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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Carissa Vitorovic

No Trial Wasted

Heavenly Father, God, Lord, we are so privileged to be here on your beautiful Sabbath day.

Lord, I just want to thank you for my brothers and sisters here.

Father, we are here to learn from your Word, to receive a message from you.

Father, I just pray May your Holy Spirit speak.

We thank you and we pray in Jesus' name, amen.

Please turn with me in your Bibles to Hebrews.

We are in the book of Hebrews, and this morning we will be considering our theme text found in Hebrews chapter 12, verses 5 and 6.

Hebrews chapter 12, beginning in verse 5.

The Bible says, And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons.

My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him.

For whom the Lord loves, he chastens and scourges every son whom he receives.

Now, no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful.

Nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been what?

Notice with me, does it say that everyone will experience the peaceable fruits of righteousness?

You see, 2 of us could go through the same trial.

If I grit my teeth and I will bear this trial out, I will lose my blessing.

Whereas if I say, Lord, I want to be trained through this trial, Lord, change my character, Lord, guide me through the trial.

When we are trained thereby, that is when we receive the blessing.

Is that clear from this passage this morning?

Continuing now to further reiterate this point, we are in James chapter 1.

James chapter 1, and we are going to be looking at verses 2 through 4.

The Bible says, My brethren counted all joy when you fall into various trials.

Now how many of you counted all joy naturally when you fall into trials.

When that person cuts you off on the freeway, when you stub your toe on the side of the bed, does it naturally come forth from us?

But that is what we are encouraged and counseled here.

Again, we are told, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials.

Verse 3, knowing that the testing of your faith produces what?

But let your patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

Your patience needs to have its perfect what?

If I just sit there and I'm gritting my teeth or I'm just going to make it happen, am I going to experience the blessing of the trial?

It is only when I allow that trial to work that perfect work in me.

It is only when I can look at that trial and say, Lord, I am going to choose to rejoice.

That is when the trial can bring a lasting change in my life.

It is when we again turn to God and allow God to take that trial and turn it into a blessing.

This morning we are going to be considering together 5 ways that we can either despise the chastening, as Paul put it, or as I will share today, lose the blessing of the trial.

5 ways in which we might be tempted to lose the blessing of the trial and how we can again experience the victory in Christ.

The first way in which we often lose the blessing of the trial is when we murmur at the trial.

How often we look at the Israelites of old and we think, what were you thinking?

Do you not realize that God brought you through that Red Sea?

Do you not realize that he is pouring down manna from heaven?

Do you not see the ways that God is providing for you?

And yet you are questioning Him, and yet you are saying, God, where are you?

Or maybe we consider the story of Elijah, A man again of great faith.

And there he stood, a fearless defender of the truth.

And he called down by the grace of God fire from heaven.

He sees the prophets of Baal slaughtered before him.

This great man of faith that knew the rain would come, though he only saw the drought.

And yet, just a couple days later, he is running for his life from an angry woman.

How does this man go from being this incredible man of faith to running for his life, terrified of a human being?

And we look at these examples and we say, how Is that possible?

And yet then we find ourself in the longest line possible at the grocery store.

Or we find ourself facing our boards or the final exams.

And there we are saying, Lord, it's enough.

For a trial so much less, we are willing to die.

You've heard it said before somewhat humorously, if you pray for patience, expect delays.

Have you ever prayed for patience and then every single car on the freeway cuts you off?

You pray to have a deeper love for others and then your heart is broken.

You pray for these experiences and then it seems to go all wrong and you say, God, why?

And yet you see, it is often indeed through the trial itself that God is answering our prayer.

It is through the trial that God is giving us that opportunity to grow.

In the book, Ministry of Healing, we read it this way.

She says, each 1 has a personal battle to fight.

Not even God can make our characters noble or our lives useful unless we become co-workers with Him.

Those who decline this struggle lose the strength and joy of victory.

Today do you want to experience the strength and joy of victory?

It says not even God can make our characters noble unless we become coworkers with Him.

This is not a work we do in and of ourselves.

We cannot in and of ourselves go through a trial praising God for it.

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No Trial Wasted

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