There's a story that's told about a soldier who was finally coming home after a fault in Vietnam. He called his parents from San Francisco and he said, Mom and Dad, I'm coming home, but I have a favor to ask. I have a friend I'd like to bring home with me. Sure, they replied. We'd love to meet him. There's something you should know, the son continued. He was hurt pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a landmine and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go and I want him to come live with us. I'm sorry to hear that, son, maybe we can help him find somewhere to live. No, mom and dad, I want him to live with us. Son, said the father, you don't know what you're asking. Someone with such a handicap would be a terrible burden on us. We have our own lives to live and we can't let something like this interfere with our lives. I think you should come home and forget about this guy. He'll find a way to live on his own. At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him, and a few days later, however, they received a call from the San Francisco police. Their son had died after falling from a building, they were told. The police believed it was suicide. The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken to the city morgue to identify the body of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror, they also discovered something they didn't know. Their son had only one arm. and one leg. Sometimes we bring trouble on ourselves. Other times it occurs apart from our intervention. That is true for many of us, but there is a prevalent attitude that needs to be present in all of us. In Philippians 4.13, Paul said, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Those words which were spoken by a man who had just been put in jail, he had been beaten, are the words for us today. In fact, those very words were the reason why he could also say in Philippians 4.4, rejoice in the Lord. And again, I say rejoice. No matter what the situation you face, you can remain intact. In 2nd Corinthians 4.8, it says we are pressed on every side, yet not crushed, we are perplexed. but not in despair, persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed." Verse 17 says, "...for our light affliction is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." What comforting words. Paul says our afflictions are for a moment, and our afflictions are working for us. I don't know if you realize this, but trouble in our life is normal. It's a way of life. Jesus said in John 16, 33, in the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. Paul said he was troubled on every side. Job and Job 14, 1 said, man who was born of a woman is a few days and full of trouble. If life with its troubles is appointed for us, then we need to learn how to accept it. But not only should we accept it, we should know how to respond when it occurs. Now, as James is writing this letter to his scattered congregation, he has this in mind in verses 2 through 12 as he writes. He wants his readers to see that you can know how to respond to trouble in a way that glorifies God. This morning I want us to look at four ways of how we can respond to trouble in our lives. The first one is found in verses 2-4. And that is simply this, shout with joy. Shout with joy. You say, in the midst of trouble, I can shout with joy? I want to shout and scream when I'm in trouble. Well, look at what he says. Verse 2, My brethren, Count it all joy when you fall into various trials." The phrase, count it all joy, simply means to consider it or to evaluate it as a means of joy. Now, I understand as well as you do, we have to look hard to find a means of rejoicing in the trouble that we're experiencing. But let me say this, we're not necessarily rejoicing in the trouble, but we're rejoicing in some other factors that are found here in this passage. He says, count it all joy. Well, let me give you a couple of reasons how you can shout with joy. Number one, because of what you can't do. Because of what you can't do. I want you to notice a word that's found in verse two. He says, count it all joy when. In the Greek grammar that's found here in this passage, it could be translated whenever. You can't determine when trials will come. They will come. You can't pinpoint that. Trials come at an undetermined time in our life. Their arrival cannot be pinpointed beforehand. It's not like some tragedies that we can avoid before they come, given a little bit of information, but trials come at times when we're not prepared for them, or at least we're not looking for them. We're always looking for the brighter side of life, obviously. But James says you can't determine when trials will come. Number two, he says you can't avoid trials when they come. Notice that he says whenever you fall into trials, the word fall means to fall in the midst of. You remember the man that was going down to Samaria and he fell among robbers. He didn't know that they were there hiding behind the rocks. He didn't know that he was fixing to get jumped. He didn't know he was fixing to be beaten and left for dead. He didn't know any of those things. His trials could not be avoided when they came, and his trials could not be determined when they came. And something else, you can't estimate how hard they will be. Notice he says, count it all joy when you fall into various trials. The word various is not emphasizing the number of the trials that you go through, but it's emphasizing