How To Handle Trouble

[0:00] I'm going to go to the Word of God. So John chapter 16, if you've got your Bible. How to handle trouble. Now, I'm sure nobody here needs to hear this.

[0:13] ! How to handle trouble.

[0:36] Praise God. How can we face the troubles of life? Our Lord tells us how. How that in times of trouble and testing, we can know His grace and help.

[0:51] Even His presence and His peace. The Bible shows us how to get through trouble. So John 16 is where we're going to take it from. John 16 from verse 33.

[1:05] And we'll take it from just the one verse there, just to lead off the message tonight. John 16, 33, it says this. The Lord Jesus is speaking and He says, These things I've spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace.

[1:21] In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. Amen. The Lord says, In me you might have peace.

[1:35] In the world you shall have tribulation. Paul gave a like message in Acts 14, 22, where he talks about confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

[1:53] Paul says, We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. Tribulation, it speaks of hardships, and troubles.

[2:03] You can count on them. We can all count on having troubles in our life. As Job says, In Job 14 verse 1, it says, Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble. So if you're a man that's not born of a woman, it doesn't apply to you.

[2:18] But man that is born of a woman is of few days and life is full of trouble, isn't it? That's what the Bible is saying. So when we go through the dark times of life, it's like we're almost in God's dark room, if you like.

[2:31] You know, the old-fashioned processing of cameras and of negatives in a dark room. That's where the photographs get developed. And it's almost like for us, when we're in God's dark room, if you like, those dark times of life, that he's developing us, that God's developing us.

[2:48] And sometimes we're helped by being hurt. We know sometimes we're going to have dreadful operations. I know some can identify with that right here, right now. Dreadful operations that are actually going to help us because we're helped by being hurt.

[3:04] There was a skilled physician who was about to perform an operation on someone's ear, a delicate operation, and he said reassuringly to them, I may hurt you, but I will not injure you. Now, the operation gave that person a fuller life and more abundant health when their hearing was restored.

[3:21] And the hurt brought healing. And it's the same with life sometimes, isn't it? That trouble actually brings healing. We hear another example, for example, where a biologist was watching an ant carrying this huge load, a huge burden for its body weight.

[3:39] And it came to this crack in the earth, which was too wide for it to cross over. And it stood there for a time as if it was pondering what to do. And then the ant laid down the straw that was on his back across the crack and walked upon it.

[3:55] And it's like that with our burdens sometimes, isn't it? That our burdens actually can be a bridge for us. They can actually help us in our life. Because the Bible tells us, our Lord says, all things work together for good.

[4:06] So even the bad things of life, you might look back and have sad times, bad memories, that even that has been the strengthening of you. And it's for his glory.

[4:18] I guess it depends what we focus on sometimes. Because some people, it's almost like that they have just thorns, while others have roses.

[4:29] But really, everyone's got the both of them. You know, we all have roses and thorns. But sometimes we dwell on the thorns, instead of actually considering the roses.

[4:39] Let's major on the roses of our life, and not be, you know, overwhelmed telling of all our thorns. Because we could all tell our thorn stories, as it were.

[4:51] Someone has said, the Lord Jesus promised his disciples three things. They'd be completely fearless, absurdly happy, and in constant trouble. And as we started with there, that verse that we started with, our Lord says, in the world you shall have tribulation.

[5:05] It's guaranteed. Problems still are part of God's plan. It's actually for his purpose in us. And it's the making of us. People might have heard the evangelist David Ring.

[5:20] I don't know if anyone, who's familiar with David Ring? Yeah, you can see videos of him on the internet. And this man, David Ring, had a profound disability. He had cerebral palsy.

[5:31] And yet he was a preacher. And, you know, we could consider, obviously he had manifest speech impediment. And one of the things that he would say as he was preaching to a congregation there, despite his obvious speech difficulty, he said, I've got cerebral palsy.

