My name is Matt Thede. I'm an elder here. Normally I introduce myself as activities director and assistant principal, but today I get the just the privilege of being able to teach in front of you. I've been here since the Chrome Horse days. My. My kids played on the floor of the Chrome Horse on those Sundays. And it's been a joy to see what God has been doing in the lives of our people for the whole time that I've been here. So it's been a joy to serve alongside of you and to serve you. So here teaching today, who am I? A little bit. I'm gonna walk back just a little bit. Rhinebeck, Iowa. Anybody know where Rhinebeck, Iowa is? Town of 2,000 people. That's where I grew up. Small home in Rhinebeck, Iowa. And I grew up with one older sister and my two parents. And we didn't live a perfect. We didn't have a perfect home, but it was a great home to live in. And my parents did a great job, I think. Well, you'll be the judge of that today, raising me a little bit. But I didn't grow up in a Christian home. We were moralistic for the most part and certainly had our issues, but we were not. We went to church on Sundays. Sorry. On Easter and Christmas. And I spent most of my Sundays hunting and fishing with my dad during that time. And so go off to college and didn't really drink in high school or anything like that. So I experienced all the stuff in college that one can experience your freshman year. Right? And so I spent my time trying to fill the void with alcohol or with being the popular guy or with relationships, thinking at the end of the day that those things were gonna be the things that satisfied me. And of course I was. The kid had to learn the hard way that those things never left me satisfied at the end of the night, at the end of the day, at the end of the week, at the end of the season, whether it was baseball or relationships or grades or people like letting people down, like they were all gonna disappoint me. And my sophomore year, October 10th, I started drinking at 8 o' clock in the morning. For the homecoming parade. Cause that's what the baseball team did. You start that early. You walk in the parade. Cause I think you have to numb yourself to the boringness of the parade or something. I don't know why they did it, but anyway, that was what they did, and that's what I started doing. Well, by God's grace, it started raining. All right? The parade got canceled, so we stopped drinking. And the girl that I was chasing at that time, or I liked her, she says, hey, Matt, why don't you come with me to the main event at uni? And I've been asking a lot of questions about faith. And she took me there, and she went and sat with her friends, and I sat by myself and I listened to the gospel presentation and heard the good news, and it changed my life forever. All right? And so that's why I'm standing in front of you here today. So some years later, 1998, okay. It's a long time. There's a long sanctification process there that's happened, and a lot's happen. Happened in my life and. But I will say, after I became a Christian, still, one of the more difficult things that I have struggled with in my time as a walk is how I respond to trials. Like, when trials hit, how do I respond? And can anybody relate with me in that? Does anybody, like, if you can raise your hand, say, like, I don't always respond well in trials. That's me. And I have reacted in many ways that I've regretted and said things and done things that I have far regretted in life. But this is really odd, though. I mean, you think about trials, right? And they happen. Like, you think, like, the idea of, like. Like, I was an athlete, right, I say was on purpose, right? I'm not. Not am an athlete where I was an athlete. And so, like, that's the idea of struggling for something, like, is not foreign to me. Like, like practicing hard to get something out of it is not something that's really foreign to me, like, as an athlete, right? SALT students, as long as I preach, I swear to you, I'm going to promise to bring up the Boundary Waters every time. I taught at salt, so I brought it up every time. Boundary Waters, right? I mean, like, something has to be worth it to hike, portage, and, like, paddle to get back there. And to me, the fishing's worth it every single time. So that's why I paddle to get back there. It's not like I just go paddling for the sake of paddling, but the idea of like practicing or the idea of something hard to get to something good or producing something out of me is not foreign to me. Like to us in general, like cross country, we run hard in practice so that we can run faster times in the race, right? We get all these things. But like during the game, right? But like during the game, like when things get real, it seems like these trials cause much more devastation than the actual practice is, right? Right. So, like I was fine struggling in practice, but like in little league, when I struck out, I cried like a little baby, right? Anybody else cry when they struck out when they're a kid? Yeah, that's just me. I don't know, but I struck out. I cried all the time, right? And so like, I was fine training for the boundary waters, right? So like, I was fine running or like hiking and like putting on weights and all these things. But like, when the boundary waters came, I went on my first trip and like the real trip happened. We went at the end of May, Jake took us on this trip and we go up there, I overpack. Like, I. They told me, like, tati, your pack's way too heavy. I'm like, I've been training strong and look at me. I mean, look, seriously. And so I went up there, went up there with a hundred pound pack on my back, all right, 100 pound pack. I had every snack imaginable. I had snacks for the next camp over those people