the diversity of those trials. The word various there means multicolored. are variegated. It's talking about different types of trials. We all go through different types of trials in our life. But we can shout for joy when we go through them. We can consider it as a means or evaluate it as a means of rejoicing, but not because of what you can't do, but because of what you know. You see, I'm not rejoicing in the trials I go through, but I'm rejoicing at what He says in verse 3. He says, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience or a better word would be endurance or perseverance. You see, this is a test we've all have been listening to the radio at one time or another, and we get that annoying little commercial that comes on and it says this is a test for the next 60 seconds. The broadcasters in your area have conducted the test. If this had been an actual emergency, you've been notified and so so and so on. I mean, we all probably know it by heart. But sometimes, you know, that's what the Holy Spirit does to us. We go through some of the tests in our life and you hear this little beep in your heart and it says, wake up, it's a test. We'll say, well, why am I being tested? You're being tested to reveal the strength or the validity of your faith. You know, every trial that you go through will strengthen you. It will cause you to do a self-evaluation to find out what the resources are that you're holding on to. It will cause you to look at your faith and seeing, are you holding tightly to Christ as you go through this turmoil in your life? Notice what he says. He says, knowing that the testing of your faith. The word knowing there is this idea of knowing through experience. It's a personal knowledge. You know personally that the testing of your faith produces patience. The idea of testing here is approving. Look at what he says over in verse 12. He says it again. Blessed is the man who endures temptation for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him. The crown of life comes to those who love the Lord, those who have passed the test. Now I said last week, and I'll say it this week since we're here, verses 2-12 refer to trials, verses 13-18 refer to temptation. What's the difference? You know, it's interesting in the Greek grammar, he uses the same word for both of them. But when he's talking about trials, he's talking about the pressures that come in your life that break up that tranquility in your life. They break up that pattern of peace, that pattern of happiness. And if you respond correctly, it remains a trial. You pass the test, it remains a trial. But if you cave in under the pressure, it now becomes temptation. It becomes an opportunity for a solicitation to evil. You say, well, how does that work out? Well, say you're going through a really tough time in your life. And instead of going to God and trusting God and just pouring out your heart before Him, You find yourself getting bitter. You find yourself not wanting to pray. You find yourself not wanting to be in God's Word. In fact, in your heart, you find yourself holding your fist up and you're saying, God, I just don't understand why you're doing this to me. I can't live for you anymore. That has now become a temptation to sin. In fact, I would just honestly say, if you get that far, you have entered into sin. And he's going to talk about that in verses 13 through 18, how to deal with that. But for the most part, we need to understand that the trials that we face in our life, they come at different times. We never know when they're going to come, but we can still evaluate it as a means of rejoicing because of what we know. We know that the testing of our faith produces patience. This is what Job 23.10 says, but he knows the way that I take When he has tested me, I shall come forth as gold." Over in 1 Peter 1.7, it says that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. You see, the trials are there to reveal the strength of our faith, but they're also there to reveal whether you're a Christian. They're there to test you in that regard. Notice again, 1 Peter 1. He says that the genuineness of your faith, your faith will be tested. You remember, we talked about the conditions of the souls in that parable found in Mark 13 or Matthew 13, rather. Each one of those experienced some form of test to reveal the validity of that faith. I was reading this morning over in Deuteronomy. In fact, if you'd like to turn there, it's found in Deuteronomy chapter eight. And I was just thinking about all the things that Israel went through, you know, and sometimes we obviously say Israel brought these things on themselves, and I can say that a lot of the trouble they experienced they did bring on themselves. God told them to choose this day who you're going to serve. He told him, said, you choose, you know, which which way you're going to go. The left hand will be blessing. The right hand will be cursing. If you choose to obey me, you'll have blessing. If you choose to disobey me, all the things that I was bringing on the nations to drive them out before you, I will bring them on you. And as I shared with you last week, Israel experienced some scatterings because of their disobedience. But over in Deuteronomy 8, as Moses is reiterating this to the new generation, telling them about all the things that they had experienced, notice something that's found here. He says in verse one, every commandment which I command you today, you