Many times, when people yield to temptation, they respond by defending their actions and blaming others. If we want to behave in a godly manner, we have to learn the right way to deal with temptation. In this message, Dr. Stanley explains what temptation is and how it works.
[music]
Dr. Charles Stanley: More
important than God removing the
difficulty, hardship, pain and
suffering; more important to Him
than that, is that you and I
learn something; that we
benefit; that we walk away from
whatever we’re going through in
life, being able to say deeply
within our heart, honestly,
Thank You, dear God, for all
You’ve brought me through.
Thank You, dear God, for what
You’re in the process of
teaching me in this.
male announcer: Today on “In
Touch,” “Wisdom in the Midst of
Trials.”
Dr. Stanley: Are you going
through some trial in your life
that you don’t understand?
You don’t know why it has to
happen to you.
You look back and you ask one or
two questions.
What did I do to deserve this?
You can’t come up with an
answer.
God, why have You allowed this
in my life?
Can’t come up with an answer.
And to be truthful and honest,
what you want most of all is out
of this.
I want to escape it.
I want freedom from it.
I want all this pain and hurt
and disappointment and
hopelessness and helplessness
and all the things that I’m
going through, naturally, I just
want out of all this as quickly
as possible.
Do you think that’s the will of
God?
You say, Why sure it is because
He’s a good God.
Well maybe in a few moments
you’ll realize that God has
something far more important
from His perspective than simply
getting you out of this
difficulty, hardship or trial
Because what I want to talk
about in this whole message
today, I want to talk about
wisdom in the midst of trials.
How are we to respond?
How does God respond?
What is He up to in allowing all
these things to happen?
In other words, do you want to
benefit from it, or you just
want to get bitter and resentful
and hostile toward God because
of it?
There’s a choice.
I can benefit from whatever
difficulty I’m facing; or I can
get bitter, blame somebody else,
blame God and miss the whole
point.
So I want you to turn if you
will to the book, and toward the
back of the New Testament in
First Peter.
And I want us to look at this
first chapter and the first few
verses here, because he’s
talking to people, writing to
people rather, who are going
through some very difficult
times.
They’re being persecuted because
of their love for the Lord Jesus
Christ and their devotion to
Him.
And naturally they’ve got some
questions.
Listen to and read Peter’s
awesome response to what they’re
going through.
And so he begins in this first
chapter, beginning in verse
three.
Listen to what he says, “Blessed
be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who according
to His great mercy has caused us
to be born again to a living
hope through the resurrection of
Jesus Christ from the dead,” He
says we have a living hope.
This is the mercy of God, “To
obtain an inheritance which is
imperishable, undefiled and will
not fade away, reserved in
heaven for you,” that is, for
you, “Who are protected by the
power of God through faith for a
salvation ready to be revealed
in the last times.”
Now watch this, “In this you
greatly rejoice, even though now
for a little while, if
necessary, you have been
distressed by various trials, so
that the proof of your faith,
being more precious than gold
which is perishable, even though
tested by fire, may be found to
result in praise and glory and
honor at the revelation of Jesus
Christ; And though you have not
seen Him, you love Him, and
though you do not see Him now,
but believe in Him, you greatly
rejoice with joy inexpressible
and full of glory.”
Now, think about it for a
moment.
I don’t know what you’re going
through, but more than likely
you’ve asked a couple of
questions.
Why has this happened to me?
And, God, why don’t You remove
this?
And remember this.
More important than God removing
the difficulty, hardship, pain
and suffering; more important to
Him than that, is that you and I
learn something; that we
benefit; that we walk away from
whatever we’re going through in
life, being able to say deeply
within our heart, honestly,
Thank You, dear God, for all
You’ve brought me through.
Thank You, dear God, for what
You’re in the process of
teaching me in this.
Many people don’t want to be
taught.
Many people just want a quick
escape.
But a wise man or woman does not
want to go through heartache and
suffering and trial and all the
things that can happen to a
person and just come out empty,
hopeless and helpless, and
thinking again, Wonder what God
is up to in my life in all this.
Do I believe that God loves me
enough that He’s up to something
good?
So, from the viewpoint of
wisdom, what are the purposes
for these trials in our life?
And the first one is simply
this, as he says in this first
chapter of–First Peter, listen
to what he says.
He says, “In this you greatly
rejoice, even though now for a
little while, if necessary, you
have been distressed by various
trials,” for what reason?
He says, Look, right now you’re
going through a difficult time,
“So that in order that; for this
purpose,” what is that?
“That, the proof of your faith.”
And that is, not proof in like
we think about it, but prove,
that is being approved.
That’s what that word means.
In order that our faith would be
approved; we prove that is
strong, “Being more precious
than gold which is perishable.”
He says in God’s eyes, look at
this, your faith is more
valuable as far as God is
concerned, than gold and silver
and all the rest.
So, he says one of the reasons
that we’re going through it is
for God to do what?
He’s going to do something to
your faith.
He’s going to strengthen your
faith.
One of your greatest assets is
your faith, because it’s by your
faith.
And how many times we go to the
scriptures and we find verses in
the Bible about prayer and
linked with that of faith,
trusting God.
