This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. Thanks for joining us for today's program. At Connect with Skip Heitzig, we're all about connecting you to the timeless truth of God's Word through verse-by-verse teaching. That's why we make messages like this one today available to you and others. Before we get started with the program, we encourage you to check out connectwithskip.com, where you'll find resources like full message series, weekly devotionals, and more.
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Now let's get started with today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig. Let me take you back to when I was in grade school. And I forgot an assignment. It was due. And the teacher made it clear that this assignment, this paper, I will be turned in tomorrow.
and a large portion of your grade will be determined by that project.
So I came to school and Class started and I realized I had forgotten my Paper my assignment.
So I decided To get it. I decided to leave the classroom without telling my teacher. And I'd walk home. About six miles. Yeah.
See, I wasn't thinking straight. I just panicked. I was gripped with fear, and I thought, I gotta go get it.
So I started walking. I did not call my parents, they didn't know, the school didn't know. But my parents got a call from the school saying your child is missing. And we don't know where he is. We think maybe he has to get his paper.
So my dad went out looking for me and he found me.
So just picture a little Skippy out there walking around in the field trying to go home, get his paper. And my dad finding me, and when he found me, he had the paper in hand. And he drove me back to school and I turned it in. That's a little skippy.
Now let me tell you about little Chippy. Chippy the parakeet. Chippy the parakeet never saw it coming. One second he's peacefully perched in his cage. The next he is sucked in, washed up, and blown over.
The problem began when Chippy's owner decided to clean Chippy's cage. With a vacuum cleaner. She removed the attachment from the end of the hose. stuck it in the cage. The phone rang and she turned to pick it up.
She had barely said hello when Chippy got sucked in. The bird owner gasped. put down the phone, turned off the vacuum, opened the bag. There was Chippy. Still alive.
But stunned. But surely. Since the bird was covered with dust and soot, she grabbed him and raced to the bathroom. turned on the faucet and held Chippy under. running water.
Then, realizing the chippy was soaked and shivering, she did what any compassionate bird owner would do. She reached for the hair dryer and blasted the pet. with hot air. Chippy. Never knew what hit him.
A few days after the trauma, the reporter who initially had written about the event contacted Chippy's owner to see how the bird was recovering.
Well She replied. Chippy doesn't sing much any more. He just sits around and stares.
Okay, that's okay for Chippy. That's okay for Skippy. That is not okay for adult. Mature Followers of Jesus Christ. Suffering as an adult should be markedly different.
From suffering as a child. Because when we become mature, we become equipped. To handle. hardship, pains, and trial. A baby, when a baby doesn't get his way, tell me, how does a baby communicate?
Cries, right, wow, good imitation there. Um So, if the baby is feeling pain, or the baby is hungry, or disappointed, or has unfulfilled desires, or is tired, or doesn't get his or her way. Same. Mode. of communication, to cry.
The mother has to figure out what that cry means. As the child grows a little bit, He or she handles Trials, pain, difficulty, much differently. As a toddler, Instead of crying, they might just tout. Or Act impulsively or blame others. Then the child grows and becomes a teenager.
By now the individual has learned the fine art of manipulation, perhaps. or becomes Argumentative or acts recklessly or just feels isolated and overwhelmed. But the older we get, The more mature We should be. We not always are, but we should be. We should suffer differently.
Children don't have the same emotional capacity that adults have. The mode of expression varies. As a mature individual, we handle difficulties much better. than when we were younger. As a Christian.
You and I should be handling difficulties much, much better. Better. The main theme of the book of James is Grow up, Christian maturity, Marx. of a mature believer. The sub-theme might be Genuine faith.
will produce genuine proof if you have legitimate Real Authentic faith in Jesus Christ. There should be real Genuine Proof. The first line of proof. is how that Christian man or woman Faces hardship. We're going to look at verses 2 through verse 8.
The title of this message is called Adulting When Times Are Hard, and it's all about trials.
So I'm going to give you four realities. about trials. First, Trials are normal. They're not unusual. They're normal.
Verse 2, my brethren. Counted all joy. We'll get to that part. When Notice the word when, not if. Not like this is a real possibility.
But it's gonna happen when it happens. Counted all joy when you fall into various trials. Suffering is a fact of life. of every life, including your life. This is why Peter Said my beloved brethren, Don't think it a strange thing when you encounter fiery trials as though some strange thing happened to you.
It's not strange. It's normal. Job in chapter five, we're told: man is born to trouble as surely as the sparks fly upward. Light a fire, and you can expect the same thing to happen every time. Little incandescent pieces are gonna be flying off.
the top of that fire and you gotta watch that they don't catch others on fire. Man is born to trouble as sure as the sparks fly upward.
Now, if you're a Christian and you're listening to what I just said, you might. Have a rebuttal and say, no, wait a minute. Not Not crazy. Christians in the same way that unbelievers have them. Certainly not us.
We're children of God.
Somebody told me sometime that That if I have enough faith And I really believe that I don't have to suffer, I don't have to go through the same kind of hardships, I can have glorious prosperity. Yeah. That's fake news. Jesus said that God causes the rain and the sun to fall on the just. and on the ungodly alike.
