My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 2:2-3)
I recognize that the title of today’s message may seem counterintuitive. How are we possibly going to find treasure in our trials? We do it by seeing our trials from God’s perspective and not our own. When we do that, we will understand how God is using all our difficulties for our eternal good and His glory.
The very first thing God is doing when He sends us trials is shaking us free from our shackles to the earthly and the temporal. Make no mistake, God never says, “Oops!” when opposition comes our way. God is in control of all things–not a bird falls to the ground apart from His will (Matthew 10:29)–and He is not sitting on His throne, wondering how things will work out. The Sovereign Lord “works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:11), and He wants us to loosen our white-knuckle grip on our earth-bound treasures and reach for all things above.
The next thing God is doing when He sends us trials is putting His omnipotent power on display. When trials come against us that we find ourselves powerless to endure, we must depend totally on God, who alone will get the glory when we do overcome.
The Bible is filled with examples of this principle in action. One of my favorites is the story of Gideon. God called Gideon to lead Israel into battle against the Midianite army of 135,000 warriors. After a lot of hemming and hawing and “fleecing,” Gideon finally accepted God’s call, at which point God promptly told Gideon that he had too many warriors to take into battle. I’m sure most military commanders would scoff at the notion that you can ever have too many warriors to engage the enemy, but they would be thinking from man’s perspective, not God’s. Gideon started out with 32,000 warriors, and God whittled that force down to a band of only 300. Israel was outnumbered 450 to 1, but God promised Gideon, “With the three hundred men . . . I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands.” The Lord left no doubt about why He was doing this: “In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her” (Judges 7:2, 7).
What God did for Gideon more than 3,000 years ago, He is still doing for you and me today. Regardless of what has come against you, you are guaranteed victory with God on your side, but you must be willing to depend totally on Him. Remember, the greatest opposition you will ever face will never come from outside of you; it will always come from within you. Our sin nature stubbornly refuses to relinquish control and rely totally upon God. But that is exactly how we will find the treasure in any trial we face. When we shift from self-dependence to Savior-dependence, we will discover the treasure that is available to us moment by moment in our trials. And what is that treasure? The glory of the Lord! When we live for His glory and experience His presence . . . there can be no greater treasure.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 