. What? Are we expecting too much of them? Are we putting too much pressure on them? And there is that balance. What? You want enough pressure for them to continue to develop, more and more ability to handle things but not more than they are able to bear at their stage of growth. That's what our Heavenly Father is doing. He is bringing the testing and trials into our lives, and they are controlled by Him so we can develop and mature. So that after I've walked with the Lord for ten years, I have an endurance that did not characterize me after ten months. And so it is as it goes on in my life. Trials are a necessary part of that.


Then he goes on to say the result of trials in verse 4. "And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." Characteristic of being in trials, one of the first reactions after we say why God did You allow this to happen? Second thing is I want to look for an escape. How do I get out of this trial? There's nothing wrong. Like I say we don't have to be looking for trials. We don't have to be looking to stay in a trial if there is an opportunity to get out of it. If I'm having a physical affliction, the doctor says we can correct that. Like this I say Oh no, I wouldn't want you to correct it it's part of my trial from God. No, I say it served a purpose and God's provided a correction. They'll be other trials. But I also have to be careful that I don't develop the attitude of an impatience with God when He does not remove the trial.

"So let endurance have its perfect result." And that is another command that we are required to do. You let endurance do its work. Now under the trial as you're learning to remain under it remember that's what endurance is, to live under, to remain under. I think success in trial is learning how to get out of it. That's not necessarily the case. I am to let endurance have its perfect result. Perfect work, literally. I take it that what he's referring to here is the work that God is doing to bring me to perfection.

The perfect work is the work of producing the character of God in His children. And that's described in three ways at the end of verse 4. "Let endurance have its perfect result, its perfect work, "that you may be perfect." Mature is the idea. It doesn't mean that we never sin. Chapter 3 verse 2 of James says we all stumble in many ways. What we're talking about the growing to maturity, becoming what God intends for us to be as His children. God is in the process of perfecting us in Christ. Part of that perfecting work are the trials that come into our lives. That means if I have my theology together I can appreciate . . . That doesn't mean that I like trials in the sense of enjoy them in one sense, but I can count it joy in the other sense, not because they're pleasurable, because they're painful. That's why they're trials. But because I have an understanding of what my God is doing and what He is doing in my life is wonderful. It is a cause of rejoicing. He is developing my character. He is bringing me to the appointed goal of perfection in Christ.

So let endurance have it's perfect work. It's work of making you perfect that you may be perfect and complete. It's a word meaning "having all the parts," every necessary part is present and functioning as it should. So everything is there that God wants to be there in its operation. The negative way to say this is lacking in nothing. So you're complete. You have everything. Thus you are everything God wants you to be. That means you're lacking in nothing. How often do we pray, Lord, make me everything you want me to be. A trial comes into our lives. We say, "O Lord, what is wrong." Well, I'm answering your prayer. Well, this is not what I had in mind. Well, usually when we pray for God to have His way in our lives, what we're really looking for is good things so we can demonstrate how God blesses those who are faithful to Him. We have our own form of health and wealth gospel, I fear. I do for myself when in reality the maturing, perfecting, completing work of God is carried out through trials.


Now I'm in a dilemma here cause now I have to say, Lord, I do want to be everything that You have prepared me to be in Christ. I want nothing to be lacking. I want truly godly endurance to characterize my life. Lord, let's talk about alternatives though to trial. So I realize the difficulties of life can be put in a totally different perspective when I see it as God says it is. This is not an interruption in God's plan for me. This is a necessary part of God's plan for me. This is not a tragedy that prevents me from being everything God wants me to be. This is a blessing that enables me to be everything God wants me to be.

Later on in his letter, James will use Job as an example. There is a man whose trials were overwhelming and they were varied from personal, physical affliction to the loss of his children so precious to him and so on. But you know we look at the life of Job and say it was all part of a perfect plan to make Job more the man that God intended for Him to be. And I say well, you know are my physical afflictions trial that God can use in that way? Well, He used Job's physical afflictions. Is the loss and losses of loved ones so precious and close and seemingly so necessary to my life can they be considered that way? Well, it was for Job. Job indeed did have multifaceted trials but when it's all over we see the hand of the sovereign God who has controlled it all for Job's good and wellbeing. I say, Lord, help me see my trials in that context in that perspective.

Back up to Romans chapter 5. You know, at the end of verse 2 he said we exalt in the hope of the glory of God. And we do we exalt in the hope of the glory of God, the blessed hope that we have. But you note where he goes immediately in verse 3. "And not only this but we also exalt in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance and perseverance proven character," tested character. So you see, same thing James is saying. He's developing our character. "And proven character, hope and hope does not disappoint." See what He's doing? In this development of our character He is sharpening the focus of our life on the hope that we have in Christ. So it all ties together.