in case they went hungry. And like I had my whole pack full of filled with snacks. And I'm not joking to you, one minute into the trip, we put in the canoe. It's the end of May in Canada, all right, My partner and I, we start rowing. We start kind of heading towards this stump area. He puts his hand out, we tip, we tip, right? And thank the good Lord we were next to shore. But that water was the coldest water I've ever been in. So we went into the water, all right, we went into the water and life got really real at that point. And I can tell you I didn't respond well, especially when elder Caleb Mason, who should be stripped of his eldership after this, he comes paddling over, he goes, hey, how's the water, guys? I'm like, caleb, not now, you know, and did not respond well. Further down the road, we enter our portage. And now my 100 pound pack weighs 150 pounds, right? So I trip, I fall on my back. I'm on my back like a turtle. I can't get off my back. We unzip, we unzip. I had tears. I literally had tears. I'm like, I've been training for this. I've been preparing for this. And everything that I thought I was gonna dominate, I did not dominate. It was like life got ahold of me. And that's why I love the Boundary Waters. It teaches you great lessons, right? And so, like, at that time, like, the real game hit and like, everything I've been practicing for didn't come out. You know what I mean? Like, I responded in ways that I didn't think were possible. And so let me just go a step further here. Let me ask you this. Do you ever find yourself in situations that you would never choose? Yeah. Yeah. Do you ever find yourself in situations you never choose? Things where you ask yourself, how in the world did I get here? We're gonna look at James, where he's writing to Christians in the dispersion. They're dispersed, they're being persecuted, they're scattered. And it's certainly not a situation that they would choose. Like, the idea of struggling in real life isn't something we as Christians embrace well all the time. Like, when struggle hits, we don't embrace it well. And perhaps that's because we don't always know what the end result will be. Right. I didn't predict that I'd fall on my back. I didn't predict these different things. Right. So I throw all these random scenarios your way, and it's easy to talk about the boundary waters or cross country or, you know, baseball or just life in general. But what. What about when you lose a job? What's the outcome? Well, my marriage is really, really hard right now, or I've gone through marriage struggles. How is that gonna turn out? Or I'm struggling with my self worth. How does that end? How does that play out? Am I ever gonna get married? Does this work environment ever stop? Like, what happens next for me? Like, do these problems ever go away? Because the idea of practicing forum, even on a Sunday like today seems like it's great in theory. But when the real life hits, how do we respond? Now, what if I say that responding rightly to and going through trials can actually make you a better person? What if I tell you that actually going through that trial can actually make you a better person? What if the Bible actually proposed a solution where we stopped seeing these circumstances, these trials as bad, and the outcome was worth the trial every time? Would that get you excited a little bit? I'd want to hear about that. Would that give you a different perspective on when you Encounter trials with unknown outcomes. I think it would. And so I taught three times this summer. The first one was on Psalm 34, which is quoted and applied in 1 Peter, when Peter is writing to elect exiles who are dispersed, and he's addressing how to handle affliction. Second time was on Romans 8, specifically on verses, God working good in all things. But this comes after Paul says, the current sufferings are not worth comparing to the future glory. And now, by some chance, I picked these verses in James to consider it. Joy. When you face trials a long time ago, do you think God's probably trying to tell me something? I think he probably is. And I'm hoping if he's telling me something, he might be sharing something with you as well. So let's dive into James. Let's see what he has to say. Here we go. James 1. Open your Bibles. James 1, 2, 4. He's writing to Christians in the dispersion. He says this. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kind. 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 and lacking in nothing. So James is the half brother of Jesus. All right? James is the half brother of Jesus. Grew up around him, knew what he went through. Obviously, he comes out of the gate swinging, saying to count it as all joy. We know that James is putting his money, like, where his mouth is because he was eventually martyred for his faith. All right? So that's who's writing this book or who wrote this book. And so he comes out swinging, he says, count it all joy. When you meet trials, the first question we ask is, like, how in the world do we count a trial as joy? There's gotta be something that's worth it. There's gotta be something that's worth it. Like the fishing is worth the paddling, right? You throw something on the scale, something's gotta outweigh the trial to count something as joy. And like this word count. I wanna pause there for a second. The word count actually is like the word that, like an accounting term. It actually means to evaluate or actually to consider. All right? And so James is asking us, how do we value to evaluate how we look at trials as if there's two options. So he says, count your trials as joy. And that term is like, to consider, like. And there's another option. Like, you can not count them as joy, or you can count them as