Jesus said to his disciples In the world, you shall have tribulation. Same thing, not might, not maybe, you shall have tribulation.
Now, go back to verse 2. Not only should you notice the word when you fall into various trials, but look at the first two words. What are they? My brethren. My brethren.
Who's he talking to? Christians. His brothers and sisters in Christ, Jewish believers of the diaspora, but they are believing in Jesus.
So, my brethren counted all joy when you fall into. Various trials. Why? Why is it that That there's no immunity if you're a believer. Why is it that as believers, sometimes God allows us to go through some of the most severe kind of trials?
Here's why. If you're going to pick up on anything in this sermon, pick up on this. The reason Christians go through trials is to show the superiority of a life lived in God. We are on display. It's as if we say, you want to know how to suffer?
I'll show you. I will be on display. I will show the superiority of a life lived in God. This is the reason Christians get cancer. This is why Christians face bankruptcy.
This is why Christians deal with depression. This is why Christians have their hearts broken. People of God handle things differently than people who are not the people of God. We should be better at it. And this text will show us why.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon put it this way, I believe the hardest-hearted, most unlovely Christians in all the world are those who have never had much trouble. And those who are the most sympathizing, loving, and Christ-like are those. that have had the most afflictions. The worst thing that can happen to any of us is to have our Path made See, Smooth.
Well, God's got you covered. He's going to make sure your path is not too smooth. He loves you that much. to make sure that you don't skate by real easily. By the way.
Notice how it is written. My brethren, counter all joy when you fall into various trials. You don't even have to go looking for them. You'll just be walking along, bam, you'll fall into it. And that's part of the pain.
You say, I didn't see that coming. I didn't anticipate exactly. You fall into them. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heidzig. Before we return to the message, consider this.
Abraham's life was full of ups and downs, but God was in every moment. In God print, The Life of Abraham, Pastor Skip unpacks seven engaging messages from the book of Genesis to show how God shapes the hearts of those who trust him. Through trials and triumphs, Abraham learned what real faith looks like. And this powerful seven message series will encourage you that you can too. This resource is our thanks for your gift of $50 or more to help reach more people with God's Word through Connect with Skip Heitzig.
So request your CD package and digital download of Godprint when you give at connectwithskip.com slash offer or when you call 800-922-1888.
Now, let's rejoin today's teaching.
Something else about these trials. What is the word that modifies trial? What kind of trials are they? Various trial. That's a very interesting word.
Poikilas is the word used in Greek. And poikilos means many. Colored. Many colored. It's the same word used of, if it was the Septuagint Greek translation of the Old Testament, Joseph's coat of many colors.
Our word would be variegated. Many hues. As many colors as are on the Pantone color chart. Which are 1114, to be exact. God has different shades of trial.
for you and I. One day you might be feeling blue, the next day you might have a gray day, the next day you might be green with envy, and the following day red hot with anger. They are various trials.
Some are big.
Some are small.
Some are short. We like those kinds.
Some are prolonged. Over months and years.
Some are intense, some are mild. They are various trials.
There's physical trials, there's emotional trials, there's spiritual trials. Physical trials include cancer, strokes, heart attacks. Birth defects, traffic accidents. In the Bible, Job had a physical trial. He lost his health.
He had a loathsome skin disease. And he. Couldn't figure out. Why? And to add to his misery, his friends just kept saying, It's because you got sin in your life, sin in your life, sin in your life.
None of that was true. Then there was Paul. Paul had a thorn in the flesh, probably an eye disease, most think. Simon was a leper that Jesus went to go visit. All those are physical trials, but then we have emotional trials.
If you're familiar with the book of Psalms, how many Psalms are steeped in emotional trauma? Even David said, I make my bed swim with tears. You wonder how much I cry? Feel my pillow. It's soaked with my tears.
Elijah was a dynamic prophet, but he got overwhelmed by exhaustion and depression. It got so bad, he lifted up his voice and just said. Kill me, God. Take my life from me. He came to an end of himself.
He was so distraught he wanted to die. E. Stanley Jones, who was a missionary to India, told of a Preacher who prepared a 10 Sermon series called How to Avoid a Nervous Breakdown. Before he could even finish the series, he himself had a nervous Breakdown.
So there are physical trials, there are emotional trials, and there are spiritual trials. We agonize over sin, over guilt. Over doubt. Or spiritual expectations that we thought God should do, and He didn't do it. John the Baptist suffered doubt like that.
He was locked up in jail, persecuted. Waiting for Jesus to do something. Finally, sent a note. To our Lord, saying, Are you the one? Or should we be looking for someone else?
Like, come on. You're in the Messiah, do something messianic. Steph it up. By the way, something else about trials, they don't lessen with time. I wish that I could say they do.
But it's not like well When you're 35, you have less trials than when you did when you were 25. Or when you're 60, you know, it's just easy than when you were 50. It's not the same amount. Same amount. But Hopefully by then you have learned.
how to deal with them better. And differently.
So trials are normal. That's the first. of the four realities about trials. Second, This is the hard part. Trials can be joyful.
There's always silence when I say that. Because I and I know what that means like, okay. Explain yourself. Trials can be joyful. Look what it says, my brethren.