[5:52] What's your problem? You know, if you think you've got problems, you know, let's get it in context. All right? And he was saying, when he was facing challenges, he would say, one of the things that he said was, don't ask why, you know, why me, God?

[6:07] Why has this happened to me? But ask what? What are you teaching me through this? You can all say, why can't we? Why God? But what God? What would you have me to learn through this?

[6:18] What are you teaching me through this experience? What are you teaching me about? So John 16, 33, again, we see that he says, I have spoken to you, that in me, you might have peace.

[6:31] In the world, you shall have tribulation, number one. But then he says, secondly, be of good cheer. There's a comfort. There's a cheer. There's a reassurance that he gives to us.

[6:41] And the Bible speaks of such. It tells us how our Lord God, he's the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble.

[6:54] By the comfort wherewith we, ourselves, are comforted of God. So the comfort we get is from the God of all comfort. And it's such that we can pass it on to comfort others.

[7:08] God can bring blessings out of the most difficult circumstances of our lives. It's been said, the crushed grape is that which yields the wine. It's the crushed grape.

[7:20] George Mueller put it like this, that God delights to increase the faith of his children. We ought, instead of wanting no trials before victory, no exercise for patience, to be willing to take them from God's hand.

[7:33] I say, trials, obstacles, difficulties, and sometimes defeats are the very food of faith. Consider that. The very food of our faith can be those difficult things of life.

[7:48] A teacher was teaching about the Bible verse our Lord says, take my yoke upon you. My yoke is easy. And she asked the class, what does the yoke mean?

[7:59] And someone, one of the boys said, a yoke is something they put around the necks of animals. And the teacher asked the class, what is the yoke that God puts upon us? And a little girl said, it's God putting his arms around our necks.

[8:13] It's God's comfort, really. It's God's comforting. God is putting his yoke around our necks. He's putting his arms around us. Even in that time of difficulty, in that time of trial, we can know his comfort, his very comfort.

[8:26] God brings his comfort in our time of trial. These things I've spoken unto you, he says that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer.

[8:38] I have overcome the world. Notice he says, I have overcome the world. You shall have tribulation, yes, but notice he is with you. In him you can have peace and you can know his overcoming.

[8:53] It tells us who shall separate us from the love of Christ. Shall tribulation? No. Or distress? No. Persecution? Famine? Nakedness? Peril? Sword? No, no, no.

[9:04] Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. Spurgeon said of the three Hebrew children that were tested and put in the fire of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego as their Babylonian names were.

[9:17] He said, as sure as ever God puts his children in the furnace, he will be in the furnace with them. He will be with us in the furnace. He says, I have overcome the world.

[9:30] So think of it, brother, sister, tonight, as we think about troubles and talk a little further about application here, that he is our source. He is our shelter.

[9:41] He is our strength. He is your source. He is the source of your health. Find him in your trouble. It says in 2 Chronicles 15, 4, that when they were in trouble, it says, they did turn unto the Lord God.

[9:54] They turned unto the Lord God of Israel and sought him and he was found of them. It was when they were in trouble, they sought and found him. Psalm 46, 1, a familiar one, God is our refuge and strength, the very present help in trouble, in the trouble.

[10:10] He is the very present help and strength. He is the refuge. And then we see another one like that, Psalm 9, 9, the Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in time of trouble.

[10:24] He is your shelter. And when you are oppressed, it says, he is there. He is there. He is that refuge in time of trouble. So it's even in those oppressive times, those times of oppression, those times of weight, of effort, of strain, that he is your strength, friends.

[10:43] He is your strength, brother. He is your strength, sister, in the time of trouble. It says Psalm 37, 39, but the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. He is their strength when?

[10:54] In the time of trouble. So notice, it's when we're at our wits end, when we're feeling our weakest, when we're feeling most loaded, he is our strength right then, then and there, in the time of trouble.

[11:07] That's when he is your strength. So, in a way, don't shy away from trouble. It's in the time of trouble, then it is, that he is your strength.