You know, we as God's people are enabled to bask in the full assurance that our God works all things together for good for those whom He has called to Himself. And that's remarkable. You see my theology comes back to shape how I face the difficulties of life. How often have things come into our lives and our first reaction is Lord, nothing good can come of this. Lord, I can't see anything positive in this. And that may be so, and God may have put me in the situation where it's not His intention for me to see the outcome, but if my faith and confidence are anchored in my God I can in that sense know for sure that He is using this for the development of my character in preparation for glory. So, in the immediate realm how is the death of this loved one, this child as Job experienced, the loss of health or the persecution you experienced . . . Lord, what good can come of this. Well, this kind of pressure causes you to trust in Him. You have nothing else. You can see nothing else. I just have the assurance of His Word that He is working His purposes. That's developing my character. It's like the parent with the child. I'm afraid. I'm afraid. What do you say? Trust me. But what's going to happen? Trust me. So, too our Heavenly Father. Trust me. I don't understand. This seems tragic. This is going to be harmful. Trust me. I begin to waver. What I'm really saying is, Lord, I don't know that I can trust You in this situation. Then I'm reminded I really need this because I learn to trust Him more and so I'm growing.


Come back to James. There are some other passages we could look at that are parallel but come back to James. What do we do? The pressure comes. Look at verse 5. I can be struggling. Testing comes. Trials come. I am shaken. I don't know what to do. I don't know how to handle it. Verse 5, "But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him." I take it in the context he's talking about lacking wisdom particularly in the situations that we are confronting. Taking the truth of verses three and four and applying it in the particular situation that I am experiencing and going through.

"If any of you lacks wisdom." Interesting, we talked about firstclass conditions in our study of Colossians, well this is another firstclass condition. "And if any of you lacks wisdom," and you will lack wisdom. Remember, you encounter trials. These are the kinds of trials you sort of fall into and they engulf you. They can catch you totally unawares and off guard. They just all of a sudden have intruded into your life. We'd say we were blindsided. It's like our legs have been cut out from under us. We are just sort of hanging there.

If any of you lacks wisdom, and you will, you won't know what to do. You won't know how to handle it. The lack here connects it to what he has just said. It's God's intention we be lacking in nothing. The end of verse 4, lacking in nothing. If you are lacking in wisdom, what you need, the wisdom, is how to apply what you know in this situation. Lord, I've got a knowledge of Your Word. I've been privileged to grow in your Word. Lord, I don't know what I should do here. How am I to handle this. You know, my first reaction if the trial is serious is I'm overwhelmed. I’ve got a lot of verses, I’ve got a lot of Scripture, I'm overwhelmed. I don't know how to put it into practice in my situation right now. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God. And again, this would be true of wisdom in any area. But the context here is particularly I think talking about the wisdom we need to handle the trials.

"Let him ask of God." There's another command. You need to be asking God. You must ask God. This is a requirement for us as believers. What a requirement! What a great privilege! It's not do you think it would be all right if I asked God. I mean, it's not like our Heavenly Father is up there and He wants to cut us adrift to see how we'll handle it. He does bring pressures and trials into our life. Then He commands us turn to me. Well, you know, what a command! Ask God. Lord, I need to know from you how to handle this, how to bear up under this. How to mature in it and God is the only One who can give it. I mean, the world recognizes that when you take God out of the picture, there is a senselessness to what takes place. How often do you hear on the news, "It was a senseless tragedy." That's not true for me as a believer. Now I don't always have the answer, but I know my God is in control. I can't always say why He did it this way. The pain can be very deep but I know my God is sovereign and I turn to Him for wisdom. And when I do that. and this is a present tense command, to be continually asking God for that wisdom. I don't have to be embarrassed, I have to suck it in and tough it out. No. Be continually asking God, "God, you know the despair of my heart right now. You know the emptiness I feel. You know the hopelessness that I'm experiencing. Lord give me your wisdom and when I do pray for that. Incidentally the wisdom and mind of God is revealed in His Word. For myself I find that's the best time to just get off by myself and start reading His Word. I'm just going to read it and read it and read it and fill my life with its truth. It doesn't always direct the situation I'm in, but I'm amazed as I read it I'm reminded of my sovereign God. If I'm reading the psalms I'm reminded of the trials of David and the intervention of God in his life and the sufficiency of God and on. God's wisdom is provided for me.