must be careful to observe that you may live and multiply and go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to your fathers. And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these 40 years in the wilderness. Notice this, to humble you and to what? Test you. To know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. How about that? He tested them to see what was in their heart. Now, the issue is when God tests us, not for Him to find out what's in our heart, but for us to find out what's in our heart. The tests are for us. The tests are not for God. He knows what's in our heart. Our hearts are open before Him. The Bible tells us in Proverbs that the sons of men, their hearts are open before Him. He tries and tests the hearts of men. So He knows what's there. But it's for us to do that evaluation. I was thinking also over in Genesis 22. You remember when Genesis 22, when God told Abraham to go up to Mount Moriah and sacrifice his son on an altar? You know what it says in the first part of that passage? Let me read that to you. It says, Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham. It was a test. And in that situation, it was a test to see whether he loved God more than his only son. And you know, he passed the test, didn't he? He was willing to sacrifice his son because God told him to do that. In fact, you read nowhere in that account where he questioned God. He went on a three day journey. He rose up early in the morning. I don't know about some of us, but I might be like you. I'd sleep in that day. I'd rise up later in the day. I would take six days to get there. That wasn't true with Abraham. He rose up. He went early. He took the three day journey and he trusted God through every single bit of it. And God provided. Even though that didn't fit his theology about God. I mean, nowhere in the scripture do we find child sacrifice. As being promoted by God, that was what was promoted by the pagans. But he was obedient and he was faithful. But notice, not only is he testing our faith, but notice that he's producing endurance in your life. Look down at the last part of verse three. We can personally know that the testing or the proving of our faith, it produces patience right, right next to that word endurance. A better word is endurance or perseverance. Each time you go through a trial, your faith muscles, if you will, are stretched and they're strengthened. They're put to the test. And each time you come through that trial, you have produced perseverance and endurance in your life. The word patience is better translated endurance. Listen to what Romans 5 verse 3 says. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulation, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance and perseverance character and character hope. You see, he uses the same terminology. He can glory in tribulations because he knows that tribulation as its outcome, as its result, will produce perseverance. And that will produce character. And then that will produce hope. I know some of you in here might be crumbling under the trials you're experiencing, but I would just pray that you would get this and you would find a means of rejoicing. Not rejoicing in the trial itself, but rejoicing in what the trial is going to do. You know, sometimes we think we've got to know the answers for everything we go through. There are a lot of things on this side of heaven we'll never know the answer. Well, we know it when we get in glory. And then we'll find ourselves going right back to James chapter 1. Oh, God, you were testing me. You were producing perseverance in my life. Please keep this in mind as well. You might want to write this verse right there in your margin. First Corinthians 10, 13. No temptation has overtaken you except such as common to man. But God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation. will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." You know, we pray, God, get me out of this situation. God, I can't handle this anymore. He's not going to give you any more than you can handle, any more than you can bear. But notice, the way out of the temptation, the way out of the trial is through it. He says, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape. Now, we can shout for joy. We can find ourselves in that means of shouting for joy because of what we can't do, because of what we know, but also because of what the end result will be. Look down at verse 4. But let endurance or perseverance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. Right next to that verse, spiritual maturity. All of us want to grow in the Christian life. All of us want to grow in our faith. And we say, God, make me mature in the faith. Did you know that trials is the means by which he brings you to spiritual maturity? Because see, if you have no trouble in your life, you have no means of that faith being tested. Then how can it grow? How can you do that internal valuation and how can you see that your resources are inadequate and how can you see that Christ's resources are perfect for your life? He's sufficient. What about Paul? He had this eye problem and he prayed to the Lord three times to remove it. And God chose to keep it there. And he said, my grace is sufficient for you. You see, before Paul prayed that prayer, he said it was because of the abundant revelations that he was receiving, that God sent a messenger from Satan to buffet me, to keep me down, to humble me. Sometimes I don't