God Can Use Whatever You’re Going Through

Devotional

Day 1: Crying at the Pain, Rejoicing at the Purpose

Trials create a paradox: tears flow from earthly suffering while heaven’s perspective reveals divine craftsmanship. Joy here isn’t emotional euphoria but anchored in knowing God’s unseen work. Like a sculptor chiseling marble, God uses pressure to shape Christlike endurance. Distress becomes a classroom where faith learns to testify. This joy isn’t denial of pain but defiance against despair, choosing to fix eyes on eternal gains over temporary aches. [12:24]

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
(James 1:2–4, ESV)

Reflection: What current trial tempts you to focus only on the pain? How might shifting your gaze to God’s purpose transform your response today?

Day 2: Faith on the Witness Stand

Trials cross-examine what we claim to believe. Adversity doesn’t create faith but exposes its quality, like fire testing gold’s purity. When life demands answers, our trust in God’s character—not circumstances—becomes the testimony. This isn’t about perfect performance but persistent reliance. Every “why” becomes an invitation to declare “Who” we know. [04:25]

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
(1 Peter 1:6–7, ESV)

Reflection: Where is your faith being subpoenaed to testify? What truth about God’s nature can you declare in your trial’s courtroom?

Day 3: Distractions or Development?

Culture offers anesthesia for pain—entertainment, advice, or busyness—but God wants surgery, not sedation. Trials become spiritual MRI machines, revealing what we truly trust. Double-mindedness—grasping both God’s truth and the world’s shortcuts—stunts growth. Endurance isn’t passive waiting but active cooperation with heaven’s scalpel. [07:11]

“Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
(Hebrews 12:2, ESV)

Reflection: What distractions are you tempted to numb your trial’s pain? How might embracing discomfort accelerate your spiritual maturity?

Day 4: Rich in Things, Poor in Soul

Wealth’s danger isn’t abundance but amnesia—forgetting dependence on God. Trials strip away financial security’s illusion, exposing our eternal poverty without Christ. The humbled rich man discovers true wealth: a heart leaning on divine wisdom, not bank balances. Earthly loss becomes spiritual profit when it reorders our worship. [20:07]

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”
(2 Corinthians 4:16–17, ESV)

Reflection: What earthly security have you mistaken for ultimate safety? How could your current trial be redirecting your dependence to God alone?

Day 5: The Crown of Approved Faith

God’s final exam isn’t about suffering well but loving deeply through the storm. Approval comes not when trials end but when we stop bargaining with God and start believing Him. The crown of life isn’t a trophy for the strong but a gift for those who let trials teach them to love Christ more than comfort. [24:06]

“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.”
(James 1:12, ESV)

Reflection: What “crown” of spiritual growth might God be fitting for you through this trial? How is steadfastness deepening your love for Christ?

Sermon Summary

James writes to scattered Jewish Christians with a straight call: do not be fake, be real. James refuses the lies of a culture that wants believers distracted, secularized, and pulled away from God’s purpose. Trials come in all kinds of shapes, sizes, and shades, from splinters to cataclysmic events, but James sees them from heaven’s perspective while believers are living through earth’s frustration.

Trials are adverse circumstances God causes or permits to take His people to the next level of spiritual development. The testing of faith calls faith to the witness stand and asks it to testify when everything around it is saying the opposite. Endurance stretches Christian commitment like a rubber band, revealing whether faith is only an affirmation or a settled way of life.

God’s goal is not perfection in the sense of having nothing wrong, but spiritual maturity, consistency, and Christ likeness. Maturity means the spiritual is not merely visited on Sunday or in a crisis, but becomes the normal operating system of life. Culture, however, offers entertainment, people, social media, and every other distraction so that pain can be avoided without ever dealing with what God is after.

James commands believers to count it all joy, not because pain feels good, but because purpose is at work in the pain. Joy is distinct from emotional happiness. Peter joins James by showing that distress and rejoicing can exist at the same time, because joy comes from knowing that God is producing something precious through the fire. The purpose must be seen, or pain will make people angry at God, people, circumstances, and themselves.