[11:19] It's been said, man's extremity is God's opportunity. It's when we're at our tested times that we may most often be more relying and depending upon him.

[11:33] Amen? And that's a good thing. John Wesley had a terrible wife, apparently. It's one of the trials that he had right through his life, of his married life.

[11:43] He had a terrible wife. She tormented him beyond measure. And it's been said, though, that he said that he attributed most of his success to his wife.

[11:55] He says she kept him on his knees. And because he was on his knees, he had the victory. You know, he would be out ministering and she would be, I've heard stories about how she used to heckle him and, you know, really attack him, John Wesley's wife.

[12:12] So, you know, yet he counted it something that made him strong. He counted it something that gave him victory as he prayed through. The Lord will bless you and be with you in that time of trouble.

[12:28] And it's then we can know even more his presence. You know, there's many verses we could reckon, and I know I've referred to them in recent times too. For example, Isaiah 43. He says, So, brother, sister, be encouraged.

[13:00] Trouble should be more the time we should hang on to God and grow in our faith. Another illustration to kind of picture the trials and struggles of life, the example of the birth of a giraffe.

[13:19] Let me tell you what happens when a giraffe gets born. The first thing to emerge are the baby giraffe's front hooves and head. A few minutes later, the newborn calf comes forth.

[13:29] It falls 10 feet and lands on its back. Within seconds, he rolls to an upright position with his legs tucked under his body. And from this position, he considers the world for the first time.

[13:41] He shakes off the last bits of the birthing fluid from his eyes and ears, and the mother giraffe lowers her head long enough to take a quick look. Then she positions herself directly over her calf. She waits for about a minute, and then she does the most unreasonable thing.

[13:55] She swings her long, pendulous leg outward and kicks her baby so that he has sent sprawling head over heels. When he doesn't get up, the violent process is repeated over and over again.

[14:06] The struggle to rise is momentous. As the baby calf grows tired, the mother kicks the calf again to stimulate its efforts. And finally, the calf stands for the first time on its wobbly legs.

[14:19] Then the mother giraffe does the most remarkable thing. She kicks it off its feet again. Why? She wants it to remember how it got up. Because in the wild, baby giraffes must be able to get up quickly as possible in order to stay with the herd where there is safety because there's lions, hyenas, leopards, wild hunting dogs that all enjoy young giraffes.

[14:43] And they'd get it too if the mother didn't teach her calf to get up quick and get with it. And you could reflect how, in some ways, it's how God can strengthen us as we get kicked over and over again sometimes, that we can urge, he urges us to walk with him.

[15:02] It's a strengthening that actually happens that will make us stronger. That our faith will grow stronger. Amen? Through the trials and the troubles of life. That we will grow through that.

[15:13] And really, to not see trials and trouble as not normal, but they're actually a normal part of the Christian life. We see that in 1 Peter 4 verse 12 where Peter says, Think it not strange, beloved, concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened unto you.

[15:32] Think it not strange. It's not actually strange for you to have some trouble in your life. Believe it. It's actually not strange. It's actually normal. Think of Paul's life.

[15:43] You could reflect as this reference as to how he struggled with his life as a minister was absolutely full of suffering. He says in 2 Corinthians 11, he says there of ministry, of labours more abundant, stripes above matter.

[16:04] So that means he was whipped and beaten with rods, with floggings. In prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews, five times received I forty stripes, save one.

[16:19] Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned. Thrice I suffered shipwreck, and night and a day I have been in the deep. In journeying is often in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils by the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often.

[16:48] So we could consider that as sleepless nights. In hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness, beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.

[17:01] So he had much responsibility, and he had much burden, and much challenge. Another reference is 2 Corinthians 4, verse 8 through 10, where he tells again of the account of his life.

[17:16] This is the Apostle Paul. You know, this was not your best life now. He didn't have the health, wealth and prosperity gospel in that time. He says, We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed.

