Leading The Way

Guest (Female): Sometimes it's challenging to reconcile faith with real life. Respected co-workers reject you because they know what you stand for or stand against. Friends and neighbors sometimes mock you or they exclude you from activities because of your faith. Well, up next, Dr. Michael Youssef dives into the challenges of life on Leading The Way.

Dr. Michael Youssef: Now some of you might be going through tough times right now. Some of you are experiencing some harassment in the workplace. Some are experiencing being ostracized. Others are experiencing mocking by nonbelieving members of the family. Whatever it is you're going through, listen to me very carefully, please. The word of God for you today is this: Stand your ground. Be patient under the fire.

Guest (Female): Okay, I know an audio message isn't going to provide all of the answers to your problems, but hearing what God says in His word just may empower you with what you need for today. So listen with me as Dr. Michael Youssef begins this Leading The Way audio.

Dr. Michael Youssef: Now this is the second from the last of this series of messages from the Epistle of James. I'm titling it, "12 Evidence of Faith." Here he comes to help us see the importance of perseverance and patience in the midst of life's trials. And it's found in James chapter five, verses seven to 12.

Here the Apostle James circles back to the very first one, the very first evidence of faith in James chapter one, verses two to four: "Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into trials." He comes back. Something you need to remember as the Apostle James, being inspired by the Holy Spirit to write these words: The church, the believers, were facing one of the most severe of all persecutions, and many of them are being martyred.

James himself, soon after he wrote this epistle, he was martyred himself. And so, in the midst of this suffering and in the midst of this persecution, he writes these words. He tells us that the way you're going to experience perseverance and patience is when you look forward to that day, the day when God will right all wrongs. The day when God will perfectly heal the world in which we live. When God will fix all broken things. When God will restore all that was lost.

He is saying to them, let the expectations of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ be the source of your patience. Let the hope of that day of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ be the source of your perseverance. Trace the rainbow through the rain. What does James mean by the word patience or perseverance? That word is coming out of the military, out of soldiering. It means stand your ground when you feel like running away.

In the world of soldiering, a soldier who gets caught in the crossfire, shells are raining all around him, and that soldier when he is in that kind of a situation feels like being anywhere else except where he is. But the victory will not be won this way. And he is saying you must carry on the fight. You must never give up. You must never quit. You must never surrender.

You keep on going because the victory's around the corner. Now some of you might be going through tough times right now. Some of you are experiencing some harassment in the workplace. Some are experiencing being ostracized. Others experiencing mocking by nonbelieving members of the family, or you might be having an unbelieving spouse who is making life difficult for you.

Whatever it is you're going through, listen to me very carefully, please. Sometimes that attack can be so relentless. Sometimes the experience of that suffering can be traumatic. Sometimes it's unbearable. But you must never give up because the word of God for you today is this: Stand your ground. Be patient under the fire.

James teaches us here the secret of patience, the secret of perseverance, the secret of standing your ground and never surrender and never give up. And he gives us three examples. The first example he gives us is that of the farmer. And the second example is that of the prophets. And the third example he gives us is of Job. He singles him out.

Look at verse seven: "See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop." A farmer would be foolish to plant the seed on Monday and then go out the following Monday looking for harvest. He would be foolish, right? He would be foolish if he sows the seed and a couple of weeks later, he digs up those seedlings to find out how it's going. Where is it now? That's something we do.

There is something here specially about farming in Israel. They plant in the fall time. In the Middle East, because you get an early rain—in fact, the Bible, some of your translations said the early and latter rain—the early rain that comes in around September/October comes in and really kind of moistens the soil and prepares it for the planting, for the seed to grow in.

Then the farmer would wait till the spring time, around March and April, where the latter rain comes in, the spring rain comes in to mature the harvest. And between September/October and March/April/May, the farmer waits patiently. He waits for the crop because the farmer knows that the harvest will be worth the wait.

Because the farmer knows that the joy of harvesting of his crop is going to make the wait worth the wait. Some of you probably are saying, Michael, that's a wonderful metaphor, that just sounds good. But how is this going to help me with what I'm going through right now? Listen carefully. I want you to remember God is producing a harvest in every one of you.

If you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, He's producing a harvest in you. God wants your life to be fruit-filled because He wants your life and mine to be productive for His kingdom. And one of the ways He's able to bring about a great harvest is when He permits trials that come our way. But here's our natural tendency: to be impatient.

In fact, the greatest challenge every time I preach on the subject, God puts me through something that tests me. And I always say, Lord, I do want to learn patience, but I wish you would hurry up. My natural tendency is I want to pick up the seedling and see how it's doing prematurely. I want to keep ripping up the seedlings and don't give it a chance to mature.

But what happens when I keep doing this, when you keep doing this? We are forcing God to do what He really does not want to do. We force God to keep on planting the same seed over and over and over again. We force God to keep going over the same grounds in our lives. Why? Because we refuse to learn the lessons that He wants us to learn.

