Seeing Purpose in Your Problems and Pain, Part 1

Published Apr 21, 2025, 5:00 AM

On the next Treasured Truth, we’ll begin to look at how there is purpose in our problems and pain. You may be going through a tremendous struggle right now, and you may be discouraged and not know what to do. But Pastor Ford will encourage us to not waste our sorrows.  Instead, we should embrace them, realizing that God is up to something and is working in our lives for His glory. To learn more from Pastor Ford about how to see the purpose in your problems and pain, join us for the next Treasured Truth.

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To learn more about Pastor James Ford, Jr., click here.

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Somebody came in and they're tore up from the floor up. They don't know what to do. I'm going through all of this. God sent you here so I can tell you today. Don't you dare waste your sorrows. God is up to something.

Welcome to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford, junior senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago. I'm Steve Hillard. Glad you're with us. Is today we're beginning a message called Seeing Purpose in Your Problems and Pain. And that is so true. Very often in the midst of our pain and our problems, we can't see the purpose that God has for us. But as Pastor Ford has pointed out a moment ago, if you're in a season like that right now, don't waste that now. I know you hear those words. Don't waste that. And you think, yeah, okay, I'd like to not, but I can hardly see my way out of what I'm going through right now. How do I not waste that? Well, that's what we're going to be talking about in this series, how we can, in the midst of the pain and in the midst of the problems, how we can grow, how we can learn to lean into the strength that God provides for us, how we can receive his peace, how we can actually mature through that pain. You know, one of the themes of the book of James actually is maturity. And so that's what we're going to be looking at as we begin the message today. If you can open your Bible to James chapter one, as we begin to look at the first 12 verses and begin the message seeing purpose in your problems and pain. Here is Pastor Ford.