[17:29] We are perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken. Cast down, but not destroyed. Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

[17:43] And just another couple of references, 2 Corinthians 4, 17. And this is following on from what he just said there. For our light affliction, he says, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

[17:57] And 2 Corinthians 7, 5, it tells how when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side. Without were fightings, within were fears.

[18:08] So look at the record of Paul here. It tells of bodily suffering, of persecution, of rejection, of being loaded down with much burden and being afflicted.

[18:21] Timothy also, of him it says that he had often infirmities. That's 1 Timothy 5, 23. So there's a sense where you might have much challenges as a believer.

[18:34] You might be like Timothy, having frequent illnesses. It doesn't mean that God is not with you. It's rather more that he is your stream in that time. So believers, take heart.

[18:44] As we look at this context, as we look at these situations of testings and know some things that God can be for you. Firstly, God is in trials.

[18:56] He is there with you. He's in the furnace with you. He says, I shall never leave you nor forsake you. He's there with you. He cares. And trials can turn us to God.

[19:09] They can strengthen our character and develop our faith. When you face difficulties, when friends forsake you, when you suffer ill health, God has a purpose, our very best purpose for us.

[19:22] And he has that place where he wants us to find that complete dependence on him. Our trials develop our trust in him. So trust God more. Trust God more.

[19:33] Trials help us to do just that. In 2 Corinthians 1 verse 9, it reads that we should not trust in ourselves but in God which raiseth the dead. When we face times of depression and believers can be subject to depression.

[19:49] Times of depression. Times of feeling that things are difficult. Times of trouble. It's in such times through times of war and like a community kind of depression.

[20:05] In times of trouble, people have found that actually church attendance went up because men turned to God to find strength in their helplessness. So maybe Australia needs to go to war.

[20:16] So we'll get a few more people coming to church. But no, honestly, troubles can often awake men to their need of God. And that's their point. Psalm 107 verse 6 says, They cried unto the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them out of their distresses.

[20:32] Friends, you can turn to God in your trouble. They cried unto the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them out of their distresses. Paul tells us, this man of whom we've read of his great afflictions and challenge, he says, I am filled with comfort.

[20:50] I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation. God comforts at those that are cast down. God knows what we can carry in our lives.

[21:00] You might say, Preacher, I'm carrying some things lately. There's a story told about a young lad working in a print shop and the father was there piling some items into the young lad's hands to carry it to the other side of the shop.

[21:19] And the small lad stood and was there with his arms outstretched and the father kept piling more and more books into his arms. And someone asked the boy, Are you sure you can carry more?

[21:31] And the young fellow said, Father knows how much I can carry. It's the same with God. Brother, sister, God knows how much you can carry. And he knows the limit of your endurance.

[21:42] So know that you're in his hands and he knows what's best. When you're suffering, pray. Suffering teaches us to pray. James 5.13, it says, Is any among you afflicted?

[21:55] Let him pray. It's in those times when God is in the trial. Pray. Pray. Find his peace. Know his strength. Another thing that's in trials is not only is God in your trials, growth is in trials too.

[22:12] It's been said, as we know, a young butterfly will struggle and break through the cocoon. It's through that struggle that it finds strength.

[22:24] George Miller said, The only way to learn strong faith is to endure great trials. trials. I've learnt my faith by standing firm amid severe testings. And another thing is this verse says, John 15, verse 2, trials help us to bear more fruit in our Christian lives.

[22:41] So friends, there is that sense of the growth. There's growth in trials. Our Lord says, Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it, that it may bring forth much fruit, more fruit.

[22:56] So there's that sense where there's a purging, there's a cutting, a pruning of the vine such that it will be more fruitful. And so you might feel like God's cutting a few things here and there that's actually that you will be bearing more fruit in your Christian life.

[23:14] Another thing about trials is that they teach us obedience. Even our Lord learnt obedience by the things which he suffered. A child learns by experience. When they touch that hot stove, they learn by experience, hopefully.

[23:30] And a wise old man was asked to explain why he had such good judgement. He said his good judgement was the result of bad judgement. He'd learnt by experience. That can be so, can't it?