think we understand that humility is where God wants to keep us. I'm talking about humility of heart. I'm talking about having this humble demeanor about yourself. I'm talking about having this means to where you're not proud before God. You know, over in Proverbs 6, it says these six things the Lord hates, seven are an abomination. You know, the first one listed is talking about pride. God hates pride. Well, he says here, because of the end result, you can rejoice in God because you will be perfect and complete. The word perfect means mature. If you go over to chapter three, he uses the word again in verse one. He says, My brother, let not many of you become teachers. Knowing that we shall receive a stricter condemnation, but we all stumble in many things, if anyone does not stumble in word, he is perfect or he is a perfect man able also to bridle the whole body, the same word. If you don't stumble in word, then you have a mature mouth, a mature tongue. Sometimes we say things, sometimes we inject foot and close mouth right on our foot, don't we? We say some of the things that we wish we could retract. But when we find ourselves with a bridle under our tongue, we find ourselves maturing in that aspect. When you're perfect and complete, you know what happens? End of verse 4, you lack nothing. You lack nothing. The word lacking nothing means to be left behind. James says that you will not be left behind. You will not lack at all. There won't be anything that's lacking in your life. You'll be mature, spiritually mature. Now we can shout for joy. Notice verse five. We can cry out for help. You know, if you can't seem to understand verses 2-4, and can't seem to get that in your mind and understand that, you can cry out for help. You can call on God and He'll help you in those times of trouble. Look at what He says, verse 5, If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. You can cry out for help. There's no better reason. Because we need wisdom. You know, this verse literally reads this way. If any of you lacks wisdom, and he does, let him ask of God. James assumes the fact that you need wisdom when you're going through trials. Now, I've heard this verse applied to a myriad of situations, but if you take the context, he's talking about the trouble in your life. When you're going through that trouble, pray. Ask God to help you. Sometimes we just close off heaven, don't we? We close the Word of God, we close our prayer life, and we don't talk to God. We think we can handle that on our own, and we're just being foolish at that point. We can't handle it on our own, and God doesn't want you to not talk to Him when you're going through this trouble. He wants you to pray. He wants you to depend on Him. He wants you to trust Him. He wants you to talk to Him. He says if any of you lack wisdom, we need wisdom. We need God's Wisdom. You don't need philosophical speculation. You don't need worldly wisdom. You need wisdom that is from above. Proverbs 3.7 says, Do not be wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and depart from evil. Ephesians 5.17 says, Therefore, do not be unwise. So we need to recognize that, don't we? Romans 12.16 says, Do not be wise in your own opinion. And equally, Proverbs 2.10 says, when wisdom enters your heart and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, discretion will preserve you, understanding will keep you. We need wisdom in the midst of those trials. So there's no better reason and there's no better place than to ask God, is there? God is the source of wisdom. Proverbs 2.6, for the Lord gives wisdom, from his mouth come knowledge And understanding, you know it's a very interesting story about Solomon. God asked him, what do you want? If God asked you that, what do you want, what would you answer? Riches? Nice house, nice car? A boat? Paid for a nice house, nice car? Solomon said, wisdom. Let me have the wisdom to know how to handle the things you give me. Let me have wisdom so I can make the right choices, make the right decisions. Let me have wisdom as I go through the series of events in my life. God told him he asked for a great thing, and because he asked for the right thing, He also gave him riches. Sometimes our prayer life is asking for the wrong things. That's why God won't let you win the lottery. You know that? You wouldn't know what to do with it if you want it. You say, but I'd give it to God. Yeah, you'd give it to God, right? After you spent 90 percent of it, right? 99 percent. Ecclesiastes 2.26, Solomon came to this in his life. He says, God gives wisdom and knowledge. Now, the book of Ecclesiastes is where he perverted that wisdom. One of the perversions was having a thousand wives, wasn't it? With a thousand wives came a thousand opinions. God is a source of wisdom, but notice what he says in verse 5. God is a giving God. He gives to us liberally. He says, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally. The word liberally there means freely, without any restraint. He gives it to us generously. And then notice what else he says. He gives without any reproach. He says he gives to us generously and without reproach. And the word reproach there means to be rebuked. He gives it to you without scolding you for asking. God doesn't scold you when you come to Him and say, God, I need wisdom for this situation that I'm going through. He's not going to say, oh, be quiet. You shouldn't be asking. I gave you wisdom last time. What did you do