The ART of Survival - A Theology to Understand, Part 1

Are you or a friend living in a world where it's gone from bad to worse?

When that happens, it can feel like you're staring at a 100-foot wave. Where do you go when it seems like all hope is lost? How do you keep going when the waves of discouragement threaten to overwhelm you?

That's today. Stay with me. Welcome to this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. I'm Dave Drewey, and the mission of these daily programs is to intentionally disciple Christians through the Bible teaching of Chip Ingram. As we get started, let me ask you, do you believe God is good and that he has a plan for you? Well, in this program, Chip continues his series, The Art of Survival, by telling us why we can completely trust God based on the promises made in scripture. Discover how you can have rock-solid hope, regardless of your current circumstances. Now, before we get started, if you're new to Living on the Edge or just want to learn more about us, go to livingonthedge.org. There you'll find tons of resources on a wide range of topics and countless programs for you to enjoy.

Or if you prefer, the Chip Ingram app is also a great way to get plugged in with our ministry. Well, if you have a Bible handy, turn now to James chapter 1 for Chip's message, A Theology to Believe. Well, welcome to part three of our series, The Art of Survival.

And boy, don't we need to survive and even thrive in these kind of days? This is part three. It's all from James chapter 1. And as I begin, I want to tell you an apocryphal story. This is not a true story.

It was made up, but has a very powerful point. The legend goes that Satan went into the market and he was having a big sale of all of his tools, tools he used to blind unbelievers. But even more importantly, he had some tools to render Christians, especially leaders, people really walking with God just to absolutely ruin their faith.

And so he had a broad spectrum of multiple tools and he had a price tag on each one of them. And all the junior demons were invited to come and buy these different tools to help them as they would persuade and deceive Christians and unbelievers alike. There was one very, very small box that had an astronomical price. I mean, it was so high that all the demons said, well, it's such a small little box. What could be in that little box that's worth that much? And Satan said, what's in that box is discouragement because it's more useful to me than all the others. He said, I pry open men's heart and I get inside of them and I can get near to them with this tool like no other.

It's badly worn because I use it almost all the time. But since few people know it really belongs to me, I deceive them. I discourage them and I get them to give up or to give in and render them powerless in this fight against the enemy, the King, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so a cute story, but a lot of truth to it. In fact, discouragement I think is the number one destroyer, especially at times like this, that undermine us. And that might sound like an exaggeration unless you're one of those people that's really been discouraged. That's felt like giving up, giving in.

I can't do this anymore. As I was praying about it early this morning and thinking of my time to get to talk with you, I thought of one of the seasons, very much like now, where, you know, the things that held me up, there were health issues and then there were ministry issues and there were financial issues and there were family issues. And I felt like it was a time in my life where I was seeking and praying and pursuing God like never before.

And it just was getting worse and worse and worse. And I actually, it was about 10 years ago, and I dug this journal out this morning. I wrote, for 20 months I have clung to a passage and a promise in Psalm 25. The journey has been characterized by pain, injustice, betrayal, the stripping of the old, new insights into my pride, into ministry metrics that don't focus so much on the number of people that do this or that, but leading into new processes and strategies and focus and energy that really have to do with life change, while at the same time experiencing absolute desperate dependency. We're broke personally and as a ministry.

We have no office, no staff to speak of, no clear direction for teaching, a future that is uncertain and unknown, and we're forced to live simply by faith and the clear conviction and pain that we must move forward to helping Christians live like Christians with what we have, which is little, with where we are, which is difficult, and with God who brought us here. I have been tempted many times to give up. I have felt deeply, deeply discouraged, and I've battled feelings of hopelessness in the midst of this journey. That was 10 years ago, and as I look back now at what God did, I realize that he had to work deeply in me before he was going to work significantly through me. I had to learn what we've learned in part one and part two about, you know, considering it all joy when nothing feels or looks joyful. I had to come to the point where I said, Lord, I don't know what to do. I don't have any money. I don't have direction. Difficulty is at every turn. I need your wisdom, and he gave it.