joy. And so he's asking us how to Evaluate a new way, how we look at trials. And so it means to consider, to evaluate. And it's used in Romans 8:18. Like when he says that, consider the present time not worth comparing to the glory to be revealed to us. So consider that to count it. Like the present time, the sufferings are not worth comparing. So it's used as if. Like, there are two options many times throughout the Bible, and sometimes it's not. But this is what he does. Like Philippians 3:13, the verse that says, like, forgetting the past and pressing on to the future is the term consider. Like, we can consider, like forgetting the past and pressing on with the future. Or you can drown in your sorrows right now. You can drown in your past and not consider the future that's going to be produced in you, right? Or what's going to be produced in you. Another one. Romans 8:18. Considering the sufferings are not worth comparing. So you can consider the sufferings, they're not worth comparing to future glory. Or we can drown in our sufferings right now, right? Hebrews 3. Consider Jesus as the high priest. Or we can consider. We cannot consider Jesus as the high priest. And we can follow oh order and offer sacrifices for our sins year after year. Or we can consider Jesus. So that's what he's saying. Like, you can look at it in two different ways. And so we have to ask ourselves at that point, what makes the difference for sufferers or for those facing trials? Like, what makes the difference that somebody can actually say, I can count this as joy? Because there are those that suffer well under trial. And I've watched several people suffer incredibly well under trial. And there are those that don't suffer well under trial. All right? And you probably are in a situation where you probably said, I can see myself in both of those scenarios, right? And so the important part is actually in verse three, for what we know. Cause it says here for, you know, so, like, there's something that's gonna lead us to count something as joy. For we know. Like, what do we know we're gonna get to that. But what causes us not to have joy is oftentimes what we don't know, right? So we get caught up in what we don't know about our trials much of the time, which oftentimes cause the behavior that we don't like to see. So we only see what our trials take away. Like, we see what's taken away, and we react as the fire comes in and starts consuming everything that we think that we hold dear in this life, right? The things that we deem important, like our comfort. What happens when your comfort's taken away? Can anybody relate? With me, that seems to be the one where, like, my comfort's taken away. I tend to respond in ways that I don't want to respond. How about our money? Money threat? Like, money issues happen. How about our time? Time's taken away from us. That's the only thing that we see in the middle of that trial. And so we don't count something as joy because we focus on the things we can't see. So then attention our marriages, right? We only focus on the things that are taken away. But under the ashes, we have to trust that there's something happening, right? Like, we have to trust that there's something good, that God is working. Right? And I think it's important for us to see this in other pieces of Scripture. So let's go to Romans 8. Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know what to pray for as we ought. But the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches the hearts, that's God, searches the hearts, knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. So we have a weakness. We don't know what to pray for. God knows the mind of the Spirit. The Spirit intercedes for us. But then it goes on to say this, and we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Now, it's not a few things work for us good. It's not some things. It's all things. All things work for his good. This is after Paul says the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the future glory, right? So he's saying, like, he's working good. Now, what does it mean? What's our definition of good? All right, this is what I preached with the company students here a little bit. But he says this in order for those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. Like that's one of his first definitions of what good is. And that's his first definition. So we look at what good is. It's to be conformed to the image of His Son. Yes, Jesus was a great guy, right? He was a great prophet. He was a great messiah. Obviously, he learned in the temple. He prayed hard, he studied, he served others, he washed their feet, and he suffered, right? He suffered and died for our sake, right? So the definition of good here is to be conformed to the image of his son. So under trial, all right, we have to understand that God is working good, all things for our good. And so we see that and we know that, all right? And so oftentimes we focus on the things taken away from us. We don't always see the good that God is working, but we can trust it, which ultimately. And those whom he predestined, he called, and those whom he called, he justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified. So he's saying here, like, you're gonna suffer. There's trials, but God is working all things for your good in those trials, right? So that you can look more like Jesus because it's ultimately gonna lead to your glorification. Does that make sense? Yeah. So right here, what makes the difference for us is this set of verses right here that we know that God is working good. And if your definition of good isn't God, there's nothing comforting about this promise. Let me pause there for a second. If your definition of good isn't God, there's nothing