with it? You squandered it all up. He doesn't do that. He wants you to keep coming. Keep coming. You know, that's the wonderful thing about when Jesus died on the cross and the veil in the temple was ripped right in two. You know what God was saying then? He was saying, come in. Come on in. Dine with me. Stay with me. Won't you stay a while?" Before that, He was saying, stay out. Don't come in here. You come in here, I'll consume you because I am holy. And because of the sacrifice that Jesus did on the cross, He has made access for all of us, hasn't He? We don't have to go through a priest. We don't have to go through a person. We go through the Lord Jesus Christ, don't we? He's provided that access. So he's a giving God, he doesn't scold us for asking. So we can say also, there's no better way. Look at what he says. Verse six, but let him ask in faith with no doubting. We are to ask God in faith when we come to him asking for that wisdom, we need to come with faith. The word faith here refers to confidence in prayer. We come to Him confidently, asking God, knowing that He won't scold us for asking because He is a generous God. He'll give us the wisdom that we need to go through this troubling situation we're facing. James 5.15 says, in the prayer of faith, Matthew 21.22, Jesus said, in all things, whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you'll receive. One writer says the answers from God depend on our assurance in God. And of course, you know Hebrews 11.6 by now. I've quoted it so many times. But without faith, it's impossible to please Him. For he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. So we're to come asking in faith. Secondly, we're to come by not doubting. Look at what he says, verse 6. Let him ask in faith with no doubting. The word doubting there means to be divided, to be at variance with oneself, to waver, We're coming to God and we're saying, God, I'd like to have some wisdom, but I don't know about that. I don't know if you'll give that to me. That's wavering. That's doubting that he'll do it. Instead, we should come to God in confidence and saying, God, I need the wisdom to go through this trial. You know I need it. And you said you'll give it to me. And I'm coming believing, I'm coming asking in faith. Lord, I really need help going through this trouble in my life. I really need Your help. I can't do this on my own. And according to Your Word, You said I don't have to do this on my own. You're right there with me. That's praying in faith. That's praying where you're not doubting. In 1 Timothy 2,8 it says, Therefore I desire that all men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and without doubting. Look at what he says about the one who doubts. The one who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. In other words, there's no stability there. You've been down to the beach and you see the waves come in and then they pull back and they crash on the rocks. There's no stability there. Well, that's what your prayer life is like if you don't come believing God when you pray. If you don't come asking in faith, your prayer life is all shattered with doubt and confusion, lack of stability. Notice what else he says, verse 7, "...but let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." Do you know what a double-minded man is? This is a man that is divided in his heart. He's divided in his interests. He's unstable. That is, he's inconsistent. He's inconsistent in his ways. The word literally means, too sold. He's going in two directions. It's like the guy that jumped on the horse and drove off madly in all directions. He's not focused. He's not centered on God. He's wavering. A lot of damage occurs right here. Willie gives us a third. In verses 9-11, he says, you need to balance your perspective. You need to balance your perspective. When you're going through trials, you can shout for joy. If you don't understand and find the means in which you can rejoice, you can cry out for help. But notice this, you need to balance your perspective. There are very interesting passages found here in verses 9-11. Look at what he says. First he says, consider the poor brother. Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation. Now, he says you need to recognize the situation of the lowly brother. This is the one who is without possessions. He is poor. He's one who is financially poor. He's low down on the socioeconomic scale. In fact, in James 4.6, he is one who is of humble means. He says you need to learn from this humble man, this man who has no possessions to put his trust in. It says, let the lowly brother glory, that is, boast in his exaltation. He can't boast right now in his present situation, but he can boast in the future because he's a poor brother, he doesn't have anything in this world to trust in, but he can glory and get excited in the fact that God is going to exalt him one day far above he was in this earthly life. He's going to be exalted. And he can glory on that account. The word exaltation there refers to his present spiritual status because he is a child of God. He is exalted in the realm of God. I'll tell you something. None of us are poor in the economy of God. We might experience poverty on this earth. We might go without a lot of things. And I tell you what, we're better off with some of the things that we go without, aren't we? But I tell you, in the economy of God, we're all going to be the same. John MacArthur says, the poor