When we were in the Iraq war, uh, the story is told. It's supposed to be a true story, uh, about, uh, one of the attacks upon the the city that they were going to make. Uh, they were out by the desert. And, uh, the desert is right before you get to the city. And they wanted to attack, but it was raining. A group of Christian soldiers got together and said, okay, what we'll do is we will pray that God will stop the rain so that we can go in and get this deal done. And so they prayed, but nothing happened. It rained the next day. And it's unusual for rain in that region. And it rained the next day. And so those group of Christian soldiers got together and they prayed that the Lord would stop the rain. But it didn't happen. Third day they got together and they prayed that the rain would stop, but it didn't happen. Can anybody relate to what they went through? Have you ever called on God only to feel like he let it go to voicemail? Uh, you ever felt like God got caller ID and he knew it was you? So he just didn't pick up. Oh, yeah. You all. Y'all are holy. He always answers all your prayers. Yes. Okay. But anyway. And so they got together and and they prayed, but nothing happened. Fourth day, as they were preparing, the rain had stopped. The sun was shining. They were preparing for the attack. Uh, as they looked over that desert, there were thousands of shiny objects exposed all over the desert. They were landmines that if God would have answered those Christian soldiers prayers, many of them would have never come home. Much of the equipment that they had would have been destroyed. Uh, that they realized that God doesn't always give you what you want, but he'll always give you what you need. Okay. Don't shout me down. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey, can I ask you a question? Say, ask us a question. Aren't you glad that there are some prayers that God didn't answer? I mean, when you look back and you think about him or her back, then God said no. And you look at them right now and you're glad that God said no back then? Okay, you ain't going to pray with me. I know why some of y'all some of y'all ain't responding because you ain't listening to God and you married them. I mean, you know, you're crying out, oh, God, I gotta have her because she's my dream. And God says, no, you can't have her because I know she's your nightmare. Oh, Lord, oh, Lord, send me my boo. I want him for my boo. And God says, no, he ain't your boo. He's your boo hoo. And I know how many of y'all are waiting on your Boaz. Come on. Yeah, he's waiting on your Boaz. And God said, God said, I ain't giving you him because he is not your Boaz. He's just a bozo. And so there are times when we are glad that God answers the prayer. No, see, these soldiers found out what I trust that we will find out today. And that is this there is purpose in your problem and in your pain. I know you don't believe it, but I hope by the time we leave here, I can convince you through the writings of James, that there is purpose in your problems and in your pain. Somebody came in and there tore up from the floor up. They don't know what to do. I'm going through all of this. God sent you here so I can tell you today. Don't. Don't you dare waste your sorrows. God is up to something. Amen. And so they found out there's purpose in our problems. There's significance in our suffering. There's treasure in our trials. Joseph found it out. You remember? We talk about him all the time. He was in the pit. He was forsaken by his family in Potiphar's. He was falsely accused by a foe in the prison. He was forgotten by a friend. Look at what Joseph went through. Abused, accused and abandoned. Wow. Yeah. Accused. Abused and abandoned. And you know what? Joseph did what many of us can testify to. Joseph succeeded on his back, right? Yeah. When you look at what he did, he is a mature believer. How do you know he's a mature believer? Because the scripture tell us that. But guess what? Uh, he's a mature believer. Look at what it says in Genesis 41 when he named his two children. How many children did he have? Oh. That's good. You've been reading your Bible. Now tell me their names. Manasseh and Ephraim. Who said that? Who said that? Raise your hand. Okay, alright, alright. See the smart people sit up front, huh? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Manasseh. What does it mean? Forgetting Ephraim twice. Blessed. Get this. Hey, Joseph. You went through the pit. The Potiphar's the prison. Come on, tell us. What about your experience? Come on, take out your. Take out your violin and have a pity party. Invite your three friends. Me, myself and I. Because you went through it, man. You know, abused by your family, man. Oh, yeah. Accused by a foe. Oh, yeah. Man a forgotten by a friend. Come on man, you can play. You deserve to play the violin and have a pity party all by yourself. And he says, no, I'm not. Have a pity party, because you need to understand that that was in my past. So I forget the things that are behind. I press toward the mark of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Uh, yeah, I was in the pit, but guess what? I forgot that because he twice blessed me. I was in Potiphar's, but I forgot that. Why? Because he twice blessed me. I was in the prison, but I forgot that. Why? Because he twice blessed me, Manasseh and Ephraim. So every time he calls him. Come here, Manasseh. Come here. Ephraim. He's reminding himself that he's a mature believer who understands that God has a purpose, and that my pain is not as great as what God's purpose is. It should always be subservient to what God wants to do. Amen. Lights. And so here we look at him. He's a mature believer. Now there are immature believers because, see, immature believers go through their problems. Mature believers grow through their problems. Yeah. Ask your neighbor, are you going through or are you going through? Come on, ask him. Go and help me preach this. Look at him, because you ain't going to say much else to me. Look at him and say, neighbor, is your Christianity a lifestyle or is it just a hobby? Yeah. Yeah. Because some people aren't being the church. They're just playing church. Some people aren't being the church. They just come to church. And so here we need to know that a lot of people are perpetrating they are generic and not genuine. Don't look around because we don't want you accusing anybody. They learn the lingo, but they don't live the life. They're shouting in the aisles on Sunday and they're living in the gutter on Monday. See, too many churches are playpens for babies rather than workshops for adults. In other words, they're growing old in the faith, but they're not growing up in the faith. And so a mature believer learns the language, lives the life. How do you know that? James says it. Let me tell you the context before I give you the content, because this whole book can be summarized in this way. Uh, what's his theme? Maturity. Let me identify for you a mature Christian. What does a mature Christian look like? Because we don't know. Here's what James says. Chapter one. You know, a a mature Christian by how that person thinks. Chapter two you know, a mature Christian by what that person does or how they act. Chapter three you know, a mature Christian by what they say. Chapter four you know, a mature Christian by how they feel. Chapter five just look at their checkbook, how they give. Just look at how they treat other believers, how they give. So he says, here's a picture right here. I'm going to give you the full picture. And remember, there's no conflict between Paul and James. It's just a contrast because Paul is looking from the divine perspective, and he says that salvation is by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. And so Paul is looking down and saying, from the divine perspective, it is by faith and faith alone. But James is saying, listen, remember what my son preached. Uh, your faith works. If your work works, he's not looking at justification like Paul. He's looking at sanctification. That if you say, uh, that you've been a Christian for 20 years and your life ain't changed, you still clubbing, you still making it rain, dropping it like it's hot, backing it up. You better check your salvation. Check yourself before you wreck yourself. If you're still down in a court of goose every night, you better check yourself before you wreck yourself.