Now, while the farmer is waiting for the harvest, he's not idle. He's not sitting on his blessed assurance doing nothing. He is not sitting in his hammock and sipping lemonade. No, no, no, no. A farmer works all year round. They are working on the barns and getting them prepared for the harvest. They are sharpening their tools, getting ready for the harvest.

They are pulling weeds and maintaining a healthy environment for the crop. They are investing sweat and aching muscles while they wait for the crop. The farmer is constantly working. And when James said wait patiently, he is not suggesting that we sit back and do nothing and just wait for God to do it all. That is not what the farmer does.

But like the farmer who's waiting for the time of the harvest, we are constantly witnessing, constantly praying, we're constantly interceding, we're constantly giving, we're constantly studying the word of God so that we may reap a harvest of maturity and wisdom. Now, there are some people who think that waiting for the Lord and waiting for the Lord's return particularly—and you can read it throughout history where somebody comes and prophesied a day that the Lord is going to come in X, Y, and Z.

I've told you some stories in the past. A lot of people put on the white robes and hit for the hills. They're waiting for the Lord. Thinking if you go up to the mountain, you'll be closer to the Lord when He returns. But that's not what God said. Jesus said occupy till I come. Work till I come.

In fact, He said in Luke 12:43, "Blessed is the servant whom his master finds working when he comes." He's not going to find them idle, doing nothing. That is not a good faithful servant. Are you watching for the Lord's return? If you are watching for His return and not just say I'm waiting, you're going to find that even in the worst trials of your life, you are going to experience victory because your eyes are fixed on that great day of the harvest.

Look at verse nine: "Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged." When James talks about judgment, he's not talking about the judgment of hell because the believer had escaped the judgment of hell. But there's going to be a time for the believers, the day of their rewards.

In fact, one of the characteristics of farmers is that they're always helping each other, they're always encouraging one another, that they're always lending hands to each other, they're always supporting one another. They will not waste their energy and their time attacking each other and fighting over silly things that are not important to them.

They've got too much work to do. Something modern-day churches need to learn from the farmers. And then the second example that James gives us is that of the prophets of old. Verse 10: "As an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord."

So what is he saying here? He's saying that many times when you are fully committed to obeying the will of God in your life, you're going to face opposition. You're going to face obstacles and you're going to face difficulties. Sometimes suffering can be a direct, direct result of obedience.

And that is why the Apostle Paul said to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:12, here's what he said: "Indeed, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." I don't make the stuff up. It's in the word of God. I want to speak to that faithful Christian who needlessly is hard on themselves, who are constantly blaming themselves for everything.

They're carrying false guilt that does not belong to them. They often beat themselves up for circumstances with which they had nothing to do. I want to speak to that person for a moment because these folks are continuously beating themselves up and saying, well, I must have sinned and I must have done something wrong and I'm just not recognizing it. God must be mad at me and He must be punishing me.

Listen to me. If you have been a faithful spouse and your spouse walked out on you, that is not your burden. If you've been a faithful parent and your adult child has wandered away from the fold, that is not your burden. If you have been a hard-working loyal employee and your boss is mistreating you, that is not your burden.

If you have been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, don't automatically assume that God is punishing you because of some sin. Listen to me. The Holy Spirit of God convicts us when we sin. And I've taught about this many times. When the Holy Spirit convicts you, you come to the Lord, you confess the sin, you repent of it, and you move on.

Don't go over it again and again and again and again. That is not of God. Listen to me. This is not the God of the Bible. Maybe some other god. That's a false perception of our God because that is not our heavenly Daddy. You see, God is not the God who delights in hurting His children and leaving them bewildered and confused.

It was Paul's obedience to the will of God that brought him a whole bunch of sufferings. From stoning to lashing, to imprisonment, to shipwreck. It was the obedience of the disciples; every one of them was martyred save one, the Apostle John. And the Old Testament saints that James is talking about here: Every one of them suffered for speaking the truth.

God gives them to us as an example for encouragement. They're showing us that suffering made them strong, not weak. Their suffering made them stand their ground, not run away. Elijah told Ahab it's going to be three and a half years without rain, and Elijah himself became a victim of that drought, but God took care of him.

When Daniel made up his mind that God must be obeyed above man, he ended up in the den of lions. Isaiah spoke fearlessly for God during the most turbulent times in the history of Israel. And although he impacted King Hezekiah for good, rabbinic tradition tells us that Hezekiah's evil and wicked son, not only persecuted but executed the prophet Isaiah.

The prophet Jeremiah: You see such deep anguish in his soul that he became known as the weeping prophet. Why did all these servants of God suffer as they did? So that God's power be manifested in them. Why did the faithful servants of God suffer? Oh, so that they may have an eloquent testimony for us.

Beloved, listen to me. I tell you this experientially. The better you know God, the better you know His word, the greater your encouragement during the fiery trials of life. So he gives us the example of the farmer, he gives us the example of the prophets, and thirdly, finally, he gives us the example of Job.

