When Life Tests Your Faith

Trouble is not a matter of if, but when. When hardship arrives, it can expose what we trust, weaken our confidence, or become an opportunity for God to strengthen our faith. In this message from James 1:1–12, Pastor Chris Teien explains why believers can face trials with joy without pretending that pain is pleasant. Through practical stories about physical training, ministry preparation, and a difficult bicycle climb, he shows how God develops endurance, provides wisdom, and reminds us that our value is not measured by our circumstances or net worth.

In This Message

1) Let God Strengthen Your Faith

Trials are not good in themselves, but they can become opportunities for joy because God uses tested faith to develop endurance. Like resistance strengthens the body, pressure can strengthen believers as they continue trusting and obeying. Mature faith grows through Scripture, spiritual disciplines, and repeatedly choosing to do what is right when life is difficult. (James 1:1–4; Psalm 23:1)

2) Ask God for the Wisdom You Need

Wisdom is more than knowledge. It is the God-given ability to apply truth to a real situation. When believers do not know how to respond, they should ask their generous God with faith in Him alone, trusting that He can answer through Scripture, faithful teaching, and mature Christians. (James 1:5–8)

3) Remember God Does Not Measure Your Value by Your Net Worth

Neither poverty nor wealth determines a believer’s standing before God. Those with little are honored by God, while those with much must remember that money and achievements quickly fade. God does not value wealthy people more or overlook those who have less. (James 1:9–11)

4) Look Forward to God’s Blessing as You Persevere

God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Believers can persevere because God has promised the crown of life to those who love Him. That hope points beyond present pressure to the life God gives through His Son. (James 1:12; 1 John 5:11–12)

Main Idea

Because God uses trials to strengthen and mature our faith, believers can meet hardship with confident joy, ask Him for wisdom, remember that their value is not determined by wealth, and keep persevering in hope of His promised blessing.

Scripture

Primary passage: James 1:1–12

Supporting passages: Psalm 23:1; Galatians 2:9; 1 John 5:11–12

Illustrations

• Strengthening the body through exercise and resistance illustrates how tested faith develops endurance.
• Pastor Chris describes preparing for ministry licensing and ordination, including answering 126 questions about the Christian faith.
• While overwhelmed by an evangelism paper, Pastor Chris insulated and sheetrocked his garage while working through the subject in his mind.
• A professional Colorado firefighter trained on a stair machine with a heavy backpack so he would be ready to run miles into mountain fires.
• Pastor Chris repeatedly rode a difficult bicycle hill until he gained the strength and patience to climb it without stopping.
• A flat tire illustrates that Christian joy does not mean feeling happy about trouble.

Key Quotes

• “This does not say if troubles come your way. It says when troubles come your way.”
• “Our joy is not found in the pain.”
• “Endurance is the ability to remain under pressure without abandoning faith.”
• “Perseverance is more than passive waiting. It’s continuing to trust and obey while the pressure remains.”
• “Your endurance, when it grows, makes you stronger, makes you more useful, helps you to be more usable in the hands of God.”
• “Remember God does not measure your value by your net worth.”

Search Topics

James 1, Book of James, authentic faith, Christian trials, tested faith, spiritual endurance, perseverance, Christian joy, wisdom from God, divided loyalty, poverty and wealth, net worth and identity, crown of life, James the brother of Jesus, trusting God in hardship, growing through trials, Christian maturity, eternal life in Jesus

Full Episode & Transcript

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2285086/episodes/19805175 

Helping you apply God's Word and follow Jesus in everyday life. Learn more at ChrisTeien.com and Rockwell.church  Find episode transcripts at Well.faith 