And so God tests us by allowing
us to be persecuted, hurt, pain,
suffering, all kind of loss,
whatever it might be.
And as He watches us walk
through that and He, as He sees
our faith growing and we
persevere and we don’t quit, we
don’t give up.
We don’t grow bitter and
resentful and hostile toward
other people because of what’s
happening to us.
What happens?
Our faith grows.
And the greater your faith, the
stronger your personal
relationship to the Lord.
Now, a second thing is this, the
testing of our devotion.
Do I love Him?
Do I only love Him when
everything’s going my way?
Can I honestly say that I love
Jesus Christ as my personal
Savior?
And so oftentimes we find out
where we are.
Test our devotion.
When I feel pain more than I
think I can bear, can I still
say, God, I truly love You.
It’s those tests in which we
find out who we really are; what
we’re like.
Then of course, there is the
purpose of purifying our life.
And when I think about God
purifying us, think about this.
Pain is–has a purifying factor
in it.
There’s something about pain
that purifies.
It reaches the depths of our
soul and our spirit and brings
us to the reality and the
truthfulness about ourselves.
And a person can go along in
life and sort of get along as
they would think and I’m doing
fine as a Christian, and a lot
of things in their life that
shouldn’t be there.
And all of a sudden the bottom
drops out of their life; there’s
pain, suffering, heartache,
troubles and trials; and then
what do they do?
They want to cry out to God to
help them.
And most of the time, what is He
going to do?
He’s going to start, not with
the physical ailment.
He’s going to start in the
spirit, in the heart, what’s
going on in your life.
And many people prolong the
suffering because they will not
acknowledge that God is in the
process of purifying their life.
Now another reason is that God
takes an opportunity to do what?
To show Himself strong in our
life.
We go through trials and
heartaches and we think, God,
how am I going to handle this?
And God steps into that
situation and demonstrates His
awesome power.
And He demonstrates what He’s
able to do and what He’s willing
to do, what He can do in your
life if you’re willing to listen
to Him.
So, God has purposes.
He doesn’t let these things go
by without specific purposes.
And so that’s one of them.
Then, as we said, His purpose is
to provide Christ-like character
in our life.
So, if we stopped right there,
we’d say, Well, God have any
purpose in all this?
Yes, He does.
And that’s some of the purpose,
and I’d just add one more.
And that’s very clear in Second
Corinthians chapter one, verse
four, listen to this.
Verse three says, “Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Father of
mercies and the God of all
comfort, Who comforts us in all
our affliction so that we will
be able to comfort those who are
in affliction with the comfort
with which we ourselves have
been comforted by God.”
He says one of the primary
reasons He allows these things
in our life to do what?
To equip you and me to be able
to help other people through
that difficulty.
For example, let’s say that
you’re going through some real
bad difficulty in your life.
Maybe it’s a physical thing,
some pain.
Who do you want to talk to?
Somebody who’s in perfect
health?
Never had a problem at all in
their life and wonder why you’re
where you are.
No, you don’t.
If you’re going through
something in your finances, and
you don’t know which way to turn
to–who–you want to turn to
somebody who has been there, who
has wisdom and knowledge about
their finances.
You can take any aspect of life.
Because God, listen, God
intends, watch this, He intends
that you and I profit from all
the hardships, disasters that
happen in our life.
He has something good in every
single one of them.
Now, if you believe that, and I
certainly hope you do, and you
can look at the scripture, lots
of scriptures.
Then I should be able to walk
out of here saying, You know
what?
Enough of this complaining and
moaning and groaning and feeling
like a victim, and blaming
somebody else.
God’s up to something good in my
life.
Oops, I know it hurts, God, but
I know You’re up to something
good in my life.
It’ll change your attitude.
Now watch this.
Just physiologically, when your
attitude gets right, it’s
amazing the effect that has on
your physical body.
I’m not saying you can think
yourself into healing, but I
know this.
When I understand that God is up
to something good even though
I’m hurting, whatever the source
of it may be, there’s going to
be a feeling; there’s going to
be a sense of encouragement;
because you don’t see it as just
isolated pain or isolated
disease or isolated loss.
Or somebody has attacked you for
something.
You see God working in your life
in an awesome way.
Now, we need the–we need wisdom
to discern the proper response.
How am I going to respond to
these things?
And as we said, you can be
bitter and resentful and
hostile.
What’s the right way?
So let’s think about it for a
few moments.
We can rejoice when we’re
convinced that the following
things are true.
That God is in control of the
time and intensity of my trial,
very important that I understand
that.
That He’s in charge, He’s in
control of the time of it and
the intensity of this pain or
disaster or whatever it might
be.
Secondly, that He has a specific
purpose for allowing it.
If I can really believe that He
has a specific purpose for
allowing it, then I’m going to
be able to walk through it with
confidence and assurance, and
I’m going to be able to benefit
from it.
But I must believe that.
Thirdly, that it’s designed to
meet a specific need in my life.
Let’s say you’re going through a
difficult time in your life.
Let’s say that your loved one
has walked away from you or the
person that you wanted to marry
just walked away.