[23:40] We can think, I've learnt some things by doing the wrong things. So God is in a trial. God is in your trial. Growth is in the trial. Another thing that's in the trial is glory.

[23:51] There's glory in the trials. Trouble can be for the glory of God. Believe it or not, it's actually God will bring glory to himself from your trial.

[24:02] It says that of the blind man, the man born blind, God said, the Lord Jesus says that he was so born that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

[24:13] So you might not always understand the trials as actually God's going to bring glory out of that that you're going through. You may not see it this side or this time, it might not be until after, later, but you see God gets the glory.

[24:31] And as you endure trial, you'll be a testimony to others too. We see solid Christians, steadfast Christians that have gone through such great tests in their life, they're a testimony for the glory of God.

[24:45] It tells us in Romans 8, 17, if we suffer with him, we may also be glorified together. James says, count it all joy when you fall into different trials, diverse temptations.

[25:00] He says, count it all joy. Determined to be counting it a blessing. Count it something that you can joy in your God.

[25:11] Count it to his glory. It says, rejoice in the Lord always. And Romans 5, 3, 4, it says, Paul again, he says, we glory in tribulations because tribulation worketh patience, patience experience, experience hope.

[25:31] It's been said that he giveth songs in the night. That's one of the words of scripture. He gives songs in the night. So you think of those night times, the dark times, he gives those songs in the night, in those night seasons.

[25:45] It says, if you remove the rocks, the brook loses its song. You know, perhaps the rocks in the stream, as it were, the troubles in your life are actually going to bring forth a song.

[25:57] You can praise him. We see, as we know, Paul and Silas, they praised him in the night time. They gave songs and it was midnight. At midnight, they praised him.

[26:09] So even despite the sufferings that they had. Psalm 34, 19, it says, many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. So brother, sister, you might have some afflictions.

[26:21] It doesn't mean you're out of the will of God. Many are the afflictions of the righteous. Thank God he will deliver you out of them. But you've got to go through some times, you've got to go through some of those times.

[26:34] In Psalm 50, it says, call upon me in the day of trouble. I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. So we see there's glory in the trial.

[26:45] We see the giants of the faith of Hebrews 11. In part, it talks there, verse 37 through 38. They were stoned. You know, they were stoned to death, some of them.

[26:56] You know, what a brutal way to die, to be killed by rocks thrown upon your face and breaking your bones, killing you over an agonising death.

[27:07] They were sawn asunder. They were cut in two, in other words. They were tempted. They were slain with sword. They were wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins. They were destitute. In other words, they were poverty-stricken.

[27:19] They were afflicted and tormented, of whom the world was not worthy, it says. They wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. These are the heroes of the faith. These are the giants of the faith.

[27:30] They had their share of the hard road to travel. What about you, brother, sister? Are you going through the valley of affliction? It can be a lonely place. Don't throw in the towel or put up the white flag because we are part of the band of the more than conquerors.

[27:47] Now, for us to be more than conquerors, we've got to go through some fighting. For us to be more than conquerors, we've got to go through some battles. We've got to go through some things. We've got to go through some trials so that we can be more than conquerors.

[28:01] We can get victory. For us to get victory, we've got to have a fight. So don't give up, saint, when you're tested. Triumph comes through trials.

[28:13] 2 Corinthians 4.17, again, we've already read that one. Our light affliction is but for a moment. It worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. So there's eternal glory and gain.

[28:25] Saint of God. Don't give up when you face trouble. In trials, we find God. God is there. As he was with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, he was the fourth man in the furnace. God is with you in trials.

[28:38] There's growth in trials. Like that vine getting trimmed, like the testing of life that actually makes us stronger. There's growth in trials. There's glory in trials such that our life can be a testimony for the glory of God.

[28:53] That we'll be, for his glory, we'll be one of those heroes of the faith. We'll be seeing that there's a far more exceeding an eternal weight of glory. Another thing that's in trials is there's gold in trials.

