Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Let's face it, hardship and pain are an unavoidable part of life. Whether you're anxious, suffering from a health problem, lost your job, or lost a friend. We're all struggling through something right now. The question is, how do we endure it?
How do we get through the darkest periods of life? That's today. Stay with me. In a world that's driven by creature comforts, we do everything possible to dodge any semblance of pain. After all, doesn't God want us to be comfortable?
I'm Dave Drewy. Today on Living on the Edge, Chippingham reminds us that comfort isn't God's agenda. Nor is he trying to break us. During our struggles, God is building spiritual muscle we didn't know we needed. As we dig into James Chapter 1, Chip identifies three game-changing questions that'll move us from victim to survivor.
Plus, he'll show us why choosing the right attitude matters more than you think. Oh, and by the way, later in today's program, Chip will describe an exciting match that begins today, one of the biggest in our history. And it's just in time for Giving Tuesday, which is tomorrow.
Well, more about that match later. Right now, the message from Chip Ingram: an attitude to embrace. You know, we're living in very historic times right now. For some right now, this is a very difficult time, but they see a way through. For others, it's a desperate time.
How will we get through this? The question isn't sometimes, you know, how do we thrive?
Sometimes the question, is how do we survive.
Well I want to tell you that there is an art to survival. You know, science sometimes is very clear. There's a formula, right? You know, 2 plus 2 equals 4. Here's the law of physics.
But art means that there's an answer, there's a way, but it looks different for different people in different situations. And you may not know it, but the early church was birthed at a time much like our own. It wasn't just difficult, it was desperate. And God gave them the very first words from the half-brother of Jesus. His name is James and it's found in the book of James.
The book was written about AD 46 or 49.
So the church is only 13, 14, 15 years old from the death and resurrection of Jesus. And what we find is there's a great persecution that occurred. We learn about it in Acts chapter 8. And now people are struggling. They've left homes.
They're scattered abroad. There's economic issues. They've been disinherited. They've been cut off from family. There's persecution by the Roman government.
And they're wondering, what do we do? We've believed in this Jesus who died and rose from the dead. We have eternal life. But how do we survive this difficulty? And what's very interesting and so encouraging is we're going to get the answers.
I called up the art of survival for those who speak English. There's a little acronym because I think there's an A attitude that you must have. R, there's a resource, the most important resource to get through all of this, and the T is for a theology or a way of thinking that will give you perspective in the midst of the most difficult times in all the world. Before we begin, let's get a little worldview perspective and say: what does the Bible say about? a fallen world, right?
I mean, it's a very difficult fallen world.
Some of us are surprised and struggling and wondering why. Listen carefully to Peter. Peter said, dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial that you are suffering as though something strange were happening to you. 1 Peter 4, verse 12. Jesus said, the very last night on earth, These things I've spoken to you that in me you may have peace.
In the world you will have tribulation. Be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. The Apostle Paul would write in 2 Timothy 3, Everyone who wants to live a godly life in union with Christ Jesus will be persecuted, and evil persons and impostors will keep on going from bad to worse, deceiving others and being deceived themselves.
So what I want you to know is some observations before we jump into the text and learn the actual art of survival. Number one, trials are inevitable. Difficulty in a fallen world is absolutely promised. The second observation is: trials either make us or break us. You know, it it's interesting, there's a the word for um Tragedy and opportunity is put together.
And that word for tragedy and opportunity that's put together in Chinese is the word crisis. You know, when you're in a crisis, whether it's personal, whether it's a community, whether it's a church, whether it's a nation. or whether it's global. What emerges out of this is great, great possibility for tragedy, but also great opportunity. If you look at the lives of great Bible characters, of great people in history, You'll find that when pressure and difficulty and opposition and persecution, for some people, they cave in.
It destroys their life. And for others, something happens. It makes them. There's something that happens in their character, in their faith, in their trust. the greatest stories we have in human history.
Christian or not. are people that come through the fire and are purified. And that's what God wants for us. The third observation is that victims fail to move beyond asking why and remain stuck in their pain. You see the opposite of a survivor.
Yeah. And we need to be very careful. One, we don't want to diminish how difficult this is. But you're only a victim if you choose to be a victim. Victims begin to ask why, why me, Lord, why now?