Listen to me. I'm no stranger to brokenness in life. But what I get really irritated when I read the book of Job, I get irritated by the so-called Job's comforters. I mean, the times of my brokenness are the times of my great growth in my walk with the Lord. When the sun is shining and everything is going well, that's not the time when I'm growing the most.

For in reality, there is no victory without battles. You will not rejoice in victory if you did not know the pain of defeat. You will never sympathize with another person who's hurting until you've experienced that hurt yourself. Most often, we really do not understand what prayer really is all about and what it really means until we're going through the fiery furnace.

Then we begin to really understand until we really hit our knees to the ground. I'm not talking about physical knees, but emotional and spiritual. We'll understand. For my friend, I want to tell you God has a goal for each one of His children. If you're a believer, God has a goal for you, and it's articulated in the whole Bible.

God's goal for you is your spiritual maturity. It's your spiritual maturity. You see, God does not raise up spoiled brats. He wants spiritual mature children. Think about it. We're going to reign and rule with Him in the universe. We're going to reign over planets! And that is why He matures us so we can be ready.

The story of Job is well-known, and I'm not going to rehash it. First, Job was a blessed man. Satan goes after him, and then he loses everything and goes through so much pain that you and I will never know. We'll never know. And because of his perseverance, because of his faithfulness, God honors that and He doubles everything that he had in the past.

He doubles everything. But before that, everything was working against Job. Satan was working against him day and night. His circumstances were against him. His friends definitely were against him. His wife was against him and she said curse God and die. And even he was tempted at times to think that God was against him.

But in reality, what God was doing is that He was weaving, He was weaving a beautiful tapestry in his life for God's glory and Job's blessing. He was weaving. He was overturning what Satan meant for evil and God turning it for the good. God was working together, even Job couldn't see it, but He was working things together for Job's good.

I want to tell you this as I conclude, and I hope you're listening carefully, please. Whatever pain you're going through right now, only you know and God knows. Whatever it is. Whatever suffering you might be experiencing right now, God is working behind the scenes and He's moving the scenes that He's behind.

When Satan turns up the heat, run into the air-conditioned throne room of God. When Satan increases the attack, go and have a times of refreshment with the Lord. When plowing and planting become difficult and become a struggle, look forward to that glorious day of the harvest.

When you don't see fruit instantly of your labor, remember that God is germinating the seed. He's germinating the seed. And that is why James in verse 12 goes on to say: Don't be tempted to be untruthful because people will always lie when they are under the fire. They lie when they are afraid.

Don't be tempted to lie. You know how people sometimes when they're lying they swear by God and I tell you this and once you talk too much and you know the guy's not telling you the truth. He said don't do that. Let your yes be yes and your no be no, and that's sufficient. As long as God knows, that's all that matters. Because when you place your whole trust, your full trust in God, you will endure with patience and perseverance and enjoy.

Guest (Female): Encouragement from Dr. Michael Youssef to persevere through the trials that life brings. We thank you for listening to Leading The Way with Dr. Michael Youssef. Learn how to stand with Dr. Youssef and expanding the reach of Leading The Way. Visit ltw.org or you can also call us. We're at 866-626-4356.

You know here in the Global Media Center of Leading The Way, our team often receives letters and emails and messages through social media with powerful stories of life change through the gospel and Leading The Way. And recently a letter was shared with the staff that had many of us wiping away tears. We want to just share an excerpt.

"I am a Christian living in the Middle East. My entire family is Muslim. And here's where our hearts broke: My family took my children and wife from me when I became a Christian. They now consider me apostate, but nothing they can do can change my new spiritual identity. I want to get baptized, I want to live my Christianity freely. Lord willing, I want to be an evangelist."

Friends, stories like this are an ongoing reminder to Leading The Way teams that standing firm in the truth and declaring it to the nations is worth it all. And if you'd like to stand with Dr. Youssef and Leading The Way, there are several ways that you can accomplish that. One of them is by giving a generous one-time gift as God provides.

Dr. Michael Youssef: My beloved friends in Christ, our world is lost, confused, and in desperate need of Jesus. Through Leading The Way's June Gift Challenge, you can share the only thing that matters eternally. I have never seen a more urgent time for the preaching of the gospel, the proclamation of the gospel in our nation. Together we can have an impact in these last days. God bless.

Guest (Female): Or if you'd like to designate a regular monthly amount to support Dr. Youssef, become a Frontline Mission Partner. The team can also provide information about legacy giving through estate planning. Find out more, give us a call. We're at 866-626-4356. That'll get in touch with one of our ministry representatives.

Or you can do that online at ltw.org. And we love hearing from you through the postal services as well. You can write a note and just tell us what this ministry is meant to your spiritual growth, send a gift to the ministry, or send us your prayer request. We're at Leading The Way, Post Office Box 20100, Atlanta, Georgia 30325.

That's Post Office Box 20100, Atlanta, Georgia 30325. This program is brought to you by Leading The Way with Dr. Michael Youssef. Connect further with audio and video content at ltw.org.