Will He? You know, let him ask of God "who gives to all men generously and without reproach." I mean, I can come to my God, and He will give me the wisdom. Now note here. We come to God often with what? The desire He remove the trial and I don't believe that's unbiblical. Paul tells us at the end of 2 Corinthians that he besought the Lord three times that He would remove His thorn in the flesh. Finally he came to understand in the wisdom of God that power is perfected in weakness. So, he came to say what? "Most gladly then I rejoice in my weakness." So, it doesn't mean I can't come and ask God, "God remove the trial. God, heal my body. God, provide in this situation." But sometimes I forget, and I come to tell God that's what He must do. So, I can ask Him, but I also realize that the trial may be part of His ongoing will for me. And some trials can't be changed. If my child has been killed in an accident, my loved one has developed a disease that takes his life, I can't undo that. I'm amazed at how overwhelmed I am by the trial. Cause I would have thought I would have handled it better. It has almost swept me off my feet. It's like when you read the lives of great saints of the past and martyrs of that, you can always put yourself in their position and know how strong you would have been too. And I'm disappointed in myself when a trial comes and it seems to be blow me over. And I think, boy, if I go and ask God for wisdom it would be like "You should know by this time how to handle it." But He doesn't reproach me for coming so I can come confidently.

And that wisdom will be given to us. If I come submissive to God. Now keep in mind, prayer is not telling God what to do. I'm the creature. He's the Creator. I come to Him for wisdom. Now quite frankly sometime when I come for wisdom I give Him some suggestions that He can feel free to use as though God needed my ideas. But I feel free to ask Him if He would remove the trial and so on. But in that context I also come, Lord, I'm submissive to You. It's Your will that needs to be accomplished in my life. Give me Your wisdom. Show me how to handle this, what I have to do and I have to keep asking Him. It's not like, "Oh, yes, I got that. I prayed last night, the answer came, I'm on. You know, some trials are ongoing. I'm abiding under them. It's a present continuing situation. And the longer it goes on sometimes the more I find myself asking, Lord, give me your wisdom. Initially, I handled it well but sometimes the trials have the characteristic of wanting to wear us down. And that's when I need to say, Lord, I'm getting weary in the trial. A certain despair sets in. That initial spiritual energy seems to dissipate. I keep asking Him. Because you see, I need additional wisdom and insight from Him. So be careful about that that we don't just think, well, I ask Him, I think I understand it now. I handled. Well, realize if this is an ongoing trial, you will need the ongoing wisdom of God and trials have a way of taking a twist, of bringing out other things in us. That's why they develop our character.


We look back on our children. They grow and we see them going through difficulties and trials and sometimes we want to shelter them. And if you over shelter them, what do you do? You keep them from developing as they need to develop. So God is developing us.

It will be given to him. Matthew chapter 7 verses 7 to 11 Jesus says, "Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds and him who knocks it shall be opened. What man is there among you when his son shall ask him for a loaf will give him a stone or if he asks for a wish he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him." So there's the assurance from Christ. Now again keep in mind that doesn't mean He will take away the trial, or He will prevent the trial from coming, or He will cause you to see the outcome. I may never in this life see the outcome of this trial in that sense but it has developed my character. Could God not have done that in a less painful way. Could not God have developed Job without the death of his children. Maybe one child. Maybe two, but all of them. And removing all of his wealth and then destroying his health. Couldn't God have done it differently? He's God. I'm not. I don't know what it takes in the plan of God to develop my character. I don't know what it takes to develop your character.

Sometimes it may seem glib but a Christian comes along sideand all they can say is, You know, I don't know what God is doing but I know His plan is right for you. Now our first reaction is, Oh that's easy for them to say. Well, in a sense it is because they are speaking outside the trial. It can be no other way for them. They will have their own trials. But God can use them to point my mind properly when I sometimes become disoriented then I look to God for the wisdom first and foremost.

Come back to James chapter 1. How do you go to God for wisdom? Verse 6 and 7. "Let him ask in faith without doubting." You don't come wavering between two opinions. I don't know all that's entailed in the trial or why it's here in its fullness or what God ultimately will do other than the fact He's developing me. But I don't come with the idea of, God, I don't know whether You can or not. I don't know whether You will or not. I come with full confidence that He is God. He can and will work in this situation. When I come with doubt about that then I'm divided. You must come with faith, not doubting. The one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. And how often does that happen in trials? You just get blown around, tossed here and there. I've become disoriented. It seems my life has no anchor. The anchor for my life in trials is my faith in my God. I don't understand. I don't know why in the human sense. I can see that I could develop. But it seems my character has been developing and I have trials. I didn't need this one. And this is the kind that will destroy me, not develop me. When I come to God, I don't come doubting that He is sovereign. I come confident. Lord, I don't understand. I can tell Him that. I don't . . . I don't know why you brought this into my life. But one thing that's unshakable God is I believe You are God. I believe that You are working Your purposes in my life. I have full confidence that You will give me the wisdom as I wait upon You to direct me and show me how to handle this, how to work through this trial, how to live under the pressure that this brings to my life.