comforting about this promise. Because when the things were taken away from these people, if your definition of good is your comfort and things go smoothly, or I come home and things work great for me and things threaten those things, and if that's your definition of good, you're gonna be shaken. Your life is gonna be shaken, and it might reveal some serious idols in your life like it has for me. So we don't know the goods that God is producing, nor do we know how long they will last, nor why they are happening right now. But we do know something about suffering, and it's a promise filled with incredible power. We know that God is working good in those things. So let's keep moving forward in this verse. All right? So we see it other places. Verses three and four here, I think, or verse three, for, you know, like, what do we know? He's calling us to, like, for knowledge here. So if you're gonna count something as joy, like, in your trial for. Because, you know, what do we know about trials in this moment? We know that the testing of our faith is producing steadfastness. Some of you may be sitting there thinking, like, steadfastness. Really, Tati, like, couldn't be, like, faith, hope, joy, something like, heavier, like, on the end, like, you're telling me that the trial that I'm walking through right now, the trial that I'm going through in my life right now, you're gonna put that on a scale with steadfastness, and you're gonna say that steadfastness outweighs the trial. Let me give you a picture of what it's not. Okay. Before we get to what steadfastness. What it really is like, is it really worth it? All right. To go through that trial? Okay? What? It's not okay. It's not someone who. It's not someone who gives up really easily. Right. The opposite of it is it's someone who turns and runs at the face of any danger. It's someone who quits really, really, really easily. Right? Someone who worries in the middle of any sign of trouble. Someone who's super anxious. Someone who doesn't trust. Maybe someone who's not even teachable in those moments. Right? Someone who maybe complains or. We find ourselves complaining a lot and grumbling a lot. That oftentimes comes when our comfort and things happen to us, right? We complain and we grumble, like, why isn't it a certain way? Right? That's what steadfastness is not. Right? Who wants to be like that? I don't want to be like that. Who wants to be around other people like that? I don't want to be around other people like that. Who wants to raise kids like this? Who wants to raise kids who are not resilient? Yeah. I don't think any of us do. Right. So hopefully that captures your attention of what it's not. Now let's look at what it is. Steadfastness. If you look up the definitions of how it's used in the Bible, one of the definitions is one who is not swerved. All right? When you think about swerving, there's gotta be options for you. I can consider something as joy. I can consider something not as joy. Right? It says, this person is not swerved. They understand what's going on and where they're going and why they're going there. Right? It's someone patient, enduring. That's what it word. That's what it means. This patient endurance. And he's using this in the middle of a trial. This patient endurance, this perseverance, it's something that's born over time. It's tested over time. It's like. It's. It's like our family friend, Wayne Dahl. He's probably around 65 years old. Wayne stood 6, 3, farmer, Minnesota. Tough, like, you know, athlete, former athlete and man. He just stood tall, strong as an ox. And his life was shaken by some cancer. And so he battles that cancer. He's going through that cancer. We're visiting him. You can't tell. He would never tell you what he's been through. And when you see him today, Instead of being 6, 3, he now stands about 5, 9. The cancer took some of his vertebrae and it crumbled his vertebrae, and it takes some of his vertebrae out. And so now he kind of sits a little bit lower and hunched over. And the lines that are worn on that man's face from the joy that he has gone through. He would never tell you about the trials that he's been through, but you can see it all over his face. That patient enduring that steadfastness. You know what I'm talking about? It's like he wears it, those lines. I hope I have those wrinkles when I'm older, right? I hope I have those joy lines on my face. It's tested over time. It's an incredibly beautiful badge that says something. It says that we bear up under our burdens. We lift our hearts and eyes to the one who is working good even when we can't see it. And we trust that our trial is going to give us something far more than whatever that trial can take away from us. That's steadfastness. When I'm hiring coaches, sometimes I have to hire head coaches. One of the first qualities, like, I look for. Sorry, one of the first things I look for in, like, initial screening. It's not the only thing. I've certainly hired coaches that don't have this, but I look for head coaching experience first lots of times. Why? Cause they've been through the wringer. They have experience. They've stood the test of trials. They know how to email parents. They know how to talk to parents. They know how to respond to parents. They know how to coach kids in tough times. They know how to get the most out of them, right? They have the experience. Like, they have the steadfastness there. That's not the only thing. But, like, mentioned, Wayne, I mentioned these people. Like, these are the people that I want in the foxhole next to me, right? These are the people that I want standing next to me. Like, people who have stood the test of time over time, and they have that badge and they've worn it and they've stood