And now what I want to ask you is, where are you at? How are you doing with discouragement, and what discourages you? You know, the definition of discouragement is to deprive courage, hope, or confidence. It's the lack of courage. Courage is that thing that wells up inside of you that says, the circumstances don't matter.

The opposition doesn't matter. I'm going to press forward. I'm going to follow Christ.

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength, no matter what happens. Discouragement is when you lose heart. Discouragement is that feeling when you say, it's not worth it.

Nothing will ever change. I can't go on. I'm powerless. It's that feeling that just screams, just quit. Just give it up. Just compromise.

Take a shortcut. So let me ask you before we begin the teaching time here and get into how to slay the dragon of discouragement, I want to ask you, where are you at in terms of what discourages you? What person? What circumstance? What's going on in your life or in your thoughts?

What's happening in your country? Where are you in your life right now that you would say, I mean very specifically, this is discouraging me. These are the thoughts that are coming into my mind that make me want to say, God, I just can't do this anymore. I give up.

What is going on? I want you to get it down very specific and very clearly because God's going to take his word today and he's going to speak to that very specific discouragement in your life and in mine. Discouragement is the number one destroyer of God's plans for our lives. Just before we receive God's highest and best, many of us throw in the towel. You know, I've had some times and I've counseled so many hundreds of people right before there's a breakthrough in their marriage where it gets resolved, where they learn to forgive and where they love, so many quit and separate or get a divorce. Right before there's a huge answer to prayer, whether it's finances or an open door in ministry, just before that happens, so often many give up and they quit.

You know, just before God is at work and you know, the habit that the addiction, the struggle that it has just been a stronghold in your life. God is working, working, working, working. And just before he answers and delivers, so many people give up.

And what I want to say to you is we're going to learn how to slay the dragon of discouragement. And God is going to give us a plan. He's going to answer, how do you survive when you're tired, when you've tried, when you've worked, when you've prayed, when you're exhausted and everything in you says, I just can't take it any more. God says, I have an answer for you.

He has an answer for me. And he has a plan. And the plan begins with an attitude. It all begins with our attitude. God's will and adversity is this attitude, joyful endurance. Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing the testing of your faith produces endurance and let endurance have its perfect result that you might be perfect or mature, lacking in nothing. And then the second thing he gives us is a resource. In the midst of not knowing what to do, in the midst of not having answers and battling discouragement, he says, here's a resource. God's promise in the process is supernatural wisdom.

He's going to give you insight into the best possible ends by the best possible means for the most possible people for the longest possible time. He says in verse five, but if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. Condition, but let him or her ask in faith without any doubting. For the one who doubts is like the surf at the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord being double-minded, unstable in all his ways. God tells you and me in the midst of our discouragement, he will show you what to do and how to do it to get through your greatest challenges. And then the third thing in God's plan isn't just an attitude, and it's not just a resource of supernatural wisdom. He's going to say, I'm going to give you a truth, a theology, if you will, about life and about circumstances and about the future. And when you get this clarity, this truth, it is the thing that will allow you to slay the dragon of discouragement. He writes, but let the humble brother in his humble circumstances glory in his high position and let the rich man glory in his humiliation.

Why? Because like flowering grass, he will pass away. Speaking of the rich man, for the sun rises with the scorching wind and withers the grass and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed.

So too, the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away. And then he gives this admonition, this hope, this reward. Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial. For once he has been tested and is approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love him. God's prescription, his truth to persevere, to not give up, is this, a divine perspective. There is a truth. There's a theology about life.

Here's life. God says, I want to give you a lens to look at life and your circumstances. I want you to see things through the kingdom lens. In the practical lens, rich people, powerful people, people with position, with homes, with money, with security, they're the ones that have it made. He's going to say, no, in God's kingdom lens, actually the opposite is true. Those who have little actually have a high position.