Why this? And hear me. I understand. There are such pains some of you are going through. It's okay.
To begin with a why question. Why me, Lord? I mean, I've been through cancer with my wife in an earlier season. Lord, why did this happen? She loves God.
By God's grace, we made it through that. I've been through seasons where I've been betrayed by Christian leaders that I couldn't believe would do something to me. I've had health issues. I've had challenges with my children. I've been in places in the world where I didn't think I was going to live.
So I think it's okay to pause and say, Lord, why is this happening? But you can't stay there. But victims do. They get stuck in their pain. Why this?
Why that?
Well, here's the thing: it never works. Pragmatically, people who never stop asking why are stuck in their pain and they become victims and they get bitter. and they get resentful. or they give up. What I would suggest to you is that God has clear instruction in James chapter 1.
Verses 1 through 12. And we're going to look at the first section of it. Follow along as I read. James, a bondservant of God, of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the 12 tribes who dispersed abroad. Greetings.
So he's saying to them, they're running for their life. They're going all throughout the Roman Empire. And he's writing to them and says, greetings. Christianity is primarily Jewish, right? I mean, there was the day of Pentecost and some different things have happened different places.
But overall, this first 10, 15 years, these Jewish Christians, their identity is still as their Messiah, Jesus, has come. They are following him. and their world has fallen apart. I mean, they aren't in a difficult situation, they're in a desperate situation. And so you might want to ask, what would God say to them?
I mean, if Jesus walked in the room where you are right now and you could look him in the eye in his resurrection body and you could say, Jesus, what do I do? What do I do with this situation with my family? What do I do with this ministry? What do I do with this health issue? What do I do?
I haven't been able to work. What do I do? I lost my business. What do I do, Lord? I don't see my way in the future.
Here's what he would say. He said there's an attitude. that you must begin with. Verse 2, Consider it all joy, my brethren. When you encounter various trials, Knowing.
that the testing of your faith produces endurance. and let endurance have its perfect result. that you may be perfect and complete. lacking in nothing. I want you to notice first there's a command.
It says, consider it all joy. We'll look at that more carefully. But it's a command. It's not an option. Second, there's a reminder.
It says knowing. And this word for knowing we'll learn is knowing by experience, knowing by how God works in our lives. That faith will produce an endurance that will do something. And then, after that, he gives a second command: it says, and then endure. Don't give up.
Don't give in. Don't become a victim. You are more than a conqueror in Christ, but it starts with this kind of attitude. We'll hear more from Chip Ingram's message in just a moment. First, we're inviting you to multiply your year-end donation through an exciting match that's active right now.
You know, when you give to Living on the Edge, you're not just supporting one ministry, you're creating a ripple effect. you begin to mobilize people who help other people, who help other people, and that makes a huge difference. Your gift to the match will make an impact. Picture these scenes. A single listener in Iowa shares our teaching with a small group Bible study.
A grandparent in Texas sends our resources to his son in Oklahoma that pastors a local church. Yes, the ripple effect of giving to Living on the Edge. For 30 years, Living on the Edge has been God's vehicle to not only help pastors, but to teach God's word. And right now, we're on the threshold. We're at a season where God is using Living on the Edge like never before.
Double the impact of your gift at livingonthege.org. Don't let this opportunity slip by to double your gift and even more importantly, to double your impact. Today, let's multiply God's ministry through Living on the Edge while there's still time. Go to livingontheedge.org. From his series called The Art of Survival in an Age of Chaos, Chip Ingram is teaching from James, chapter 1.
And now what he's gonna say. is don't ask why. Ask what? Here's what I can tell you, whether it's in a cancer ward, Whether it's when a friend of mine's house burned down, Whether it's when I was in Indonesia, I mean literally less than a week after the tsunami, and I saw things devastated like never before. There are people who are survivors.
and they're people who are victims. Victims almost always keep asking, why me? Why now? Why, why, why? and they get crushed.
Survivors ask what questions? They ask three very important what questions. And the answer to those what questions are in this text. And here's what I want you to know. God can and will give you the power To be a survivor, to conquer.
to overcome whatever you're facing. as you begin to obey this passage by the power of the Holy Spirit sourced in the Word of God in the context of fellow brothers and sisters that we're going to go through this together. The first what question you need to ask in your world right now is this. What can I control when my world falls apart? What can you control?