Christian may have nothing in the material world to rejoice about, but he can rejoice in that he is exalted in the spiritual realm in his standing before God. He may be hungry, but he has the bread of life. He may be thirsty, but he has the living water. He may be poor, but he has eternal riches. He may be cast aside by men, but he has been received by God. He may have not a home here, but he has a glorious home and a life to come. You see, he can rejoice in that. What does that do for us? That balances us out. We look at that lowly brother, that poor brother, and we say, listen, things aren't right right here now, but they will be one day. What about the rich man? Consider the rich man. Look at verse 10. But the rich man, in his humiliation because of the flower of the field, he'll pass away. You say, well, what in the world is he talking about here? He's saying, well, he's to boast as well. The idea of glorying is implied from verse 9. So the rich man is to glory also in the fact that he's brought low. You know what James is saying? He's saying both the rich man and the poor man are brought to the same level in trials. The rich man can't deliver himself because he's rich. The poor man can't deliver himself because he's poor. We were all delivered from the same means. We all need the same wisdom, as verse 5 tells us. We all need to rejoice, as verse 2 tells us. We're all experiencing the testing of faith, whether you're rich or whether you're poor. So we need to balance that in our perspective. He's to boast His wealth. He's also to depend upon the Lord. He is to glory in His humiliation. He's just like a flower that one day will pass away. Right now He's blossoming in His life because of the possessions that He has. But one day, it will pass away. But notice verse 11. For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat, that's a Sisera, that's a real hot heat that came in the days of Israel. He says that this withers the grass, and its flower falls off, and its beautiful appearance perishes. He says so will the rich man fade away in his pursuits. If he doesn't boast in his humiliation, if he doesn't have the proper perspective, In the trials that he is facing, he will be just like these illustrations. The blossoming flower one day will pass away. The burning heat will scorch the beautiful grass. And as the flower falls and its beautiful appearances perishes, he will pass away too in his pursuits, if his pursuits are not grounded on the same level as the poor man. He's got to be pursuing the same avenue. Well, that leads us to the fourth one. You're saying if I'm to go through these trials, and it's not really a matter of if, it's a matter of just when, because you're going to go through them. You're saying that I can evaluate this as a means of joy because of what I know, that the testing of my faith and what it's producing in my life. And if I don't understand that in my life, I can cry out to God for help and He'll give me the wisdom that I need. But at the same time, you're telling me I need to balance my perspective. What about my future? Is there anything else I can hold on to? Look at verse 12. Remember your reward. Blessed is the man who endures. Isn't that beautiful? God gives a promise to the person that endures. That endures through the trial. That remains intact. that comes to God in prayer when He needs help. You know the word blessed, just like the same word that was used in Matthew chapter 5 when we went through the Beatitudes. What did we say that word meant? A blissful kind of living. Happiness. Happy is the man who endures. Hey, what's it like for you when you go through that trial and you came through it? It's gone. You can rejoice in it. You're happy, aren't you? You passed. You passed the test. What comes out of your heart? Praise, adoration to God. You made it. Remember your reward, because it's for your endurance. Blessed is the man who endures temptation. It's also because you passed the test, because it says here, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love him. And the promise here is the crown. In fact, very interesting in the terminology here, it's either talking about a literal crown, or he's saying the crown is the life. Very interesting. So he's either talking about an actual crown, or he's talking about the crown being the life itself. And I don't know about you, whether God gives me a crown or not, just to have the life with Him. Hey, that exceeds any kind of crowns and trophies and accolades, doesn't it? Just to be with Him. And just to go through this life and you can say, when it's all said and done, it was really worth it. You might not be able to say that right now, but let me say this. You're charged with something if you pass that test. You know what that is? You're charged with giving that comfort that you received to someone else that's going through the same type of trouble in their life. Let me just point your attention to 2 Corinthians 1-3 and just listen to this. Blessed be the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation. Did you get that? All our tribulation, God comforts us, who comforts us in all of our tribulation that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God." The very comfort that God gives you in the midst of the troubles in your life, you're to take that comfort and you're to pass it on to a brother or sister that's going through trouble in their life. You know what that tells me? That tells me I'm not to