Remain Resilient I Lions, Giants & Bears, But God I Joey Santora

If you remain faithful in a trial, your story ends in victory. I promise you. How can you promise that, pastor Joey? Because I believe this is the word of God. And if the word promises something, then I can promise it too. He's not my promises, it's God's promises. You'll come out in victory in Jesus' mighty name. That is this that statement is not motivational. It's biblical. Challenges are real, but watch and see as God turns them around for your good. [00:43:50] (34 seconds)  #FaithEndsInVictory

Did you know that you have the ability in Christ to take over your mind? You have the ability in Christ to be able to take thoughts captive in your mind and make it submit to Christ. You have the ability in Christ to renew your mind and lead it to joy even in a trial. We have the ability to choose joy despite the circumstances that are surrounding us. And this joy, just to help us understand what it is, it is not pretending that the pain is not real. [00:11:18] (32 seconds)  #TakeThoughtsCaptive

Let me explain. It's not seeing what you're going through. It's seeing how what God can do through it. See, understand, God didn't send the trial. God didn't send the sickness. God didn't send the challenge that you're facing. But guess what? The Bible tells us in Romans chapter eight verse 28 that he works all things together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purposes. God's not the sender of the trial, but he can take that trial and he can turn around for his good. [00:12:45] (32 seconds)  #GodTurnsTrialsToGood

Because happiness and joy are not the same thing. We have a world that teaches happiness. But what if I told you this? What if I told you that joy is greater than happiness? Happiness comes in joy and goes, but joy is eternal. Joy remains with us forever. Let me explain. Joy is not denial. It's interpretation. It's not denial. It's interpretation. It's choosing to see your situation the way that God sees it. [00:12:15] (30 seconds)  #JoyNotJustHappiness

Trials can create faith to a degree because we can learn things through them or we can grow because of them. We'll talk a little bit about that in a second. But trials don't primarily create faith. Trials reveal the faith that we already have. Trials reveal where our faith is at. This is meaning that trials reveal the genuineness of our faith. A trial is like game time. I'm I'm a or I I don't know if I could still say I'm an athlete because, you know, I'm I'm retired now. [00:15:51] (32 seconds)  #GameTimeRevealsFaith

Instead of asking God, why is this happening to me? Why what what's going on here, God? Ask God, what can you bring out of this? Ask God, how can I respond in a way that is honoring to you? God, give me wisdom to be able to navigate this. This is what I was talking about earlier with joy. Seeing things the way that God sees them. If I could see things the way that God sees them, then I can have a joy in knowing that he is going to work it out. Seeing things the way that God sees them. [00:39:59] (33 seconds)  #SeekPurposeInTrials

And so, yes, every single one of us will face trials, but we have to understand that although trials are gonna come and although there's going to be challenges, Jesus assures us that we will have victory because we belong to him. When you're in Christ, he has victory. Therefore, we have victory. What am I telling you? What I'm telling you is this, is that trials are an inevitable reality of life. But just as trials are inevitable, victory is inevitable for the believer. Can you say amen? Amen. [00:06:37] (30 seconds)  #VictoryIsInevitableInChrist

This is why bad things happen in our society. It's not because God calls them. It's not because God made them happen. It's because humanity rebelled against God, and we're seeing the consequences of that in the world. But here's the reality. Every single one of us here in this room will face trials. Every single one of us. And the reason why I could say that so confidently, and the reason why I don't say that even Christians are not exempt is because Jesus told us that we would face trials. [00:05:14] (31 seconds)  #EveryoneWillFaceTrials

Although, yes, victory in this life, we also need to be people that have an eternal perspective. Sometimes as believers, we forget about eternity. How amazing it is to wake up every single morning with the understanding that if I were to die today, that I wouldn't even have to worry about it because I'd be in heaven with God. What an amazing reality to be able to hold on to despite a trial, despite a situation. Guess what? The bible says this present suffering is is nothing in comparison to the future glory that we will experience. [00:14:32] (32 seconds)  #FutureGloryOutshinesSuffering

That's not a trial. That is a consequence for our disobedience towards God. Now, let me be very clear. If we ever do experience consequences for our sin, that doesn't mean that God can't help us navigate those things. That's not what I'm saying. But that is not a trial. A trial is a challenge. A challenging life situation that we face that tests our faith. Furthermore, regarding trials, God is not the sender of trials. [00:04:02] (27 seconds)  #TrialsVsConsequences

Now I feel as though it's very important before I move forward with this message that I define and explain a little bit about trials. Because there's been some misunderstanding in the church regarding trials. We need to be very clear about what these are. Trials are not consequences for our sinful choices. Got a little quiet when I just said that right there. Because everybody likes to call everything a trial. I didn't obey God, and so I have this consequence. Well, I'm going through a trial. That's not a trial, my friend. [00:03:27] (34 seconds)  #DefineTrialsClearly

It's hard to go further, but you still got a couple more in you. And see, that is the most important part of the workout because that's when the most muscle is grown. The when you're at your point of exhaustion and you keep pressing in anyway and you keep on going, that's where growth takes place, and that's where muscular endurance happens. Well, guess what? It's the same way with our faith. It's the same way with our faith. When we choose to remain faithful in the middle of pressure, your faith is strengthened. [00:24:52] (29 seconds)  #GrowthAtTheBreakingPoint

There's endurance that is formed. When I keep on going, when there's that challenge, that breaking point, when I don't wanna go anymore, but I remain faithful to God, all of a sudden, there's endurance. And when there's endurance, that means I can handle more for God. That means I can do more for God. God can add more to my plate. When your faith grows, you could do more for God the same way that when you keep pressing in and keep going in your workout, what happens? You can lift more weight. [00:25:20] (26 seconds)  #EnduranceThroughFaith

But if God would have just said, here's 200 students, it would have crushed me. Yeah. Yeah. It would have crushed me. But can I can I tell you this? If you are faithful to God, what feels like is crushing you is going to build you. What feels crushing to you is actually going to build you if you remain faithful to God. This is what the Bible is talking about. When it says that faith, it produces that steadfastness in our life. [00:28:57] (27 seconds)  #FaithBuildsCapacity

There are some people that are here in this room that have never grown in their faith. You know why they've never grown in their faith? Because they always give up in a trial. They've never grown. There are some people that have been saved for twenty five years that are like a newborn believer. In contrast, I've seen students in our youth group that have been saved for three years, and they're like a 25 year old believer. You know why? Because it's all about response. [00:31:40] (25 seconds)  #ResponseShapesMaturity

And he said, I see it. But he says, you know what breaks down fundamentals? I said, what? He said, pressure. He said, let's see how they do under pressure. And that's what happens in a trial. You get to see how you're gonna do under pressure. You're gonna get to see how what what you're gonna do when the challenge comes, when the rubber meets the road. But see, trials don't just reveal things that we need to work on. It reveals things that we're also good at. [00:18:56] (27 seconds)  #PressureRevealsFundamentals

this is specifically James speaking to this audience that is going through this trial. He is specifically saying wisdom in a trial. If you seek God for wisdom in a trial, he will give it to you. God does not abandon us during trials. Some people think that God where's God? He's right there. He's right there. God doesn't abandon us during a trial. He gives us wisdom to navigate it. He gives us wisdom to navigate it. Wisdom is not information, by the way. [00:38:05] (31 seconds)  #GodGivesWisdomInTrials