I can't control the economy of your country or my country. I can't control what certain leaders' decisions they make or what they don't make. Here's what you can control. Your attitude. Notice he says consider.
The word means evaluate. Calculate. Choose. Choose to consider your current difficult situation. as pure, literally the word is, Unmixed joy.
And you say to yourself, How do I do that? How in the world could I do that? He says, knowing that you're surrounded by trials. In fact, this word is only used one other time in the New Testament. He's saying, I want you to consider, to choose an attitude of pure joy about these external trials.
The other place it is used is when, if you remember the story of the Good Samaritan, it says he got surrounded literally by robbers. God is saying through Jesus, half-brother James, by the power of the Holy Spirit, That there are times in life where external circumstances come around our life. and they threatened to crush and destroy us. And he says, in the midst of that, because you are connected to the all-powerful, all-knowing, sovereign God. Because His Spirit lives inside of you, and because you can know for sure He's going to work.
This for your good and bring good out of the worst in a fallen world. Choose to consider it all joy knowing something. that the testing of your faith is going to produce something.
So the first question you need to ask and answer. is where's my attitude? And by the way, don't confuse attitude with feelings. In difficult situations, I don't feel like counting it joy. This is not an emotion.
This is a choice. I'm going to choose to look into the face of this difficulty. and I'm going to choose to count it all joy as I'm surrounded by overwhelming, devastating trials. Knowing. that this is a test that God wants to take me through.
And he's going to do something in my life. And as he does something in my life, he'll do something through my life. But I can't have a pity party at a time like this. I need to fight the good fight. Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world.
God has not given you or me a spirit of fear, right? But of power and love and self-discipline. This is where we put on the full armor of God. This is where we fight. This is where we grab hold of the anchor of hope and we say, I will not give up.
I will not give in. I'm going to choose moment by moment my attitude. I remember Reading a quote by one of the survivors. Of the concentration camps. He later became a world-renowned psychologist, Viktor Frankl.
And he wrote this after enduring the concentration camps of which most people died. He said, everything can be taken from a man but one thing. The last of all human freedoms to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstance, to choose one's own way.
So here's what I'd want to say to you. Don't add. Ask why. Ask what? First, what question?
What can I control? Second, what question is what must I do to make it through today?
Okay? Not tomorrow. Not what will happen next month, not what about my business, not what about the church, not what about even our country. not what will happen in the next two years or five years or ten years. The moment your mind goes out that far and you have no idea what's going to happen and you can't control it, it will keep sending you downward.
The question I need to ask You need to ask. What Can I do to make it through today. And the answer is one word, and I don't like it, and you don't like it, but it's endure. It's persevere. In other words, it is the choice to say, I won't give in.
I won't give up. I won't become a victim. There's no short-term fix. I remember uh reading the story of uh A prisoner of war And he was uh nine years in a prison camp of war. and he had a number of his colleagues were with him.
And they ask him because he made it through after nine years. And the great majority of them didn't. They died, they gave in, they struggled, they either died or were tortured, and in the torture they gave up information and then they were killed. And they ask him, How did you make it? Who made it and who didn't?
is that I can tell you very quickly Those that were optimist, died. They didn't make it. They thought, well, by Christmas I'll get out or by Easter I'm going to get out or maybe in nine months or it can only last a year and they kept creating false expectations and then every time their expectations failed you could see them sink deeper and deeper and deeper in despair. The only thing you can do and the only thing I can do is endure today. What do I do to make it through today?
You know what I do? I hang tough, I don't give up, I don't give in. And here's the reason. Knowing by way of experience. that test produce Endurance.
That what God is going to do, this word is He does something inside of you. The word Greek word is hupo meno. It's to hupo to be under meno, pressure or stress. And for some of you right now, you're under incredible stress. emotional stress.
family stress. financial stress, ministry stress. The stress of uncertainty. There's people looking to you. Others of you have seen people that you love and they have died.