sit here and be a pew-sitter and stare at the back of each other's heads. It tells me I'm to be involved in each person's life right here in this fellowship. When I ask them, hey, what's going on? I really want to know what's going on. And if I can pray with you and if I can get down there and hug you and say, listen, it'll be OK. Hang in there. That's what we're to do. God comforts us. Sometimes you may experience a person right here in this fellowship that's going through the same thing that you went through. It may have been years ago. And you can turn around and say, listen, I went through that and God was so faithful. He helped me through that trial. He helped me out of the trouble of that trial. And He gave me the comfort. Listen, I want to just tell you that you can rest in God. You can trust Him. And you don't have to worry about this because God will take care of that. How do I know that? Because He did it for me. And it says right here in His Word that He'll do it. I'm so thankful God gave us a book to read. Do you know why? Because we're creatures that forget, aren't we? And we can go back and re-read the promises of the Word of God right there. where He says He'll do it, and we can go back and say, Lord, You said You'll do it. You know what we do sometimes? He does those things so many times in our life. He floods us with so much, so many blessings in our life, and we forget about it. And we think, well, God ain't going to help me. We get on that poor pitiful me bandwagon. You know what? We find out that there's no riders on that bandwagon. There's not too many people that like to jump on that wagon and ride with you. I don't like that. I don't like that in my life. I don't want that poor, pitiful me. We all go through it, but we've got to snap ourselves out of it because we've got to look at our trials as a means of rejoicing because of what we know. We know that this is a test of my faith and that God will provide the wisdom that I need to go through this trial as I go through it. And there is promised right here in verse 12, the crown of life for enduring. So if you walked in here discouraged this morning, let me just say this. You're not the only one on the face of the earth that's experienced discouragement. And let me just say this, too. God can comfort you. It might go on for days. Might even go on for weeks. But he's there. He said over in Hebrews that he'll never leave you nor forsake you. You're a believer here this morning. He is right there in your life. He lives inside of you. In fact, it says in John 14 that the Son and the Father both come and make their abode in you. Isn't that great? The word abode there means to be at home. He is at home in your life. And if He's so close, and He's right there, He's like, you know, you're driving in your vehicle, And you're there all alone. You think you are anyway. You know who's sitting in the passenger seat? God Himself right there. We ought to acknowledge that He's right there, shouldn't we? We ought to relate the whole events, all the events that are going on in our life, right here to His presence. You know, sometimes I drive over the bridge, and when it was real early in the morning, and I'd have to drive over to the other side of town, sometimes I'd see just a beautiful, the sky was just so beautiful. What do I do? I'd say, hmm, that looks good. No, God, that is so beautiful. You gave me eyes to be able to see that. And just think, the very God that lights up the sky and does all these mighty things is right involved in your heart, right involved in your life, the very little details. He knows every single thing you go through. You walk outside and you see the very details of creation and He knows every single thing about it because He made it. And think about your life. He's involved in every single detail of your life. Let me tell you about one area he's involved in, and that is if you're here this morning and you've never met him in a personal way, he's involved in bringing you to himself. Isn't that neat? How does he do that? Well, he does it in several ways. He does it by the preaching of the Word of God. You say, is that any word? No, it's a specific speech about Christ. Faith comes about hearing, hearing by the Word of God. The word hearing there, or the speech there, the Word of God, is not talking about just anything taught out of the Bible. It's talking about the very specific things about Jesus Christ. When we talk about the Lord Jesus Christ and what He's done on the cross for you, that begins to activate faith in your heart. The question is, are you willing to respond to it? Are you willing to act upon it? You see, if you're here this morning and you've never received Christ, then you're left to go through all these troubles in your life. You're left there to not have any direction. It's all confusing to you. And I tell you what, I was there. And just like I read in Psalm 40 this morning, he pulled me up out of a miry pit and he set my feet on a rock. He put a new song in my heart. Praise be to our God. Many will see it in fear and will trust in God. What's your life like this morning? What kind of struggles you face this morning when you walk in? Talk to God about it. He'll help you. He'll give it to you generously. He won't scold you for asking. I tell you what, when we do the altar call, when we give an opportunity to come down here and get on your knees, I think the whole church ought to get up and get on their knees.