The one who doubts will receive nothing from the Lord. Let not that man, the man who doubts, expect he will receive anything from the Lord. He's double-minded. Verse 8. "Unstable in all his ways." A double-minded man. Literally, two-souled, divided within himself. Trying to live like two people, one who trusts God and one who does not. All of us as believers have experienced something of this to one degree of another where it seems my life is in turmoil for a time. And you know I'm seeing disoriented. What's brought that is the doubt that I have in my God. This has come into my life and in such a way that it seems everything is out of control. That's why the solution is I turn to God and seek wisdom from Him. It helps to refocus my mind and my faith. Lord, I am confident that You are my God. You know, a starting place in trial. You need to first get your orientation back on your God. Lord, You are God. That's the anchor of my life. He is God.

It's like we were talking about this morning. We are with Christ in God. That relationship with the One who is sovereign. Lord, I believe in who you are and I believe in Your work in my life. Now Lord, give me wisdom. Now again, I'm not pretending before God that I'm something I'm not, but my faith is firmly fixed in Him.

A doubleminded man is unstable in all his ways. I don't need to be a doubleminded man. Now we'd debate whether we are talking about a Christian here. But it seems to me in the context James is first giving his advice to believers, to the brethren. And I come with the full confidence in my God. You find the trials come and you're totally disoriented. The solution is I have to turn to my God, and I have to turn to my God with full confidence in Him. Because let's face it if there are circumstances, situations, trials, and difficulties in this life that can overwhelm the power of my God, then He is not a God worthy of my confidence. Well, He is a God who is sufficient for the little problems. No, He is the sovereign God who is overall. I mean, is there any trial, any difficulty that comes into my life that is bigger than my God?

This is a theological issue, is it not? No. So what's the solution? Look to God for wisdom and be fully confident that God is God. He can give the wisdom. He knows what He's doing. So the trials come. Am I glad for pain? No. Am I glad that someone precious to me has died? No. Am I glad for persecution for the Gospel? No. And you can fill in whatever the kinds of trial it might be. But can I count it all joy that that trial is come into my life? Yes. Because God, I need to be developed in my character. But Lord, you know I'm frail. I'm but dust. He will not overwhelm me with my trial.


I used the example before of when I worked at US. Steel. After school and my job was to go around and keep track of the temperatures and to prepare the steel. They would heat it in furnaces, and they would heat it to a certain temperature to make it pliable. And I had to watch the temperature that they heated it enough that it would be pliable enough to roll it out into coils but not so hot that it would melt because that made a mess. So, it is with God. Trials come into my life but He monitors them and he sees that they are not too much for me. They are just what is necessary to refine me, to purify me, to mold me and shape me, to prepare me for the glory. I don't always know how to handle these trials. Every new trial that comes, every additional trial that comes, every old trial that is recycled rechallenges me and I have more to learn in how to apply the wonderful truth of God in this situation to get through it. For that I turn to my God, seeking wisdom from Him. And He fills that lack. That's why you can talk to some old saints who have walked with the Lord for years and you're going through a trial and they can share with you what they learned through their trials and that can be a great help. But my first resource is my God. But He often uses others then, the wisdom that He has given to enable me to get through.

We have a great God, don't we? We're unique. For the world trials are a great tragedy. They interrupt life. Health is gone. Loved ones are gone. The despair of it all, the emptiness, the hopelessness of it all. But for a believer, pain in trials? Yes. Sorrow? Yes. Suffering? Yes. But amazingly in the midst of all that we have a supernatural joy knowing that our God has His hand on us. He's accomplishing His purposes and He'll give us the wisdom necessary to go through the trial and grow as He intends.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, that You are a gracious and a kind and a loving and a merciful God, that You do know that we are but dust, weak and frail and fragile. Lord, if You would but move, we would be crushed. And yet as Your children who have been redeemed by Your grace, we are under Your loving care. And in the process of developing and maturing us, trials and difficulties and pain and suffering are brought into our lives. Not because You are a mean God, but because You are a good God. It's important for us to be mature, to be strengthened, to develop endurance, to learn to trust you more, to have the privilege and joy of seeing Your hand at work in our lives in ways that could not be experienced apart from the trial. Lord, I pray for those in this Body that are going through special times of difficulty even now. The times overwhelmed with the pain, the despair that seems to swept over. Lord, the confusion that can come. And I pray that in this time You will give them Your joy. You will give them Your wisdom and may the find in You the God who is sufficient. Sufficient in a way and to an extent that they have not been privileged to experience before. Lord, I pray that you will use fellow believers as instruments to strengthen and encourage during these times. Lord, may we have our feet firmly rooted in the theology of the Word and the truth concerning You are God so that when trials come, we have a stability that prepares us in ways that we would not otherwise be prepared. Again, we praise You for who You are and that You are our sufficiency and will be until we are with You in glory. We praise You in Christ's name, amen.