Transcript

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Chris T 0:16

All right, so we were going through Proverbs over the summer, and that was about wisdom. And now I want to go through the book of James, which also has a lot of wisdom in it. So when life tests your faith, so James, he towards the end of his days was known as James the Just. He was significant in the work of the church. He was considered, Paul called him in Galatians 2 9, one of the pillars of the church. So this was James, who was Jesus' half-brother. It appeared that James didn't even believe in Jesus or believed that Jesus was who he said he was in the beginning until after the resurrection. This book is written to the church's twelve tribes scattered around, believers being persecuted for their faith. Maybe they lost things because of their belief in Jesus. Maybe they lost income. Maybe they lost possessions. People going through a hard time. And that's what this book is written to, the people that this book is written to. Verse 1 in James 1. So I started this out in the New International Version, but then as I was comparing the Greek words and everything, I decided to use the New Living Translation because it just spoke more clearly. But it is also very complementary to the New American Standard Bible 95 and the English Standard Version. But it starts out this letter is from James, a slave or other translations, bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm writing to the 12 tribes, Jewish believers scattered abroad. Greetings. So James didn't say, Hey, I'm Jesus' half-brother. You should listen to me. Because if anybody knows Jesus, I know him pretty well. He's my big brother. He didn't say, Hey, I'm a big deal. Even Paul said I was a big deal. Actually, maybe Paul hadn't written that yet. But he didn't think highly of himself in that way. He described himself as a slave or a bondservant. James sees himself, his personal identity is I am a servant of Jesus Christ, of the Lord Jesus Christ. And to humble himself in that way and to put that out there is a pretty huge thing. And I think that in our lives too, when we know our place, when we know who we are truly in Christ, and our true desire isn't just to be blessed, our true desire isn't just to be comfortable, our true desire isn't just to be recognized, but to be a servant of Christ. That makes a difference in how we live. So many times I come down to I am the Lord's employee, I am the Lord's servant. Years ago, I said I'll go where he wants me to go and I'll do what he wants me to do. And I haven't moved many times, but I have moved a couple. And I even moved here five years ago. That's crazy. Five years has already gone past. Where does the time go? But to know that whether there are many or few, if God gives us the opportunity to serve him, that we show up. And we're like, I'm the Lord's servant. I believe this is what the Lord wants me to do, so that's what I will do. So this is one of the first books that were written in the New Testament. The New Testament books aren't in order by the date written. I believe Martin Luther had a problem with this book in the beginning. He criticized it and said that James seemed to be into works more than grace. But that's not really what James said. But the idea is in James that yes, we are saved by grace. We can't do enough to make ourselves good enough. But if we are saved by grace, you're going to be able to tell by the works that we do, by the things that we're interested in, by our love for our brothers and sisters in Christ, for the way that we serve and want to serve, for the things that we do and the way that we do it. James is going to say, Show me your faith by your works. And there's many different things that we can do. Some are noticeable, some aren't. When you're on the worship team, everybody sees you. You know that they're serving Jesus. You don't know who all organized your lunch, or you probably do know who printed your bulletin, but you don't know all the things that went on behind the scenes. You don't know who mowed the lawn unless I told you. But there's people serving in different ways. You don't know who invited who to church today. You don't know who prayed and prayed for this Sunday morning worship service or for our Sunday school classes. But these people were separated from their homeland. These people were dispersed. These people, like I said in the beginning, may have lost things to follow Jesus. That can happen to us too. We used to, maybe you when you were young, lived in a Christian culture where it was normal for people to go to church and proclaim Jesus. Now it almost seems like we're an anti-Christian culture. You can talk about any religion you want, just not about Christianity. Don't shove that Christian stuff down my throat, all this kind of stuff. People have lost jobs and opportunities because of their faith in Christ. I'm reminded of a, I don't know if he was a fire chief or a captain or what, but he wrote a book on biblical marriage, and because he wrote it, they dismissed him from his position. So the world has become a strange place. But I think that as we travel through the book of James in the next few weeks or so, actually it might even get us all the way up to Thanksgiving. Can you believe that? It's like, what is happening? Thanksgiving, talking about Thanksgiving. But this series is entitled Authentic Faith. So to look at our authentic faith and how we serve Jesus and the way that we do it will make a difference in our life, will help us through the hard times, help us through the difficult times. So, number one, let God strengthen your faith. Let God strengthen your faith. We all need a stronger faith. How do we get a stronger faith? Do we read a book or listen to an audiobook or go to a seminar? How would we get a stronger body? Do we read a book or listen to an audiobook or go to a seminar? Or do we get out there and we start exercising and maybe some resistance and maybe you lift weights. You get stronger when you lift weights, right? If you do it right anyway, if you do it correctly. But for God to strengthen our faith, would we be willing to let Him do that? Would we be willing to say, God, strengthen my faith? God says, I got a plan. And you're like, wait, what's in your plan? That sounds like it might be kind of hard and difficult. And God says, Trust me. James writes, dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for joy. This does not say if troubles come your way. It says when troubles come your way. They are coming. Life is like a constant series of sunny days and storms. And so I don't know