That is such an important truth to understand that if we truly are saved, our lives will change. And it doesn't happen only because of an act of will. Now there is a will that's involved in that, but it's because we desire to have this close relationship with Christ. It's part of spiritual maturity. What we're looking at in today's broadcast, seeing purpose in your problems and pain. If you ever miss a portion of this series or this broadcast, you can always come to our website and listen to each and every program online. Just stop by Treasure Truth Radio org. There you can stream the program, you can download MP3's, or you can order copies of this broadcast on CD. Again, just stop by treasure truth radio org. Back to the message. Here's Pastor Ford.

So his question then on the floor. How is a mature Christian strengthen in their problem and in their pain? Here, let's talk about it. I've got five of them. I only got time for two today. Here's the first one. I want you to notice verse one, that you must submit to the regal prerogative of God in your suffering. That's verse one. Let let's look at it. James, a servant of God in the Lord Jesus Christ, to the 12 tribes scattered abroad. This is more than just a greeting. It's so packed full of powerful principles to help you and I. That's the principle. What James is saying is this. Listen, everything you're going through now, you need to submit it to the sovereignty of God. He has regal prerogative as the king. He can do with us what he will because he purchased us from the slave market of sin. We are not our own. We've been bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body, which is his. Anyway. You and I don't own a thing. We are stewards of everything that we have. The earth is the Lord's, the fullness thereof, the world, and they that dwell therein. He bought us on Calvary. He owns us lock, stock and barrel, and therefore we exist. Oh, I know you're not going to believe this, especially if you've been watching TV. V. We exist for his glory. He doesn't exist for our glory. And so James wants us to know it. Now watch what he does. He says two things here in this text about this regal prerogative. He says God has the regal prerogative over our person, and God has regal prerogative over our problems. Watch where he says it, because here's what he does. James, the servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. He's talking about his person. And what does he do? I'm going to drop him. I'm not going to push him. First thing he does is give us his identification. James. Then he gives us his dedication. The servant. Then he gives us his affirmation, Lord Jesus Christ. So then James is saying, listen, uh, who was this James, half brother of Jesus Christ? And he wasn't even a believer when Jesus was ministering. He didn't get saved until after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And then, being not even knowing Christ as Savior, then became the head of the Jerusalem Church. In other words, he became the mega pastor over the Jerusalem Church, which is about 5000 members. About the time of the Jerusalem Council, acts 15. So he's got the first mega church, 5000 members and their disciples there who walk with him, see how he superseded them. As a matter of fact, he was also nicknamed Camel Knees. Ask me why? Because he prayed so much that the skin on his knees literally turned black and was like hide rawhide because he prayed so much. And that made me think, if somebody would label your knees by your acts of prayer, could they call you camel knees? Or would they say, never on your knees? Now. Now here, here it is. His identification, who he is. Here's what gets me. Here's what gets me. What a lesson. You know what it tells me? Say what? Don't ever write anybody off. Don't ever write. And we do it all the time. Don't. We ain't gonna never going to be nothing. Your daddy wasn't nothing here. You ain't going to be nothing. How do you know? Because maybe you take nothing to identify. Nothing. Don't ever write anybody off. Oh, let me give you some examples. Uh, this person was told. Why don't you stop wasting people's time? He went on his first audition for a movie. They said, why don't you stop wasting people's time and go out and be a dishwasher or something? That's what they told Sidney Poitier. And of course, you know, he's the second African American to win an Oscar, and he's the first African American man to win an Oscar. Don't ever, don't ever write anybody off. Uh, this person was told you lack creativity. You don't have any good ideas. So he was fired by a newspaper editor. Uh, his name is Walt Disney. You don't have any good ideas? No creativity. Don't ever write anybody off. He was cut from the high school basketball team in the first cut. Don't even bother to come back. You're never going to make the team. That's what they told Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of all time. His first comedy set. He botched it. He was booed and they booed him off the stage. He cried. Now Jerry Seinfeld is worth over $600 million. Mm. They said you're too stupid to learn anything. And he was fired from his first two jobs for not being productive enough. His name is Thomas Alva Edison. The reason why you can see me in here. This morning. Amen. This man was an engineer, and so he went to Toyota and he said, listen, I'm an engineer. I want to work for you so bad. Help you create concept cars and all of that. I'll be a benefit and a blessing to to the Toyota motor company. And they turn down. Uh saturo. They turned him down. And so Jiro Soichiro said, well, what am I going to do? And for years he was without a job with an engineer degree. Finally somebody said, Saturo, listen. You are creative and an engineer. Make your own stuff. So he began to make motor cars in his home. Oh, what's his last name? His name is Saturo Honda. What's my point? Don't ever write anybody off. Yeah, because you don't know what God can do when he gets Ahold to somebody. Look at me, look at me. Folk wrote me off. People would be out witnessing and wouldn't give me a track because I was pushing drugs. But look at me now. I'm preaching Christ. I went from pushing drugs to preaching Christ. I went from LSD. Try to get a PhD. I mean, you know, God is doing the thing and somebody will say, look at him, poor little welfare boy. Family of ten. You know, mama went third grade education. Well, I earned all my degrees except the one I was given. Yeah. Don't ever write anybody off. She was fired from her job, and she was told you are unfit for television. So the first job she had as a TV announcer, she was fired. Now she owns her own. And she is the richest African American in America. Worth over $3 billion. What's her name? Everybody. Same time Oprah. Now, I don't agree with her philosophy, but I sure wouldn't mind having some of her money. I. Will say I would too. And so what's going on here? Listen, he's saying listen, let me tell you about my identification. My name is James. But then look at his dedication. There are seven words in the New Testament translated servant or minister. And this is the one. Doulos. Doulos. Guess where it fits. Come on, holler out a number from 1 to 7. Holler out a number from 1 to 7. Seven. It's the worst term. It's the most abject term that one could use for slavery. And that's what he uses. Now you say wait wait wait wait wait. See? He's saying, look, am I suffering? I submit to the regal sovereignty of God. He could have said, God, my brother. He could have said James, if I'd have wrote it. You think he would have said James, the servant of Jesus Christ? James, half brother of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know what I'm saying? Ate at the same table with him. You know what I'm saying? In the same crib. You know what I'm saying? I am somebody. But he doesn't say that. He puts none of the relationship. He says, let me tell you, I am a slave to Jesus Christ. That's why he can do anything he wants. Because I'm a slave to Jesus Christ.