And then he's going to explain why. Let me take a moment and just explain this passage. And then from it, I want to give you three very specific principles that will allow you to hang in there when things get tough. He says, let the brother of humble circumstance, this word is socioeconomic. He's not talking about, you know, like character or humility.

He's saying, you know, basically let someone who doesn't have very much money, glory, and the word means to boast or take joy or rejoice and say, wow, look what I have. So in your high position, and I don't know about you, but I have studied the Bible for a number of years. And I remember reading and studying the entire book of James and looking at each paragraph, teaching through the whole book. And for years, honestly, getting to verses nine through 12, especially nine through 11 in chapter one, and we do this, don't we, who study the Bible, especially some of us who teach it, and just scratching my head and thinking, I don't get this. What's with this little section about poor people having a high position and rich people having a low position, and then this promise of reward.

We'll follow along. It's super insightful. One of the things I've learned about studying the Bible, if there's something in a passage that at first doesn't seem to make any sense, chances are it's very profound.

And this is one of those passages. So he says to those of us that don't have very much, or for those of you that don't have very much, I'm thinking, you know, maybe because of COVID you've lost your job. Maybe you've lost your business. Maybe you're in a country right now that things are very, very difficult.

I mean, super challenging, like you don't have food. I mean, he says to those who have little to boast and rejoice in your high position. And what he is doing is saying, I want to give you a perspective from heaven about looking at life through this lens of faith.

Here's his point. He's going to say, when we don't have anything, our high position is we're automatically dependent. We automatically turn to God.

We automatically pray. When I read this from my journal 10 years ago, when I said I was broke, I wasn't exaggerating. No money.

I have had seasons where I have sat in the car with my family. We had no money. We had no food. And we bowed our head and said, Lord, you said that you would promise. It was literally after a church service.

And we literally had nothing. And as we prayed and while we were praying toward the end, we heard a knock. It was the first time I went to this church.

We had just moved to that city to prepare for ministry. And someone we didn't know that apparently sat behind us and saw a young family knocked on the window. We rolled down the window and they said, excuse me, do you all have plans for lunch?

We would love to bring you to our home for lunch. You see, we didn't pray in the car because we were being spiritual. We didn't pray in the car because we thought, oh, this is important. Let's be good Christians. We prayed in the car because we had no money and nothing to eat.

And I had three kids in the backseat. What he's saying is, as hard as it is to face, when we are low socioeconomically, we are rich in faith because we are pre-positioned to be dependent, to trust God and to seek Him. And then he says to those who are rich, the idea of New Testament being rich is I have enough for today, enough for tomorrow, and I may have even savings for the future. In other words, the person who basically has their own security, many in America listening to this and many around the world that are watching and listening to this would say to themselves, by biblical standards, I may not think of myself as rich, but I'm rich. I'm not worried about can I eat tomorrow or do I have a roof over my head? And he says to those who are rich, we should glory.

Now my season has changed. I need to glory in my low position. I need to realize that spiritually I'm at a very big disadvantage because money is powerful and money can provide false security and money can create idols and money can create expectations and money can get us thinking that we can live our life our way without God. And so he says we have to willfully choose. I need to get up and say, Lord, I need you. I choose to depend on you because the fact of the matter is if I didn't pray today, I have enough money in the bank to eat for this week and next week and probably next month.

I don't have to pray. And so he says rich people are in a more challenging spiritual situation and then he gives this reason. For the sun rises with a scorching wind and it withers the grass. The flower falls off. In other words, life is temporary. Life is transitory. Life is a vapor. Life is a breath. And he says the low position of rich people, and many people are experiencing this right now, is that, you know, a few months ago things were great. Now you don't have a job. I talked to men who have spent the last 20 years building businesses and investing money with this idea that they're retiring and they're secure forever and ever.

Are you ready? In the last four or five months, COVID-19, it's gone. It's gone. And so what he's saying to us is that you can't trust in these things because of the nature, the transitory nature of life.