[29:06] We see the trial of our faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth. Though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

[29:18] Friends, it's talking there that we rejoice now for a season, if need be, we're in heaviness through manifold temptations. So many temptations, there's many trials, many tests.

[29:29] Peter says, yes, we're going to be rejoicing even in this time of heaviness, even in this time of many temptations, of much testing. Why?

[29:40] That the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

[29:51] Peter's saying there, your trials will bring forth gold. We see the refining of a gold item, we see the purifying of it, it's through that testing, through that heat that it is made more precious, yet more precious.

[30:08] And trials help us to rely upon our Lord's strength. Again, Paul testifying of an occasion where he had a thorn in his flesh and look, you might be praying for things and God says, you've got to put up with it.

[30:24] Whatever it is you're trying to get rid of, it could be something. We don't know what the thorn was that Paul had, but God said, you've got to bear it. He said, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.

[30:39] Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then am I strong.

[30:57] Friends, I think the reality is a lot of Christians are not going to be ready for trouble. They're not going to be ready. They're not going to be able to hack it. Let's be honest tonight.

[31:09] How many are here and how many are not here? When the rubber hits the road, when things get tougher, I'm not saying we're necessarily going through the great tribulation.

[31:21] But I think it's clear we will go through much tribulation. Acts 14. You know, even there's a sense where we will face tribulation. We will, we are promised tribulation.

[31:32] I'm not saying necessarily the great tribulation. Yet, I think we're not ready. I think a lot of Christians are not ready for trouble.

[31:42] people. They just, they're so easily offended, so easily swayed, so easily weak. They're not ready.

[31:56] They're just going to be, if they can't fellowship and be an active Christian when the times are easy, how are they going to be when it gets harder? And friends, it is going to get harder.

[32:08] I believe, I think there's no question about that, that it will get harder. And it's been said you can take an artificial diamond and a genuine diamond, you cannot see.

[32:19] They might glisten the same in the sunshine and you can't tell the difference between an artificial diamond and a genuine one. But apparently when you take those two diamonds and you submerge them in the water, the artificial one loses its luster but the genuine one will continue to shine even under water.

[32:38] Friends, the genuine Christians will be seen when the trial comes, when the test comes, that he will get the glory. There will be gold in the trials. And if you're a real Christian, you're going to have gold.

[32:51] Your faith will come forth as gold. Friends, there's good in trials too. There's good in trials. For example, an oyster has that unwelcome grain of sand or gravel in its shell and the oyster then coats that unwelcome intruder with this gooey substance.

[33:09] eventually it hardens and becomes a beautiful pearl. What started as some irritation inside the clam, the oyster? What started as an unwelcome grain of sand, some gravel that irritated the oyster became, ultimately became a pearl, a beautiful pearl.

[33:29] So the trial for you, saint of God, when you face some trials, and look, some people are going to be facing some serious trials. Let me not kid you that the Christian life is going to be easy-preezy with no challenge.

[33:48] But there will be blessing for you that can endure the challenge. You look at Joseph, confined to the pit in the blackness of the desert night as his brothers plotted his death, and yet he could say that God meant it for good.

[34:07] And we know the Bible says that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to his purpose. So, brother, sister, you can take heart.

[34:18] Let your faith get deeper and stronger. Be prepared, be resolved to commit through whatever faces us, saints of God. Whatever tribulation faces us, whatever persecution, as I think things will ramp up.

[34:34] It's not going to be as good as it is now. It's going to get harder. I really, truly believe that. I'm not saying anything necessarily about the timing of the rapture and such.

[34:45] Whatever the timing is, it's going to get tougher before we go. Definitely will. Whatever the timing, it's going to get tougher before we go. And yet God brings good out of evil.

[34:58] Psalm 119, 67, it says, Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now have I kept thy word. The psalmist said, actually, before I was afflicted, I was all over the shop.