what roller coaster that you've been on, but I don't really know anybody that has not been trucked, untouched by some kind of difficulty or hardship or sickness or loss of a loved one or something like that. So God doesn't try to trip you up and make your life difficult. He doesn't sit there and go, oh, let's see how they respond, how he or she responds to this. Ha ha ha. No, we live in a sinful, fallen world, and just the way that the world works and the way that we are and the people that we're around, troubles are definitely coming. Being a Christ follower does not make us immune to illness, does not guarantee that we'll never get ripped off or that we'll never be laid off or that we'll never have family issues or relationship troubles or those types of things. And sometimes those troubles, they're our fault. So it's our fault. Something we said, something we did, something we didn't do caused the trouble. And there's other times where the trouble is totally not our fault. We did not cause it, we did not ask for it, we were not looking for it, we did everything right, and then something happened, something broke, somebody took advantage of a situation to steal something from us or whatever. Troubles come in many kinds. In James, he's not saying the troubles are good, he's saying they are an opportunity, an opportunity for great joy. So a trial, a trial, a trouble means a test, difficulty or pressure, depending on the context. The same word can also refer to temptation, but it is not. It is a test. God does not tempt us. We're gonna find that out next week. He does not tempt us to sin, but he does test the level and the depths of our faith. So don't assume every hardship and difficulty is from God. So do expect trials and difficulties to come in different forms. And if you're a Christ follower and if you know your faith is being tested, say, you know what? I wonder if this is a test of my faith. I am going to do the right thing so that God will be pleased and I will be pleased with the way that I've done it. Have you ever done that before? Have you ever had any kind of test that you knew that you were going to have to take? On a certain day, there was going to be some type of tests. I had to be tested to be licensed, and I had to answer 126 different questions about Christian faith before I could get a ministry license as a pastor. And then after you're in ministry for a couple of years, you need to be ordained. So then you write a bunch of papers, answer a bunch of test questions. It can be an oral interview and all of these things to see if you pass the test. And so I worked towards that for a year or more. And so then I was ordained, and I have the certificate to prove it and everything. So you know that the test is coming, you prepare for it, and hopefully you're excited for it. You're like, okay, I have done my due diligence, I've studied, I've worked, I've done all these things, and I'm ready. I am ready to take this test. It was hard, it was difficult. One day I was supposed to be writing an evangelist, my views on evangelism, and all of a sudden I felt overwhelmed by this desire to sheetrock my garage. So I did. I insulated and sheetrocked my garage, and my wife is like, What are you doing? Aren't you supposed to be working on that paper? And I'm like, I'm putting up sheetrock and I'm working on it in my head. So sometimes we avoid the important stuff. We want to do something else because it's just overwhelming. Years ago, I used to go to the Snap Fitness in my town all the time. And there was this guy from Colorado where he had Colorado plates, and he would get on the stair-stepping machine with this huge backpack on. And so he would run on that thing as fast as he could. I didn't know how he didn't die. I couldn't, I could just barely use it without dying. And so he's like, I'm a professional firefighter in Colorado. When there's a fire in the mountains, sometimes we have to run like 10 or 15 miles to get to the fire before we can start fighting it. And that is what I'm preparing for. This is my off season. I come here to visit my parents, but I have to stay in shape. So he was preparing for the trouble and difficulty ahead. He wanted to run to it. He wanted to have the endurance. He found joy in that. Joy was a good thing. Joy doesn't mean happiness. When you say, oh joy, which my wife and I often say, we're like, oh joy, it doesn't mean, oh, I'm just so happy I now have this trouble. I'm not, I'm just so happy my tire's flat. Oh joy. Joy, pure joy, carries the idea of complete or wholehearted knowledge that God can get us through. A contentment. To know that God can help us through and get us through gives us the confident assurance that it's going to be okay. So it's not happiness. Sometimes we can be happy about things, but to be joyful, to count it as joy, to consider it as joy and opportunity for joy. Our joy is not found in the pain. Our joy comes from knowing that God can use the testing of our faith to develop endurance. And testing reveals what is genuine. So the more hardship and the more difficulty that you go through, that you endure, that you experience, the stronger, often the stronger, you will be when it comes to serving for Jesus and living out your Christian life. So when you know the hard thing that you've been through and you're like, this is okay. So I've been through this before. So this is how God got me through. I'm gonna have confidence. It makes you a better leader, it makes you a better parent or grandparent, it makes you a better worker when you have been tested, when you have endurance. So, next verse. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. I thought it was interesting that the NIV version used the word perseverance, and I think there's a difference between perseverance and endurance in my mind, anyway. Maybe, maybe not in your mind the way that you think of the word, but endurance is the ability to remain under pressure without abandoning faith. Perseverance is more than passive waiting, it's continuing to trust and obey while the pressure remains. But in my mind, endurance is built up because of the strength that you have. Perseverance is a mindset that says I'm not giving up. So years ago, before I came here, I used to ride my bicycle all the time. And I would avoid this hill. I would go ride my bicycle and I had Strava, this app, and it would time me, and sometimes I'd race again on the app against other people and things like that. But I'd always avoid this hill because this hill is just like it was the killer hill. And there was traffic that kind of went by too. But and eventually I'm