A Time to Rejoice

A Time to Rejoice: Pastor Timothy Yap

“What do you do when life hands you a lemon? – Make a lemonade…..”

This morning at CDC, we had the privilege of Pastor Timothy Yap, the young pastor of People’s Park Baptist give us the message on “A Time to Rejoice” based on James Chapter 1.

Throughout the Bible, we are given many, many examples of men and women of God who turned defeat into victory, trials into triumphs. Central to his message was Romans 8:28 which says that All things works together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose! Everything happens for a reason, and no matter what happens, we are more than conquerors, we are victors in Christ! Our goal in life is to become more and more like Jesus, and this process is called sanctification. However, we will only learn to be more and more like Jesus by going through hard times..

The book of James was written to encourage the Jewish Christians who were under terrible persecution and struggling to grow in their faith. Pastor Timothy explained that the book of James was written by James, the half-brother of Jesus, who only became a leader of the church after the resurrection of our Lord. It is the earliest book written in the New Testament, as there was no mention of the Jerusalem Council, of which James was one of the key leaders. Like the book of Proverbs, James is also a collection of wise sayings.

Starting off James Chapter 1, our attention was drawn to the second verse which says “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you endure trials of many kinds…. It is not should you endure or if you endure, but when you endure… Trials are a certainty, and they often come suddenly, when you least expect it.

Pastor Timothy gives us three reasons to rejoice in our hardships, to:-

(I)                Enlarge – Firstly, God wants to stretch us, and enlarge our capacity so that we can be made perfect, just like God. An athlete cannot become strong overnight, but after many months of training, his body will then reach a capacity to endure all the rigors his sport demands of him. Those who have undergone much hardship in life are often better equipped mentally and emotionally to face tough times, compared to those who have had it easy all their lives.

(II)             Empower – Secondly, God wants to empower us. Once God has built us up and made a strong and mature through our suffering, we are then better able to receive His power to serve Him even more effectively. There is no better person to encourage and inspire a drug addict to recovery than one who has undergone the whole process himself and triumphed.

(III)          Enrich – Finally, God wants to enrich us. Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, for when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those that love Him. God will bless us after we endure our hardships with faith, continuing to believe in His goodness, even if not completely in this life, far more than we can ever imagine in the life to come.

At the same time, Pastor Timothy warned us of two things to watch out for whenever enduring trials:-

(A)    Our Stamina – Testing develops perseverance….. patience……. We have to be patient in enduring our trials. We need to learn to give God no deadline, no time frame, but continue to hope in God and let Him deliver us in His good time

(B)    Our Standing – The Apostle Paul warns us – If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall. David, Great King of Israel, lost his standing in an instant when he gave in to lust, and had to be dragged by God out again from the sins that swamped him. We need to constantly and check our spiritual positioning, and make sure nothing comes in the way of our relationship with God.

Pastor Timothy exhorts us to go through suffering by learning to Rejoice in God’s person. Rejoicing is not an outward expression of happiness or joy which would certainly be inappropriate in the wake of a death of a loved one. Rejoicing is an inward state of the heart, which finds joy in knowing that no matter what happens, we are not alone; we have a hope, we have God. God is good, all the time and all the time, God is good….

In closing, Pastor Timothy warned us against two typically human games that we play with God because of trials and suffering – the blame game, and the shame game.

Some play the blame game – adopting a bitter perspective in life towards God and everyone else for the bad things that have happened to us. We regret lost opportunities and bad luck, and we fail to see the great blessing and good things that God has given us. To avoid this trap, we need to learn to look at the present and appreciate the good things that we have now. We cannot change the past, but we can do our best to live well in the present, and hope for the future.

Some play the shame game – choosing to indulge in a sinful life because of disappointment in the lack of blessing by God when having followed Him so long. However, God cannot be mocked, and we will reap what we sow. To avoid this trap, we need to remained focused on the purity of our lives, learning to stay loyal to God and His ways in spite of all that happens to us, like Job, who said “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in Him”.

May the Lord truly enlarge us, empower us and enrich us as we go through the trials of life. May our Great Shepherd help us maintain our stamina and our standing in the face of mighty storms. May the Almighty watch over us and guard us from the temptations of bitterness and sin. In Jesus name, Amen.