Count it all. Joy means Pure joy. Sheer joy. When you fall into various trials.
Now Be honest. You have read this verse, and you have thought that is one of the most outrageous statements in the New Testament. Am I right? I would vote it as that if I didn't know exactly what it meant. That sounds irrational.
That sounds. like that 1988 Bobby McFarran song, you remember that? Don't worry. Be happy. That's a good song if life is good.
But if you are going through a hardship and you hear that song, it is the most irritating tune on earth.
So my brethren, count it. Oh Joy, you don't expect to have that in the same sentence: trial and joy. Joyful trial. That sounds like an oxymoron. You know, like airline food.
You have one word that cancels out the other. word or political science. would be an oxymoron. or government intelligence. Or pretty ugly.
Or Microsoft Works, all those are oxymorons. Joyful trials? Are you kidding? My joy comes when the trial's over. My joy is directly proportional to the absence of a hardship, not the presence of one.
That's how we think.
So, let me explain what it means when it says, My brethren, count it all joy, pure joy, sheer joy, when you fall into various trials. First of all, There's a huge difference between joy and happiness. Joy is not happiness. Happiness is not joy. James is not saying, don't worry, be happy.
He's not doing that. Happiness is a passing emotion. In California, where I come from, if it's a sunny day and the waves are good, all the surfers are out there going, dude. Dude, the waves are so epic and are so awesome and I'm so happy, dude. But when they're not Good.
It's like, I'm so not happy because happy depends on the happenings. The circumstances. The circumstances are good, happy. Circumstances are bad, unhappy. That is not joy.
Joy Let me explain what joy is. Joy is a supernatural delight. Doesn't come from you. It's a supernatural delight in the person. In the purposes.
and in the people of God. That's joy. And that doesn't depend on what's happening outside of you. That's a decision you make inside of you. Joy is a supernatural delight in the person, purposes, and people of God.
That takes us to the word count. Look at that. My brethren, count it all joy. That's a very important word. He's not saying feel joyful.
He's saying, count it all joy. What does that mean? Count means consider, calculate, or evaluate. He's not telling you to feel something. He's telling you to think something, evaluate something.
Calculate the benefits of suffering. and then embrace that suffering as a means to that end. That's what it means to count.
Something as joy. J.B. Phillips' translation puts it this way: when all kinds of trials and temptations crowd your lives, my brothers, Don't resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends. Don't Don't resent them as intrusive. I can't believe this.
Why is this happening to me? Welcome them as friends. You can only do that if you counted joy, if you are forward-thinking enough. to say, what is the benefit of this going to be? See, Christians are not masochists.
were pragmatists. And what I mean by that is, we are rejoicing in the benefits that that suffering is going to bring. You know, sort of like going to a dentist. When my mom used to say, You have a dental appointment. I didn't go, awesome.
Love that drill and want a needle. Right here. I hated it. Today, I'll go to the dentist. I think a little bit differently about it.
I see the benefits of going, like my teeth won't fall out, that's good.
So I'll go through the suffering because I know what the benefit is going to be. In the book of Acts, when the Sanhedrin Arrested Jesus' followers, apostles. And uh Beat them. And then commanded them not to speak anymore in the name of Jesus. Listen to their reaction.
So they departed from the presence of the council. Rejoicing That they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. They counted it joy because God counted them worthy. Later on, Paul and Silas were put in jail, also beaten and chained. But at midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God.
And the prisoners were listening to them. Free concert. And God liked the concert so much he brought the house down. Later on, Paul gets put in jail again. This guy goes from prison to prison, right?
Every time he goes to a town, it's like, where's the jail? I got to find out where I'm spending the night.
So he's in Rome in jail for two years. He writes to the Philippian church the letter to the Philippians. In which Though he is a prisoner, he uses the word joy. Rejoicing Rejoice. Sixteen Times.
Joy, joy, joy. I rejoice. I'm happy. I'm joyful. You can only do that if you're nuts.
Or you're doing this. You're counting it, evaluating it. forward looking and making the decision. Good. Unbelievers can't do this.
They're unable to do this. And here's why. For an unbeliever, this life is all there is. And if this life, which is all there is, There's no afterlife for them. If this life Is marred by suffering and pain and hardship, they have lost it all.
For the believer They can do this. Because no matter how dark it gets, It's for a good reason. There's a benefit. There's light at the end of the tunnel. And then, and then, when life is over with, a reward.
In heaven.
So When we do this, when we suffer like this, we are showing the superiority of a life lived in God.
So, spiritual maturity then can be measured by what it takes to steal your Enjoy. We're so glad you joined us for Connect with Skiff Heidzig. Before we go, we want to remind you to request this month's featured resource, GodPrint, The Life of Abraham. This seven-message series from Pastor Skip traces Abraham's walk with God and invites you to discover how faith can grow even through fear, doubt, and delay. It's our gift to you when you support ConnectWithSkip Heitzig with a donation of $50 or more.
Call 800-922-1888. That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. Thanks for spending time with us today. And we'll see you next time on Connect with Skip Heitzig.
Make a connection, let the food. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of connection communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