fast in those times. Like, that's the people that we want to be when we talk about steadfastness, so that when we hold up steadfastness to our trial, steadfastness will tip the scales every single time because it's Worth it. Strange as it may seem, one of the primary purposes of being shaken by suffering is really to make our faith more unshakable, right? So one of the primary purposes of, like, suffering is it makes us more unshakable. Like, it's part of the completion process. We talk about raising up mature disciples. Like, this whole process, this maturing, this producing of steadfastness, endurance, comes actually from going through trials. Like, you can't actually mature unless you go through trials. Like, this is the way it's produced. And it's something that we should strive for. Like, I don't strive to go enter into trials, but we should be striving to respond in a way and count it as joy. Because I know that something in me is being produced and that's maturing me in the end, right? And which I think we went through book of James here a couple years ago, but Jake mentioned this as well. But God is way more interested in our development than he is in our comfort. So he's going to shake the unshakable to reveal what can't be shaken, right? That's what he's going to do. And we see this other places as well. Second Corinthians 1:8:9. For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experience in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired. Indeed, we had felt like that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead. So you can see here, obviously, that they're going through almost death here. But it was to make us into something, make us not rely on ourselves, to rely on God. So it was producing something in them. And Paul recognizes that here. First Peter. All right, writing to those afflicted again, in this, you rejoice now, though now for a little while if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials so that the tested genuineness of your faith. There's that tested word again. And trials more precious than gold, okay? Something that's being tested is more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in the praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. So we have a trial, we have a testing that happens here that results in the praise and honor and glory, glory of Jesus Christ. And so we have to see that whatever we're going through is worth it, right? Like, if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and Follow me. Like, there's an element of, like, taking up your cross. Yes. Ultimately leads me to be more like Christ. Right? So. So Jesus said that himself, too. So we see these trials actually, like, producing something in us. All right? So we can count a trial as joy because four, we know something. What do we know? We know that the trial, the testing of our faith, produces something in us that is far more worth anything that that trial can take it away. Are you tracking with me? But joy. What about this word about joy? How in the world do I count something as joy? How do I evaluate something as joy? Like, how do we tell someone to have joy when they're diagnosed with cancer? How do we tell someone to have joy when they're in the middle of a really, really tough circumstance? All right? Young lady came up to me afterwards and said her parents are going through divorce, and it's a real trial for her. And this spoke to her in this way. But how do we tell her to have joy in this moment? And I think it's this. We have to understand that joy may not always be what we think it is. All right? Joy is this contentment in Christ above all else. All right? A contentment in Christ above all else. A deep knowledge that leads to contentment in Christ that God is working all things for my good and doing something bigger in me than what that earthly trial can ever take from me. That's the joy we're speaking of right here. Jordan preached two weeks ago. You guys remember Jordan preaching two weeks ago? He talked to you on stage. He didn't know what the results of his next screening was gonna be, but he stood on stage, and joy wasn't him jumping up and down. He wasn't jumping up and down with, like, enthusiasm that he had cancer, that he was getting results back. Like, his joy. You could see it in him. Where was his joy? He mentioned that Jake had told him, like, don't waste your cancer. And that comes from John Piper. Right? But don't waste your cancer. And so you saw in him preaching to us with a great, deep contentment of who God is and what he was gonna do through his cancer. That's the joy that I'm speaking of here. That's the joy that James is talking to us about here. And so we evaluate trials in a new way. All right? We evaluate trials in a new way. We see them differently how? Although we may not know what the trial brings, when it will end, when what the result will be, we're not gonna focus on what we can't See, we're gonna focus on what is being produced in us. And that's a badge to be worn that is far worth far more than ever, whatever that trial can take away. Amen. That's right. So I wanna put the main point up here, then I wanna get to some applications. All right. Allow what you know about trials to shape how you go through trials. So why is this sweet to me? And perhaps you wanna even switch the first trials to God. Allow what you know about God and what he says in his word about trials to shape how we go through trials. Okay, maybe you want to switch those words out and that would be perfectly great. All right. Why is this sweet to me? It's because I've spent too much of my time in my trials focusing on what I can't control. I focus too much of my time when things get taken away from me. Responding and reacting