Worship Services Featured

The Truth About Trials

17 Jan 2026 • 2 min read

Scripture References

“Consider it pure joy…whenever you face trials” (James 1:2).
- “Consider” (accounting term) = deliberately assign value.
- Trials are not optional (“when,” not “if”).
- They come in “diverse kinds”: emotional, physical, financial, vocational, persecution.
Joy is possible because trials can be counted as spiritual assets; they refine faith.
Illustrations
- Persecuted believers in restrictive nations; isolation during a pandemic; everyday setbacks.
- Rain falls on “just and unjust” alike—belief does not exempt from hardship.

“Because you know…” (James 1:3) points to informed faith.
Testing = “dokimion” (Greek): proving authenticity, as gold refined by fire (1 Peter 1:7).
Purpose: produce perseverance/endurance (stick-to-it-iveness), leading to maturity.
Faith grows only through exercise; Scripture reading is vital but must be lived out.
Fire imagery: impurities (“dross”) rise and are removed; similarly, trials expose and remove spiritual alloy.

“Let perseverance finish its work” (James 1:4). God will not force growth; cooperation is required.
Goal: be “mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
Rich and poor alike are leveled by trials (James 1:9–11). Earthly status fades like wildflowers; true wealth is in Christ (“On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand”).
Parental metaphor: shielding children from every danger would keep them immature; likewise Christians must not shelter themselves from refining experiences.
Ephesians 2:8–10: saved by grace, fashioned as God’s workmanship for good works prepared in advance.

Wisdom is the primary prayer request in trials (James 1:5–8).
- Wisdom = ability to use knowledge rightly; not merely dismantling but reassembling life’s pieces.
- Ask “generously…without finding fault.”
- Must ask in faith—doubting person likened to wind-tossed waves, unstable, double-minded.
Illustration: Donkey in a well—shakes off each shovel of dirt and steps up until free. Wisdom teaches believers to “shake it off and step up.”

Trials are divinely permitted tools for spiritual formation, not evidence of abandonment.
Joy, understanding, surrender, and believing prayer form a holistic response that leads to victory.
Earthly distinctions (wealth, status, geography) dissolve under God’s refining process.
Perseverance yields the “crown of life” promised to those who love the Lord (James 1:12).

Anticipate hardship; refuse victimhood by immediately re-framing trials as growth opportunities.
Keep a “faith ledger”: list blessings, answered prayers, and character gains during difficulties.
Daily ask God for wisdom; record insights and act on them promptly.
Practice surrender: identify one area of resistance to God’s will this week and consciously yield it.
Support persecuted believers—prayer, giving, advocacy—remembering the universal family of faith.
When “dirt” is thrown (criticism, loss, illness), intentionally “shake it off and step up” through worship, Scripture, and community.

Echoing James, Pastor Tim challenges hearers to persevere so as to receive the crown of life.
Question posed: “Which do you love more—this world or Christ?”
Invitation to shake off present burdens, step up in faith, and walk out of the “well” of despair into victorious living.

Thanksgiving for the Word and gathered community.
Petition for internalization of Scripture, transformation into wisdom, and courageous perseverance.
Commitment to serve a world “that desperately needs Jesus.”

Recorded Sunday, January 18th, 2026
Message by Pastor Tim Ward
Scripture: James 1:2-12