like, I gotta conquer the hill. And so I'm like, okay, I'm gonna try to get up the hill without getting off my bike, without walking, without stopping, and I'm gonna go as slow as I can pop my goal. I'm just gonna get up and I'm gonna go as slow as I possibly can go without falling over. And then I kept going up the hill, day after day, week after week. And after a while, it was not a problem for me to get up the hill anymore. So I got to the hill and I rode up the hill, and that was that. I just learned two things. One, that you can gain the strength to endure, and two, you need to just be patient to get up the hill. It is going to take a while to get up the hill. But on the other side of the hill is a decline, and then you get to go really fast, and it's really fun. And when you get to come back, you get to go down that same hill again. So it's all good. But your endurance, when it grows, makes you stronger, makes you more useful, helps you to be more usable in the hands of God, helps you to be that kind of person who says, No, we don't need to give up, we don't need to quit. We've got this. I've been through this before. This is what God did. I'm His servant. Let's do it. Verse 4, your endurance. So let it grow. For when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. So eventually we will be perfect and complete in Jesus. Until then, it's a process. Through the study of God's word and practically living it out and spiritual disciplines and all these things, we become more and more and more like Jesus. If you think that today you are perfect and complete, then there's an issue because nobody is 100% perfect and complete. But here, as you are going through life, when you think about how God provides, it is a good thing to be like Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd. I have all that I need. So do we have all that we need? And if we don't, we need to ask God for it, but we can trust that He will provide for our needs. But let it grow. Keep growing in your faith. Keep showing up to these difficulties and trials and doing the right thing. Keep doing what you can to grow stronger in your faith. Those are good things. Number two, ask God for the wisdom that you need. Ask God for the wisdom that you need. So we spent all summer in Proverbs and we learned that wisdom is not just knowledge, but it's the God-given ability to practically apply that knowledge in your life. And so sometimes you come to the issue and the problem and you don't know what to do. God says, ask me for wisdom. You come to the problem and you're like, God, I'm not sure how I should respond. Should I respond? Should I say something? Should I push back? Should I protest? What should I do? Give me wisdom in this situation to do your will. Verse 5, if you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. James is saying, Commit to Jesus, commit to be Jesus' servant, commit to follow Jesus, commit to ask for wisdom and expect that God is going to help you get that wisdom. Sometimes you will read something in Scripture and give it it will give you that wisdom. Sometimes you will be reading a devotional book and you'll find the answer you're looking for. So many times when I was a young Christian, committed to listen to the Christian radio station when they had preachers on. And then the satellite radio and stuff. Listen to the podcast. So many of these things you can get information from. Sometimes God speaks to those people. Sometimes God speaks through a mature Christian that you share your trouble with, your difficult with, and you get advice, and you can find wisdom that way. But ask God for wisdom. Trust that God is going to give you the answer that you need. It is a good thing. So number three, remember God does not measure your value by your net worth. So this is a huge thing when we think about this. Believers who are poor have something to boast about, for God has honored them. And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field. The hot sun rises and the grass withers. The little flower droops and falls, and its beauty fades away. In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements. When you have a lot of money, you cannot trust that you will always have a lot of money. People with a lot of money think that they can buy themselves out of trouble, that they're self-sustaining, that they don't need anything from God. People who are poor sometimes feel like God is not caring about them because they don't seem to have as much as the people who are rich, and they think that they're less in God's eyes. And James is saying that's not it at all. The poor people, the people that don't have as much, are just as valuable in God's eyes. That it is not that God is just showing favor on those people who have a lot of money. Number four, look forward to God's blessing as you persevere. Look forward to God's blessing as you persevere. God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterwards, they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. So I'm gonna talk about that and temptation next week. Just real quick, though, if this is your first time here and you, or maybe you come to church all the time, but you've never come into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, 1 John 5.11 says this is what God has testified. He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his son. Whoever has the Son as life, whoever does not have God's Son does not have life. So there are people who have Jesus, there's people that don't have Jesus. There's people who are saved and guaranteed eternity in heaven, and there's people that aren't. And so I would love to talk to you about that. I would love to tell you what the Bible says about how we're all sinners in need of a savior and how we can receive the Savior and be guaranteed a personal, life-changing relationship with Him and everything that goes with that. I'll pray. Jesus, what an exciting Sunday to be able to baptize people, to be able to fulfill your purposes and do your will. Lord, this church exists to make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It's what you commanded us to do, and we did it, and we're doing it. And we're so thankful for it. Lord, I thank you for these people that are here today. I pray that you would help us to grow in our faith, that you'd help us to grow in wisdom, that you would help us to apply the practical parts of this book, and that not only would we know it and practice it, but we would be able to share it and teach it with others, especially the people who are going through hard times. So we're just so thankful in Jesus' name. Amen.