Christ Himself endured the cross for the joy set before Him. Wisdom becomes the next necessity, because trials require divine navigation about which route to take and which decision to make. Double mindedness shuts down that wisdom, because God will not form a joint venture with a fake culture and an anti God worldview.

James also humbles both poverty and wealth. The poor can glory in a high position in God’s kingdom, while the rich can glory when a trial proves that money, influence, and possessions cannot fix the problem. Paul redirects afflicted believers from what is seen and temporary to the unseen and eternal. The crown of life belongs to those who persevere, pass the test, and enter a new experience of spiritual life.

Key Takeaways

1. Rejoice at the purpose, not pain
Joy does not deny distress or pretend that adverse circumstances are pleasant. Joy rises when faith knows that God is producing a new level of spiritual life in the same place that tears are falling. Pain becomes unbearable when it is treated as meaningless, but purpose gives endurance somewhere to stand. [12:24]
2. Trials call faith to testify
Trials put faith on the witness stand and ask whether God’s truth will still be believed when circumstances argue against it. Faith is not merely what a believer says in a calm season. Faith becomes visible when pressure exposes what the heart actually trusts. [04:25]
3. Reject the distractions of fake culture
Culture offers endless ways to avoid dealing with the work God is doing in a trial. Entertainment, opinions, social media, and ungodly counsel can numb pain without bringing maturity. Endurance requires staying under God’s hand rather than escaping the process illegitimately. [07:11]
4. Ask God with an undivided mind
Wisdom is needed because a trial raises real questions about decisions, direction, and endurance. Double mindedness tries to receive God’s guidance while holding onto a worldview that disagrees with Him. God does not partner with secular thinking when He is calling His people to spiritual sight. [15:41]
5. Let weakness expose true dependence
Wealth can create the illusion that life is manageable without God. Trials expose the limits of money, influence, medicine, connections, and personal control. Humiliation becomes a mercy when it returns a self sufficient heart to dependence on the only God who can sustain it. [20:07]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:38] - James and Real Christianity
[02:30] - A Biblical Definition of Trials
[03:32] - Trials in Many Shapes and Shades
[04:25] - Faith on the Witness Stand
[05:29] - Endurance and Spiritual Maturity
[07:11] - Escaping the Distractions
[08:40] - Count It All Joy
[11:04] - Joy Comes From Knowing
[13:13] - Christ and the Joy Set Before Him
[14:38] - Asking God for Wisdom
[17:05] - The Poor, the Rich, and Praise
[23:39] - Perseverance and the Crown of Life

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

James 1:2-4
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” [03:28]

1 Peter 1:6-7
“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” [09:31]

2 Corinthians 4:16-18
“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” [22:27]

Observation questions

In James 1:2–4, what sequence does James connect between trials, tested faith, endurance, and spiritual maturity? [04:13]
What different kinds of trials are described, and what examples show that trials can range from small frustrations to life-changing events? [03:38]
According to James 1 and 1 Peter 1:6–7, what two experiences can believers have at the same time while facing trials?
In James 1:9–11, what contrasting reasons are given for both the believer in humble circumstances and the wealthy believer to glory? [17:11]

Observation questions

Interpretation questions

Why does James command believers to count trials as joy rather than simply telling them to be emotionally happy? What does it mean to rejoice in God’s purpose while still grieving real pain? [12:30]
James says that endurance leads toward being “perfect and complete.” How does spiritual maturity differ from pretending that nothing is wrong or that a believer never struggles? [06:00]
What does double-mindedness look like when a believer asks God for wisdom in a difficult situation? How can competing sources of guidance keep a person from following God clearly? [15:21]
How do the words in 2 Corinthians 4:16–18 help a believer see a present affliction differently without minimizing the hardship? [22:47]

