James 1:1-8
1. There is a way we need to think, v. 2
“Count”means “to have authority over, to rule, to lead, to think, to go before.”
Questions that foster right thinking about trials...
a) Do I believe God is at work in this?
b) How do I see God at work in this?
c) What would it look like for me to join God and participate in my sanctification?
2. There is something you need to know, v. 3
With every trial will come a temptation and the temptation is to trust something or someone other than God to see you through this period of testing.
2 Corinthians 11:21-33
“In the crushing, in the pressing you are making new wine. In the soil I now surrender, you are breaking new ground. So I yield to you and to your careful hand when I trust you I don’t need to understand. Make me Your vessel, make me an offering, make me whatever you want me to be. I came here with nothing but all you have given me. Jesus, bring new wine out of me.
New Wine, Hillsong
Does your heart more lean towards what God is doing to you or in you?
3. There is something you need to allow, v. 4
Steadfastness is the characteristic of a person who is not swerved from their deliberate purpose and loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings.
Steadfastness does three things...
a) Teaches you the insufficiency of sin.
b) The sufficiency of God.
c) It reminds you of the capacity of self.
4. There is someone you need to ask, v. 5-8