like a seven year old who struck out right. Spent too much time worrying about what's gonna happen when I know this verse tells me I know what the purpose of my trial is. I may not know how it's gonna end, I may want it to end sooner, but I know what the purpose is. The purpose is to produce something is what's it producing in me? Steadfastness. I know what it's producing. So I'm gonna allow what I know about trials and what James says to shape how I'm gonna go through trials. So now I approach that trial in a new way. When those things come, I know what he's trying to produce in me. I may not like it at the time, but I know what he's trying to produce in me. And so what should we see as a result of taking these verses to heart? Like what am I hoping for that you would see? Like number one, I hope there's like an increased sense of purpose here that like your trial isn't wasted. Don't waste your trial. It's producing something in you and hopefully it's producing something in others around you. But there's purpose. There's an increased sense of purpose. When I enter a trial, I can now trust. Alright, which is another thing. I hope it increases your trust in God. Like trust that he's working for my good in this trial because I know he's producing something in me. Right? There's an increased sense of peace. Like I know you're working. I may not see it, I may not like it, but God, I know you're working in me. There might be less worry, less devastation is my hope from you. Taking these verses to heart, a dependency on God. And I hope it results in our worship. An increased sense of worship that I can see what he's doing in here. I can look for those things now. Instead of focusing on the unknown, I can now look for those things that he's doing, and I can look for him and see him as he reveals them to me. And it brings me into a place of worship. All right? So I think it'd be remiss if I didn't talk about, like, the difficulties of trial, like, have a pastor moment here from talking to our people. Right? Trials are difficult. There isn't any one of you that's walked through these doors, that hasn't gone through a trial or isn't going through a trial right now. I trust that many of you that walk through these doors, you're probably thinking, he's speaking to me right now. All right? Yeah, you're going through a trial or have been through a trial recently, or you're going to go through one coming up, right? It's not easy. They elicit real emotions. And there's a time to rejoice with those who rejoice, and there's a time to mourn with those who mourn. You know, Ecclesiastes says there's a time for everything. And certainly I'm not asking you to jump up and down in your trials, all right? But there are some incredibly difficult circumstances in here. I just want to acknowledge that. And we've walked with people. We've had people walk with people for years on end, walking him through some difficult trials, all right? But I want to also let you know, like, let what you know about God shape how you go through the trials, all right? There are some promising and comforting verses that I want to point us to in your trial, all right? So hopefully you have some people that are steadfast around. You have worn that badge, and you can count on and trust and encourage and uplift you and remind you of truths. But here's some pieces of scripture that you can go to. All right? So let's put the first Note there, Psalm 73, if you would. If you're a note taker, just write down what verses they are. All right? These things have been incredibly comforting to me, going through different things. Whom have I in heaven but you? There's nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Like my heart and my flesh may fail. But sometimes maybe you just one of You. Some of you guys may just need to sit in this for a little bit. You need to declare that God is your strength and your heart and your portion forever. You may just need to sit in that for a moment, all right, and meditate that. Isaiah 41:10 has been probably my favorite. All right? And I encourage you to put your name in there, make it personal. So as I read this, put your name in there. Fear not, Matt, for I am with you, Matt. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. Matt. I will strengthen you. I will help you, Matt. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. All right, that is a verse that we can count on. We can come back to Proverbs 3, 5, 6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, even when I don't know what's going on. And do not lean on your own understanding. In all of my ways, acknowledge him. I need to acknowledge you, God, and you will make my path straight. It may not be in the timing that I want, but I trust that there's something else going on. Write this one down. I was practicing at home. My wife thought I said, Psalm 119, 139. All right? She went on a 10 minute walk and she said, I wasn't even halfway through this. 119. She goes, you really gonna have people read this? I'm like, no,139,139. It's much shorter. All right, so 139 is a great one. Just read that on your own. It is so comforting during these times. So trials are difficult. Hopefully there's some things that can help us through those trials at that time and knowing what it's producing. But also, I want to also acknowledge this, that trials are difficult, but they're never an excuse to sin. Okay? Trials are never an excuse for God's people to sin. Okay? Do I ever. How do I know if I'm sinning in a trial? Do you ever ask yourself, why me? Why is this happening to me? Do I run to other things during a trial? Whether it's substances, medication, or whatever else, Do I run to other things? Do I run to other people in a trial? Do I always let them