Testing of Faith

This message is going to be a tough one, not only to preach, but to learn and apply for myself. Before I get into the message, I wanted to say life is short and precious. I just went through a funeral of a classmate, and it was hard. It was suicide. I can't plainly say how I can understand the thoughts of suicide, but I am lifting up all people who resort to this or think of it, to find Christ. I pray that we can learn from this death, and try to reach out to people.The passage I am going to be reading from is James 1:2-12. James says: "2 Consider it all joy my brethren, when you encounter various trials. 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith without doubting, for the one who doubts are like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 Being a double-minded, unstable in all his ways. 9 But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; 10 and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of the pursuits will fade away. 12 Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him."The message I'd like to project is that of Perseverance and Discernment. One of the first things that jump out at me in verse 2 is the fact that James said "When"; not "if." A lot of people have a mindset that trials are something that might happen; When really in the reality of Christianity, trials are a certainty. We may not know when they are coming, but you better belive they ARE coming. Whether its family troubles, work issues, or even relational stress, they will try to bring you down to the point of losing faith in Jesus. Satan uses these trials as well to try and deceive us. But God uses trials for the betterment of us as His children. I think that trials in life are perfect opportunities for us to draw closer to God; to be able to learn about our character in times of hardships, to evaluate how we react to different issues in life.What are some trials that we could face? Well, here is a few I think are some examples of trials.1. Loss of a family member2. Loss of your job3. Family Betrayal4. Financial StrainThose are just a couple that you might run into, but the list could go on and on, because God will use whatever situation or thing He could think of to refine us like silver. A perfect verse about refining is found in Daniel 11:35; it saying, "Some of those who have insight will fall, in order to refine, purge and make them pure until the end time; because it is still to come at the appointed time." What Daniel is saying in this verse that even the most spiritual of Christians; people that are living completely righteous or faultless lives will fall in times of trial. This could mean (1) falling into sin. (2) being fearful and losing faith, (3) mistakenly following wrong teaching or (4) experiencing server suffering and martyrdom. If only we'd persevere in our faith, any such experience will only refine us and make us stronger. We need to recognize them as opportunities to strengthen our faith; to remain steadfast in these experiences; we will be stronger in our faith and closer to God. If we would just give up our problems to God, life would be so much less stressful, and through the patience of God and His Strength we would be able to persevere.Discernment is another priority. If we don't learn how to discern right and wrong, how can we then follow God? Can we honestly live for God not knowing something we are doing or saying is potentially right or wrong? The answer is no way, man. In verse five James said; "But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him." Now the author of this book said Lacking Wisdom. What does that mean? It means that Wisdom is not only about knowledge, but the ability to make wise decisions in difficult circumstances. We are supposed to ask God if we are lacking the wisdom for a tough decision. An example would be; taking out a home loan, or something that would make or break your life. Or even proposing to your girlfriend. It may seem like a silly example, but it is a major life decision, a lot of people rush into marriage. They don't take the time to weigh the facts or the results of getting into marriage. That is why the divorce rate is so high in this society.To get back to the matter of discernment though, we need to ask God for His help; if you don't honestly think you can discern right from wrong. If you don't; it could have eternal implications; severe eternal implications. There is a ladder system to wisdom or practical discernment. It begins with respect for God, which leads to a better ability for right living, then into an increased ability to tell right from wrong. God is so anxious to give us wisdom, but won't give it to us without regard for the intentions of why we are asking Him for it. He wants our intentions to be centered on Him rather for our own selfish reasons.The status of our human life is a major point as well. I am not talking about money, material possessions, but of our spiritual standing ground. A man of riches can still be a Christian, but are his motives based on Christ or money? Ecclesiastes 5 speaks of the folly of riches. It's great to have money if it can be used for the betterment of those less fortunate. But really money cannot help your salvation. A Christian of humble means is to Glory in his high position as verse 9 of James chapter 1 said.I leave you with this. Throughout any trial or tough decision, whether you're rich or poor. Go to God for everything and your life will be fruitful and fulfilling in the eyes of Christ. God Bless you all and reach out to God.