Truth about Trials (2 of 4)
Series: How to Do Life
Jerry Watts
James 1:2-4
(Show clip from Forrest Gump - Life is like a box of chocolates) - Did you hear that last line? ''You never know what you are going to get.'' My comment is that while there is 'some' truth in the previous statement, I believe there is more truth in this one; ''Life is like a bowl of cherries, mostly sweet but with a few pits.'' Now this is a statement which I can truly understand. I know about the concept of ''life in the pits.'' And our text speaks directly about the trouble times in our lives.
A little girl walking in a garden noticed a particularly beautiful flower. She admired its beauty and enjoyed its fragrance. ''It's so pretty!'' she exclaimed. As she gazed on it, her eyes followed the stem down to the soil in which it grew. ''This flower is too pretty to be planted in such dirt!'' she cried. So she pulled it up by the roots and ran to the water faucet to wash away the soil. It wasn't long before the flower wilted and died. When the gardener saw what she had done, he cried, ''You've destroyed my finest plant.'' ''I'm sorry,'' she said, ''but I didn't like it in that dirt.'' The gardener replied, ''I chose that spot and mixed the soil because I knew that only there could it grow to be a beautiful flower.''
Often we complain about the circumstances (dirt) of life we are placed in. Yet, God (the gardener) places each of us in the very dirt where we can grow to be our best. What we fail to realize is that the trials, tests, and troubles, we go through are all a part of the maturing or growing up process. ''Growing Old and growing up'' are not necessarily synonymous.
If we are honest, most of us don't like the dirt (I.E. trials, tests, troubles, and circumstances) of life. Too many have inadvertently bought into the modern day ''pop-theology'' which says, ''Give your life to God and you'll have plenty of everything you need.'' James gives us 4 words which explain about ...
Series: How to Do Life
Jerry Watts
James 1:2-4
(Show clip from Forrest Gump - Life is like a box of chocolates) - Did you hear that last line? ''You never know what you are going to get.'' My comment is that while there is 'some' truth in the previous statement, I believe there is more truth in this one; ''Life is like a bowl of cherries, mostly sweet but with a few pits.'' Now this is a statement which I can truly understand. I know about the concept of ''life in the pits.'' And our text speaks directly about the trouble times in our lives.
A little girl walking in a garden noticed a particularly beautiful flower. She admired its beauty and enjoyed its fragrance. ''It's so pretty!'' she exclaimed. As she gazed on it, her eyes followed the stem down to the soil in which it grew. ''This flower is too pretty to be planted in such dirt!'' she cried. So she pulled it up by the roots and ran to the water faucet to wash away the soil. It wasn't long before the flower wilted and died. When the gardener saw what she had done, he cried, ''You've destroyed my finest plant.'' ''I'm sorry,'' she said, ''but I didn't like it in that dirt.'' The gardener replied, ''I chose that spot and mixed the soil because I knew that only there could it grow to be a beautiful flower.''
Often we complain about the circumstances (dirt) of life we are placed in. Yet, God (the gardener) places each of us in the very dirt where we can grow to be our best. What we fail to realize is that the trials, tests, and troubles, we go through are all a part of the maturing or growing up process. ''Growing Old and growing up'' are not necessarily synonymous.
If we are honest, most of us don't like the dirt (I.E. trials, tests, troubles, and circumstances) of life. Too many have inadvertently bought into the modern day ''pop-theology'' which says, ''Give your life to God and you'll have plenty of everything you need.'' James gives us 4 words which explain about ...
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