[35:09] But now, now that I have been afflicted, I've kept thy word. This was precious to me through the affliction, through the persecution, through the difficulty. Because of the affliction, because of the trouble, I've kept thy word.

[35:23] And likewise, Psalm 119, verse 71, it's good for me that I've been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes. There's a sense in which a Christian is like a tea bag, he's not much unless he's been through hot water.

[35:38] There's a sense where the hot water brings out the blessing, the hot water of life, and the trials of life. Think of it, when you think of the saints of God that you know, that you regard, it's often those ones that have been through the most serious of tests.

[35:57] Think of missionaries, they're the heroes of the faith of the present day, aren't they, really? People have been through great testing and trial, Christians that have endured much persecution and suffering through their iron curtain and such lives of testings as that.

[36:16] You see, these are the ones that shine so bright because God's bringing forth gold, he's bringing forth gold. And for you, brother, sister, you can be a blessing for others because of your tests.

[36:30] Others can be blessed because of your trials, because they'll see you've got through it, and they'll see how you found God's strength. And you'll be able to show understanding and compassion for others too.

[36:46] So again, as we've referred to it before, he's the God of all comfort, he's the Father of mercies, his comforts are in all our tribulation so that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

[37:05] So the trials, the tests that you go through will give you a new compassion. They'll give you that ability to relate, to understand, to assist others, to comfort others, to encourage others who are suffering.

[37:21] And your trust in God can be an example to others. So our Lord says, see that you be not troubled. There's a storm coming.

[37:33] Absolutely, there's a storm coming, but know that he is in absolute control. We will go through times of trouble. There'll be a tunnel of trouble, a ton of trouble, of grief, of difficulty, but there's a light in the distance because we know that this light affliction is really but for a moment, isn't it?

[37:55] It's just snap. It's just a momentary affliction, really, in the scheme of eternity, that whatever, even if we go through the most darkest and gloomiest of lives and the most difficult of circumstances, that there is a hope beyond that we know in Christ.

[38:16] And friends, it's as he promises us. He says, Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you.

[38:26] Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Praise him. Let's just prayerfully finish here. And the Bible speaks to us of God's comfort.

[38:40] Whatever your circumstance of life, we know every saint has his or her share, those moments, those times of trial. Know that God is with you. Know that he is with you.

[38:51] God is in the trial. Know that you can get growth, that God is growing you. He's making you stronger. There's growth in the trials. Know that there's glory in the trials.

[39:02] He will get glory out of your life. You can give him the glory in your trial. Know that there's gold in the trials, that God is bringing forth you as gold.

[39:13] There's a refining, there's a strengthening of your faith. You'll be a glowing, shining Christian, a testimony for the wonderful work of God in your life. If you know the Saviour, these things are true.

[39:26] If you've yet to trust him, then when you face trouble, you don't have this God of all comfort. You don't know his comfort. You lack that, which is most helpful to you, to know God's comfort and help.

[39:40] I urge each one here tonight, place your faith in Christ. Know him as your Saviour and Lord. He's come that we might have life and have it more abundantly. Not necessarily that we'll have it easy or comfortable, but we'll have it abundant, abundant and eternal, and with a forever home that he's promised by his grace to give us, and he's preparing it for those that know him.

[40:07] and you can know that today to know that, yes, Lord, you died on the cross for my sin and I trust you as my ever-living Saviour and received your gift of eternal life.

[40:20] Lord, help us to walk in the truth of that, to know the comfort of your scriptures, in the trials of life, to know that trouble is really just a momentary thing and yet eternity is eternal.

[40:33] And we have your forever promises. Help us, Lord, to find the comfort of your scriptures in the times of testing that we can know these many promises we've talked about here tonight and we can take heart in them, in your grace that is ever amazing.

[40:52] Lord, thank you for your peace and help, that your peace you leave with us, not as the world would give something that would be given and taken away, but when you give something, you give it for keeps.

[41:03] And Lord, you give us peace, deep down and forever peace. We thank you for that. In Jesus' name. Amen.