They fade away. And then he says blessed, and this word is an inner quality of happiness not dependent on circumstances, is the one who perseveres. Now are you ready for this? If you have your Bible, circle that word persevere and then go up at the top of chapter one. Remember where it says let endurance? It's the same word.

Hoopo meno. Blessed is the man. Blessed is the woman who under pressure, under stress, under discouragement, under spiritual opposition, under difficult circumstances, under finances that you don't know what you're going to do but you refuse to give up.

You refuse, I'm going to trust. He says as you endure and persevere under trial, and it's the exact same word as in the earlier part, blessed is the man who and with these external trials once you've been approved. Notice that the word here is for a test and he says once you pass the test, you know what passing the test is? It's being faithful to your calling. It's not giving up. It's not giving in. It's not caving into temptation.

It's not compromising. It's not saying the ministry is not worth it. It's saying I'm going to hang in there in this difficult marriage. I'm going to hang in there in this ministry. I'm going to hang in there with this difficult situation with my boss or a supervisor. I'm going to hang in there in this difficulty because I'm called by God to be faithful to Him. I refuse in the power of the Holy Spirit to give in or to give up. And he says once you've been approved, you'll receive the crown of life.

And this is great. Grammatically, this is the crown, namely life. Yes, we're going to get crowns and there's going to be rewards for believers, but the emphasis here is the crown, namely life, this abundance.

When you persevere and do not allow discouragement to sabotage your life, there is a quality of life. There's an intimacy with Jesus. There is a power. There's a faith. There's a courage. There is a life experience that other people don't get. He says you're going to receive the crown of life, not just now, but with future reward as well, which the Lord has promised notice to who? To those who love Him.

To those who say, Lord, my loyalty, my loyalty is to you. It is hard. It is difficult.

It is painful. You've been listening to part one of Chip's message, A Theology to Believe. He'll be right back with his application for this teaching from his series, The Art of Survival. You know, many of the pressing problems we're facing today, social unrest, religious persecution, moral decay, aren't new.

They've actually been around for a long time. So how are Christians to respond? Well, for that answer, Chip turns to the book of James, chapter one. In this series, he explains that the uncertainties and fears that discouraged first century believers are similar to the hardships we face today. By using the word ART as an acronym, Chip highlights three critical truths on how we can endure challenging times. A stands for an attitude that strengthens, R is for a resource God offers, and T is for a theology that guides. Don't miss a single part of this series. For more information about The Art of Survival or our many resources, go to livingontheedge.org or call 888-333-6003. That's 888-333-6003 or livingontheedge.org.

App listeners, tap special offers. Well, before we continue, here's Chip to talk about something that's really close to his heart. You know, if you listen to me very often, you hear me talk a lot about the Bible and being in God's Word every day and studying the scriptures. But you know what I hear from people all the time? I don't know how to study the Bible. I've tried to read it. I just don't get it.

I just don't understand what's going on. Well, I would love to teach you how to learn to study God's Word. And what I can guarantee is this, with a few simple steps, literally a process, you can learn to read and understand and apply the Bible to your life like never before. It's really not rocket science, but what I found is most people have never had someone sit down with them one-on-one and actually learn how to study the Bible. And what I want to do is invite you to do that with me. We're going to study James chapter one in our new daily discipleship with Chip. It's called the art of survival. You're not only going to learn how to get through life's toughest times, but more importantly, you're going to learn how to study the Bible for yourself.

Now, here's how it works. Each day, I'm going to meet with you one-on-one for 10 days, and we're going to discover what James chapter one teaches about the art of survival and life's trials. We'll start our time together where I'll literally get a cup of coffee, open my Bible, and I'll talk directly with you one-on-one, and we'll walk through how to study the Bible.

You'll learn to study the scriptures for yourself in a way where you hear God's voice and have God speak in such a way that gives you the strength to make it through life's hardest and most difficult times. So here's the challenge. Spend 10 days, 10 minutes a day with me, 10 minutes on your own, and then let me encourage you.