Application questions

What trial, pressure, or disappointment is currently putting faith “on the witness stand”? What truth about God is hardest to keep trusting when circumstances seem to say the opposite? [04:22]
Where is there a temptation to escape pain through distraction—such as entertainment, social media, constant activity, unhealthy relationships, or ungodly advice—rather than facing what God may be producing? What would a healthier response look like this week? [07:12]
In a current hardship, what might it look like to rejoice at the purpose without pretending that the pain is pleasant? Is there a specific purpose—greater endurance, deeper dependence, or Christlike character—that the group can pray to see more clearly? [12:40]
What decision or “route” needs God’s wisdom right now? What would it mean to bring that need to God with an undivided mind rather than trying to combine God’s direction with a worldview that opposes Him? [14:57]
How might money, possessions, influence, connections, health, or personal ability create an illusion of self-sufficiency? Where might God be inviting greater dependence on Him instead of confidence in what can be controlled? [20:04]
When discouragement comes, what seen and temporary concern most easily fills the mind? What unseen and eternal reality could help the group keep from losing heart? [22:57]

Sermon Clips

YOU'RE NOT REJOICING AT THE PAIN, YOU'RE REJOICING AT THE PURPOSE. BUT IF YOU ARE NOT THINKING ABOUT THE PURPOSE AND YOU'RE ONLY FOCUSING ON THE PAIN, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO REJOICE AND YOU'RE GOING TO BE MAD AT GOD, MAD AT PEOPLE, MAD AT CIRCUMSTANCES, MAD AT YOURSELF BECAUSE YOU'VE MISSED what God is up to. [00:12:40]

He gives the trial to put your faith on the witness stand in order to see how long you going to stay with this thing that you've been agreeing with to demonstrate whether you are maturing in your Christian life. God's goal is to turn us from baby Christians to adult Christians. [00:05:40]

When you and I begin to see the purpose of God in the problems of pain, we will rejoice rather than give up, throw in the towel, whatever it is, because this is something God is doing. It's not just a bad day at the office. [00:13:45]

He says you must know what is being produced. If you MISS OUT ON WHAT'S BEING PRODUCED, you'll miss out on counting it joy, and you'll have to live with your distress. [00:11:54]

The joy comes from something you know, which means if you don't know it, you won't have joy." HE SAYS, "KNOWING." YOU'VE GOT TO KNOW SOMETHING. He says knowing something is being produced. You must know something in order to count it joy when there's nothing joyful. [00:11:21]

Negative realities that you encounter that are either caused or allowed by God in order to take us to the next level of spiritual development. There is no growth spiritually without trials. [00:03:02]

Yes. HE SAYS, "THE TRIAL IS DESIGNED TO STRETCH YOU, to expand you like a rubber band, to pull you further, to endure you to what goal?" He says in verse four, "And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." [00:05:21]

He says the testing of your faith, your faith affirmations, your agreement with God and his truth and his word when the opposite is coming against you is what a trial is designed to show. [00:04:31]

He says don't try to get out of the trial illegitimately. When you illegitimately get out of a trial, then what you've done is negated the growth process, keeping you grounded as a saint rather than soaring as a Christian. [00:07:55]

Perfect and complete doesn't mean that you don't have anything wrong with you, but it means that you've reached a place of spiritual consistency or maturity. When a person becomes mature, they are able to make responsible decisions on a consistent level. [00:06:00]

WHAT GOD IS after in the maturity ity process, yeah, is to conform us to Christ in such a way that we respond as Christ would respond in that situation. In a biblical trial, the culture is set up for you to fake it because WHAT THEY WILL PROVIDE you are distractions so you don't have to deal with it. [00:06:45]

And so the faith in the culture distracts us from the purpose of God, which is maturing us in Christ by calling our faith to the witness stand based on the truth we affirm. [00:07:31]

So let me define trial biblically. A trial biblically is an adverse or set of adverse circumstances that God causes or permits in order to take us to the next level of spiritual development. [00:02:30]

In other words, IF YOU GO TO FAKE CULTURE, SECULAR THINKING, UNGODLY ADVICE, THE WORLD'S PERSPECTIVE TO FIND OUT how you supposed to live, operate, work, how you you go secular, BUT THEN YOU PRAY, LET NOT THAT MAN think he will receive anything from the Lord. THE LORD IS NOT ABOUT TO JOINT VENTURE WITH THAT FAKE CULTURE when he's trying to give you spiritual insight. [00:15:32]

Now, you don't know when it's going to end. You don't know any of that. But you do know you need to know which route to take, which decision to make in light of the trial. [00:15:00]

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God Can Use Whatever You’re Going Through | Tony Evans Sermon