You know, submitting to God in our suffering may seem like a challenge, but when we learn to trust him, then we find that there is a reason and a purpose for everything we go through. It's really an encouraging message today from Pastor Ford. It's called seeing purpose in your problems and pain. Well, with so many competing truth claims out there, why do you trust the Bible? Well, chances are you've encountered a question like this from friends or maybe coworkers who are skeptical about Christianity. In the book Why Believe the Bible? Doctor John MacArthur provides some satisfying answers to these questions and shows how to get the most from God's Word by trusting it as a source of truth and freedom. So contact us today with the gift of any amount, and we'll send you this book called Why Believe the Bible? Our phone number is 888 644 7660 or go online to Treasure Truth Radio.com. If you prefer to write, you can send a check in the mail. Our address is treasure. Treasured Truth. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten. Why? Trust the Bible is a book that every Christian should read and keep on their shelf, not just for your own benefit, but also as a trusted resource to give to a friend or a loved one who has questions about God or the Bible. So give a donation and support this ministry and request your copy of Why Trust the Bible? Our phone number is 888644 7660 or go online to Treasure Truth Radio.com. And thanks for helping to keep this teaching ministry on the air. I'm Steve Hiller. Our producer is Amy Rios. Join us again tomorrow as we continue the study on seeing purpose in your problems and pain here on Treasure Truth with Pastor Ford. A production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.

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