Invite 10 people to join you. Let's be difference makers. Let's learn the art of survival in the age of chaos. You know, those early disciples turned the world upside down, and that's God's plan for you and me.

Won't you join me? Thanks, Chip. Well, we're so excited to share with you our new daily discipleship with Chip, The Art of Survival, based in James chapter one. Through this free video series, we'll discover how to handle circumstances out of our control, guard our attitude against discouragement, and trust God and his provision. If you're ready to learn the art of surviving in these challenging times, then register today to take the daily discipleship challenge. And when you sign up, we'll send you a new leather-bound prayer journal as our gift to you. To take this free 10-day daily discipleship challenge, go to livingontheedge.org, or call us at 888-333-6003.

That's 888-333-6003, or go to livingontheedge.org. App listeners, tap discipleship. As we close today's program, I want to repeat that amazing promise. Blessed is the man, blessed is the woman, who endures or perseveres under trial. For once you've passed the test, you'll receive the reward, the crown of life. Literally the crown that's the quality, the kind of life, both now and forever, that the Lord rewards to all of those who love Him. I know what we're talking about is super challenging to hear and more challenging to apply, but it's God's perspective.

It's His way. Blessed, happy, deeply rich inside, satisfied, are people who don't give up, who endure. I gave you that word, hupo meno, hupo to be under meno, stress, pressure. And it's that experience where you feel like, I just can't go on one more day, but God, just give me grace.

Oh God, give me grace. You might jot down Hebrews 1036 is a verse of a group of people that were wavering and ready to give up. And it says, for you have need of endurance, hupo meno, our word. For once you have done the will of God, then you'll receive what is promised.

In other words, endurance is the pathway. It's the process. It's what you have to hang in there in order to get God's very, very best for your life. Pastoring all the decades that I have, I can tell you that the saddest thing I see is people who don't endure in a troubled marriage, people who don't endure with a wayward child, people who don't endure when they're just about ready to address an addiction or a problem, and they give up or they give in, and then the cycle starts all over.

I was thinking about what I shared at the very end of this message. People that endure, and it's hard, and they're just normal, and they're regular like you and me, it produces something, doesn't it? If you've rubbed up against what I call a mature, godly person, there's a quality to their life. There's an intimacy with Jesus. There's a power and a confidence, a faith and a courage. There's this rich life experience. They're not just saying Jesus' words and praise the Lord, and everything's going to be okay, and quoting sort of trite, trivial things. When you're next to them, there's a sense of life and power and confidence and actually a sense of Jesus.

When you're around them, you feel kind of confident like, I just want more of what they have. You know that verse, Hebrews 10, 36, where it says, For you have need of endurance, so once you've done the will of God, you might receive what is promised. I thought of enduring during a time early in my marriage when I wanted to quit, enduring in work, actually in seminary when I thought, I don't need this, enduring with a wayward child, enduring through cancer when my wife went through that, enduring back pain and back surgery, enduring a real failure in ministry where I made some big mistakes and really looked back and thought, Oh God, I just want to quit. I don't think I'm cut out for this. Could I tell you, don't give up. Trust God. Find two or three people that really love Him.

Hang close to them. Stay in His word. When you feel lousy, tell Him.

When you feel like crying, go ahead and cry. When you don't know what to do, just do the next thing. Just do the next thing. You don't know what tomorrow brings and I don't either, but I know who controls it and I know that He loves you and I know He's available. Draw near to Him.

He will draw near to you. Hang tough. We're going to make it through together. As we close, our mission at Living on the Edge is to help Christians live like Christians, and one of the best ways we can continue to do that is through programs like this one. So when you hear a message that's especially helpful, we hope you'll pass it on to others. Now you can easily do that through the Chip Ingram app or by forwarding the free MP3s that you'll find at LivingOnTheEdge.org. And don't forget to include a note about how it made a difference in your life. We'll be with us again next time as Chip wraps up his series, The Art of Survival. Until then, this is Dave Druey saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge.