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Living Hope SDA Church

Christian Martin

The Purpose of Trials

And I think you're going to agree with me that if we're going to trust and obey and come to the conclusion that there is no other way, we're going to have to understand the purpose of trials.

And that is our prayer as we open God's Word today.

Let's bow our heads together as we acknowledge Him.

The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

But first, Lord, open our eyes of understanding to understand the purpose of trials.

The most difficult time, it seems, to trust and obey.

So Lord, may the Holy Spirit reveal to us your purpose.

The phrase has been a well-known call and response among Christian communities for many, many years, and we know it here.

And the reason it's often repeated is because the expression, God is good, can be found in various ways, in different places throughout the books of the Bible.

In the historical book of Genesis, the book of beginnings, God repeats, it is good, it is good, it is good, It is good.

He repeats it is good after every act of creation.

Because all things were created by a God who is very good himself.

In the poetic books of the Bible, the psalmist, he says, oh, 0, taste and see that the Lord is what?

Among the minor prophets, Micah, he asked the rhetorical question, Who is a God like you who pardons us, who pardons sin, and forgives the transgressions of the remnant of his inheritance?

It's a rhetorical question because a question does not require an answer.

It's clearly understood throughout the Old Testament.

And it's no different in the New Testament.

In the Gospel writings, the Lord Jesus himself and his humanity explicitly taught that only God is good.

And the Apostle Paul reminds us that all things, all things work together for what?

Because they're in an intimate relationship with the God who is good.

And not surprisingly, the fruit of the Spirit, who is the third person of the Godhead, includes goodness.

Because, let's say it together, God is good.

I'm glad you say amen because I agree with you.

Yet, yet, life in this world seems to be bombarded continuously with bad news.

Just when you think that nothing worse could happen, something happens.

And the doctor replied, well, you only have 24 hours to live.

And the patient said, he cried out, I can't imagine how it could get worse than that.

And the doctor replied, well, I forgot to tell you yesterday.

It's okay to find humor in this because we have to laugh sometimes because we're not laughing, we're crying.

But, but, but, but, The reality is though that it does happen.

The sad reality is that it often does feel that things could not get worse in the world today.

When I turn on the news, I think to myself, whoa, how, how can it get any worse than this?

We live in very unique times, very unique times.

There's, There's shaky ceasefire deals and fragile peace talks.

That's in the world stage, but I know that it's not easy for many of us here.

Somebody is feeling unsafe at your work and even at a grocery store.

Someone is experiencing the loss of a loved 1 and battling with a terrible disease.

There's someone here today that's having difficulty coping with finances.

There's Someone here navigating through financial challenges.

Someone here today is facing the fear of, yes, losing your job or seeing your friend lose their job.

And we can go on and on because it's the story of the human race.

We live in a broken fallen world and we find ourselves time and time again facing circumstances that we just don't understand.

And it seems to be the same agonizing prayer since the time of the ancient prophets who experienced trials just as we experienced trials in the 21st century.

Why is my faith in you, God, being tested with difficulty and adversity?

If we'll read through the book of Psalms, We find David expressing this very prayer in many different ways.

We find prophets of old crying out to God and saying, God, I followed your calling, I'm faithful to you, but I want my life to end.

And as we as we deal with this as Christians, it's not easy.

Because as we just found out, God is good.

It goes from a declaration to a question.

And sadly, often times it goes from a question to doubt.

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The Purpose of Trials

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