know what I'm going through? I always have to let somebody know as if, like, their affirmation is going to, like, bring me healing in that time. Right? Do I make idols of other people? Do I have an idol of comfort? Do I have an idol of anger? Do you ever respond in anger when things don't go your way or when you face Trials. Do you lose self control when you go through trials? So what do we do? All right, couple application points here and then we'll close out with the last part of this verse. But a couple applications. So what do we do? What can we do? Memorize James 1, 2 and 3, especially because it says for we know. And how do you know unless you go back to that scripture and open your Bible. But if you can put it in your head when you face a trial, because you may not exactly have your Bible in front of you when you're going through a trial, you can look back at that and say, I can count it as joy. All right? When I face trials of various kinds for the testing of my faith produces perseverance. For I know that because that's what James says for you know. And how do you know unless we know where to go in that verse? So write that verse down, memorize it, commit to memory. Hopefully that that can help you in that trial gives you purpose in that trial. Number two, consider time in the trial as okay or good. This is a hard one. Let's be students who don't seek to get out of the classroom before the lesson is learned. You hear me on that one? Okay? Oftentimes we try to run away. We try to get away from these things. Understand what's being produced in you and don't leave the classroom until the lesson is learned. I understand that may be difficult in the time you're falling on your back in the middle of the boundary waters with 150 pound pack, but time in the trial is good. All right? And last thing I want us to focus on is I want you to shift your focus. I want us to see every trial as good, knowing it's for our good and it's producing something in us, this sweet steadfastness that's far greater than anything any trial can take from us. Prioritize God over our comfort or any over all circumstances. Let's put the final verses up there as we close down and go into communion here. But it says this 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. You've seen that word testing before, all right? That word testing is actually. The audience would have been very, very, very familiar with that word. All right? And that word testing is referring to a silversmith. All right? All right. That word testing is referring to a silversmith. And that silversmith, what he does, all right, he takes a Pot of silver. And he heats it up. And then what happens is those impurities rise to the top. And he takes the impurities and he scoops them off. All right. Yes, trials are painful. A little boy. All right, he scoops them off, and he heats it up again. And he scoops it off. And he heats it up again. And he scoops it off. What's he trying to produce? Pure silver. And he's not going to stop until he can see his own reflection in the mirror. And the same is true as us. That word perfect and complete actually means telios. And God puts us through trials to make us look more like his son so that we can look more like him in the end and get him forever. And the purpose of our trial, so that we come out pure. Right, we're pure silver on the other side of that. And he's not going to stop until we're perfect and complete. The bad news is that's probably not going to happen this side of heaven. All right, it's not going to happen this side of heaven, but. Well, the good news is. The good news is it's that same news that I heard on October 10, 1998, that Jesus suffered so that he produced his bride to his God, perfect and spotless, washing away all of our sins so that someday in our glorified state that we can be in heaven with him someday. What a beautiful picture this is to know that something is being produced in you, that we can be more like him and look more like him. And the finished work, so that we don't boast that he gets all the glory, is that we look like him in the end and we get him in the end. That's really, really good news. And I'm gonna lead us into communion right now. You're gonna have a little cup of. Or a wafer there on top, and you're gonna have some juice. You take the wafer. Let's be reminded of the body that was broken for us, the trial that Jesus went through. And maybe before you take that, you need to just sit and confess the ways that you have fallen short, like I have, by responding inappropriately in any trial or anything that has come your way. Maybe you need to take time and just confess that maybe I haven't responded appropriately and everything that I've gone through and that the things that God has shown me. So as you take. As you take the body, would you remember Jesus who suffered on our sake? And as you take the blood, all right, the juice reminded of that sacrifice once for all that his blood washes all of that away and it paid the penalty for our sin once for all so that we can be with him forever. Amen. All right God, thank you for this time. Thank you that we get you in the end. Thank you that I know you tell us to count it as joy and trials and it's just incredibly difficult, God. And obviously you went through the greatest trial of all and so we look to you. You're the author and perfecter of our faith, knowing that you are producing something in us and making us look more like you. May we not be people who try to get out of the classroom too early, but may we look to you for strength and comfort in your verses, in your word, also knowing that we'll never be perfect as well. So help us to rely and trust more on Jesus in this process as well. So in Jesus name we pray. Amen.