And I know what I'm saying is challenging and difficult. But you have the Spirit of the living God who, as you choose to count it real joy, He will give you just what you need, not for tomorrow. But for today. His grace is sufficient for you. Power is perfected in weakness.
And so the one thing you can do to make it through today is choose, I will endure. It's a trite illustration, but for some of you that are, you know, love to do athletics. You've probably at some point in your time lifted weights, right? You know, you get some weights and you do some curls. Or you get some big weights and you do it this way.
And if you meet someone who's very strong and very muscular, What most people don't understand is when you lift weights, the reason you need to do it. every other day, not every day, is that as you lift weights, what happens is your muscles actually begin to tear. Tiny fibers are tearing. And then you don't lift every day because they need time to heal. And so what happens is you have to take them beyond their point of what they can do.
And that's why you'll see weightlifters help each other do those last few reps because they want to just have micro tears. And then what happens when they grow back. They grow back bigger. stronger. And you know, your soul.
You're a character. Your ministry Your future. Your relationships. You know how they grow? You know how you become patient?
And kind. and generous. and loving in forgiving. You have need of endurance. Why?
Knowing the testing of your faith. Could I remind you? The test Because you're a follower of Jesus. is for you to come through it. That God will give you what you need to come through it.
The testing of your faith will produce this endurance, this ability to hold up. And I know the moment you think about tomorrow, how will I do it? You don't know. This is today. And if you start thinking about out there tomorrow, there's no grace.
But God will give you grace for today. You choose baby choices. I won't give up today. I'll do what I can today. I may not have quite enough food today.
I don't see how I'll make it tomorrow. But as you do that one day at a time, what happens is you're strengthened. and God will provide. both within and without. Be sure to hold your place right here because there's much more Chippingram wants to show us, and he's in the studio today to share an exciting update for us.
But first, I'll remind you that tomorrow is known across our country as Giving Tuesday, and there's never been a better time to participate because Living on the Edge is the recipient of a generous match, meaning that every dollar that's given right now has twice the value and twice the impact. This is especially important because of our commitment to equipping and encouraging pastors. You see, when you help the shepherd of a local congregation, your gift is multiplied through the people he impacts. The church is growing rapidly in other parts of the world. God is moving.
To address the needs of this exciting growth, our ministry has expanded into other countries where churches are teeming with new believers who want to learn more about the Bible. Churches are desperately in need of pastors in order to provide leadership for new believers. Did you realize that? Living on the Edge is equipping pastors around the world. We're training leaders in Southeast Asia, conducting discipleship programs in Egypt, with expanding programs in Africa as well.
All this is made possible through people like you who want to make an impact for the kingdom of God. Chip? You know in the Bible, pastors are called shepherds. And there's a reason for that. Shepherds don't just show up on Sunday.
They're out there each and every day. protecting God's people. binding wounds, searching for lost sheep. leading, as best they can, everyone to green pastures. It's a noble profession and it's not easy.
In fact, I've been there. It's exhausting. It's lonely. You often feel isolated. But what most people don't realize is shepherds need a shepherd too.
Your pastor is caring for the sheep, but here's the question. Who cares for him? Living on the Edge has become that shepherd to more than 500,000 pastors worldwide. We're the voice in their ear reminding them, you're not alone. We're the encouragement when they're ready to quit.
We're the biblical teaching that fills their soul so they have something to give to their congregation. When you give to the match today, you're not just supporting one ministry. You're strengthening the shepherds who's caring for your church. And when the shepherd is healthy and equipped, are you ready? The whole flock thrives.
December 31st is coming soon. The match is active right now, and now is the time to respond. You can respond to Chip Right Now by going to livingontheedge.org. On our mobile app, just click the Heart icon and follow the simple instructions. Or you can call right now, 888-333-6003.
Together, let's make an impact by giving generously to the match that's active right now and through the deadline on December 31st. Because of the match, every dollar you give is automatically doubled in size, having twice the impact. To send your donation in the mail, address your envelope to LivingOnTheEdge, P.O. Box 3007, Atlanta, Georgia, 30024. You can also call 888-333-6003 or visit livingonthege.org.
In our struggles, God isn't trying to crush us. He's building muscle. I'm Dave Druy. Chip Ingram describes the art of survival Tuesday on Living on the Edge.