Who are you going to talk to
about how you respond?
Somebody who’s happily married
and never had a problem and
everything just fantastic?
No you’re not.
You’re going to somebody who has
been there.
You’re going to somebody who’s
walked a path that you don’t
want to walk but you’re walking
it.
It’s not something you chose,
but it’s something that you’ve
had to deal with.
And so, it’s to meet a specific
need in your life.
And you know what happens?
One of these days God begins to
use you in a very specific way.
Watch this carefully.
Remember this.
Whatever pain, suffering,
heartache, hardship you go
through, not only does God have
a purpose, but it’s part of His
equipping.
He’s equipping you.
And what does that say?
So you can feel what the other
person feels.
Since you’ve walked there, and
God’s worked in your life, and
you’ve been through the pain,
the hurt, the disappointment and
the shame or whatever it might
be.
You’ve been there.
You know how that feels.
Then somebody can say, Well
here’s what I’m going through.
I don’t know how to handle that.
When you can say, I’ve been
there it is amazing.
I have been there, four words
are powerful.
You see, why do you and I go to
Jesus when we’re hurting?
I have been there, look at the
cross.
He’s been there.
Why do we read the Epistles that
Paul wrote in prison?
Because he could say I have been
there.
And when you and I go through
those kind of times in our life,
He is equipping you and
preparing you to be able to say
to others, I have been there.
The trial is going to be to my
benefit if I respond in faith,
if I’m trusting Him.
Lord, I don’t understand it.
I don’t like it, but I’m going
to trust You, Jesus, that no
matter what I know You’ll work
it out for my benefit.
And then of course, do I really
and truly believe that God is
developing Christ-like character
in my life?
And if He is, when these things
hit, it may be that I have to
say to somebody, Would you
please forgive me for wronging
you?
Now watch this.
My willingness to ask for
forgiveness is part of His
character building.
The person to whom I say it,
it’s part of their character
building, because they have to
decide whether to forgiven me or
not.
You see, we’re all so
intermingled, intertwined.
God is up to something good in
every single aspect of our life.
Even, listen, even in our
failures, He’s up to something
good.
We sing that song, When I fall
down He picks me up.
He does.
And if I should ask you this
morning, How many times have you
ever been picked up by God?
We don’t have enough fingers and
toes because He’s picked us up
so many times.
You know why?
He’s not giving up on us and He
doesn’t want us to give up on
Him.
And these trials will also help
us measure our spiritual growth.
And I can look back in my life
just like you can, and there may
be something you’re going
through today, you’d have had to
go through five years ago, you’d
have thought, Oh God, I couldn’t
handle it.
Watch this carefully.
God guards every aspect of our
life and He knows exactly when
you can handle what He’s going
to put on you.
Because remember, His goal is
never to defeat you, but to
develop you into
Christ-likeness.
And so He’s governing every
single aspect of our life.
Don’t waste your sorrows, your
heartaches, your pain, your
suffering, your disappointments.
Don’t waste that by a wrong
response.
But just tell Him, Lord, I don’t
understand it.
I don’t like it.
It hurts.
This wouldn’t–it wouldn’t be my
choice.
But Father, I’m going to trust
You.
You know what’s best for my
life.
You know what You want to do
with my life.
You know how we want to use me
in somebody else’s life, so God,
if You’ll just enable me, I will
persevere and keep walking Your
path, no matter how deep in the
valley it goes.
I will be walking on the path
trusting You to take me through
all the way to the other side.
I don’t know what you’re going
through in life, but if you will
just take what you’ve heard and
apply it to your heart, your
life will change and you’ll be
grateful to God that you
listened and that you responded.
If you’ve never trusted Jesus as
your Savior, you’re on your own,
and that’s not going to work.
If you’re willing to trust Him
as your personal Savior,
everything will change.
You do that by confessing your
sinfulness, listen.
You’re a sinner.
You’ve sinned against almighty
God.
You’ve rebelled against Him.
Acknowledge it.
Ask Him to forgive you, not
because you’re going to do
better, but because when Jesus
went to the cross, the Father
placed all of your rebellion,
indifference and sinfulness on
His Son; nailed Him to the
cross; shed His blood.
And the shedding of His blood
paid your sin debt in full.
He’ll transform your life.
It’s a decision you have to
make.
And I trust that you’re wise
enough to say, Lord, not my
will, but Your will be done.
Amen?
And Father, how grateful we are
that we’ll never be disappointed
in a promise of Yours.
You know who’s hurting almost to
the point of death today.
You know those that are so
discouraged they want to quit
and walk away.
But we know that You have the
power to enable Your children to
persevere, to keep moving.
And Father, thank You for giving
us the wisdom in Your Word of
what You’re up to and what You
want to accomplish.
And I pray that every person who
hears this message will realize
there’s a loving Father who’s
not just watching, but who’s
there ready to see them through
it; ready to forgive sin; ready
to strengthen them; ready to
enable them; ready to do for
them exactly what they need, if
they’ll trust You with all of
their heart.
We just want to say we love You,
Father, for being so good to us.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
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