Finding Hope in Trials: Lessons from James

"Hope is essential for enduring tough times. You know, human beings can handle an enormous amount of frustration and delays and even pain, as long as they feel there is hope. But when hope is gone, people just give up, they just give up. And that's why James says in James chapter five verse eight these words, 'You must be patient, keep your hopes high.'" [00:34:50]

"Hope is based on knowledge. Did you hear that? Hope is based on knowledge. It's what you know that gives you hope. And if you don't know what God has said, you're gonna feel pretty hopeless. So throughout the book of James, he gives us seven reasons for hope in difficult times." [00:48:07]

"First, we have hope, because we know the difficulties won't last. We have hope because we know these tough times, these difficulties won't last. You know, if you were to visit my back office of our ministry center where I have a little cubby hole there, you would find a plaque hanging on my wall and it's a piece of barbel with Hebrew letters engraved into it. People always wondered what it says in Hebrews and it says, this too shall pass." [00:54:36]

"Because we know God will use them, use it, the difficult times in our lives, for our good. We not only know the problems are temporary, but we know that God will use it for good in our lives. Now, most Christians know the great promise of Romans 8:28. Right here on the screen, it says this, 'We know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.'" [00:59:10]

"James chapter one verse two to four says this, 'My brothers and sisters, when you have many kinds of troubles, you should be full of joy, because you know, there's that because you know, it's a knowledge that gives me hope, because you know that these troubles test your faith, and this will give you patience.' So, let it grow. Let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything." [01:03:34]

"Has getting upset or distraught or distressed or angry about this pandemic, or anything else that you cannot change, has it ever been helpful to you? No. No, it just makes the situation worse. It makes it more unbearable. You know, I see so many angry people these days during this pandemic, they're mad at the government, they're mad at the experts, they're mad at the people who refuse to wear a mask and put other people at risk, they're mad that they can't go to work, they're mad that their kids can't go to school, how is that helping?" [01:15:00]

"Did you know that when we continue to trust God, and when we continue to put our hope in God, when we can't see how it's all gonna work out, like right now, when we can't see where the future is going, that when we put our trust in God that makes God happy. God smiles when you trust Him. You know, every parent knows that the greatest compliment your child can give you is to say, 'Mom, Dad, I trust you, I trust you, I know you want what's best for me, I don't understand why I'm going through this but I believe you're good, and you will take care of me.'" [01:22:58]

"James gives us a classic example of trusting God without having to know all the details in advance of how it's gonna work out. And it gives us the example of Abraham, because God often asked Abraham to put up with lousy circumstances that were very uncomfortable. And yet Abraham trusted God without having all of his questions answered. Can you trust God without having all your questions answered in this pandemic?" [01:25:22]

"Jesus talked about it many times. In John chapter 14 verse two and three, right before Jesus goes back to heaven he says this, 'I'm going away to prepare a place for you.' Okay, this is after the resurrection. He says, 'I'm gonna go away and prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back, I'll be back. I will come back, and I will take you to be with me that you may be where I am.'" [01:32:59]

"We know what's going on right now, this is not the end of story, we're still in the middle of the novel. The final chapter has not happened yet. We're still in the middle of the story and in the middle of the story, it's often messy, it's often confusing, it's perplexing, it's unclear. Right now with this COVID-19 pandemic, everything seems uncertain. Work is uncertain. School is uncertain. Church is uncertain. Entertainment uncertain. The future is uncertain, everything else." [01:40:47]

"James chapter five verse 11 says this, 'What a gift life is,' this is in The Message version, James 5:11, 'What a gift life is, to those who stay the course.' You've heard of Job staying power. And you know how God brought it all together for him at the end. God brought it all together for him at the end. That's because God cares. He cares right down to the last detail." [01:48:52]

"Happy are those who remain faithful under trials. That's what you're going through right now, a trial. Happy are those remain faithful under trials because when they succeed in passing such a test, they will receive as their reward, here it is, the life which God has promised to those who love Him. That's the reward. It's life in eternity that God has promised to those who love Him." [01:55:28]