Finding Faith and Purpose: Navigating Life's Trials and Spiritual Growth

Can the trials and tribulations of daily life be a stepping stone towards a deeper faith journey? We explore this profound question with insights from Philippians 1:12-14, sharing personal stories from my life with my 16-year-old and 16-month-old children. Their unique challenges remind us of how every stage of life can test our patience and perspective, and how emotions like anger can be managed wisely for personal and spiritual growth.

Listeners are invited to consider the alignment between their lifestyle choices and their spiritual values. By reflecting on my own decision to exclusively listen to Christian music, I encourage a conversation on how our entertainment choices can impact our faith. It's an invitation to evaluate the habits and influences we hold onto, and a call for a deeper relationship with God through consistent spiritual growth and letting go of past attachments.

Through the biblical narratives of Paul and Joseph, we underscore the transformative power of perspective. Even in imprisonment, Paul saw opportunities to spread the gospel, and Joseph’s trials brought him closer to his divine purpose. We emphasize trusting God's timing and using our challenges as testimonies of faith. By shifting our perspective, we can turn obstacles into opportunities for growth, recognizing that our trials may be steps toward fulfilling our divine calling.

Chapters

• 0:00 Faith, Failure, and Self-Evaluation
• 11:17 Navigating Faith and Lifestyle Choices
• 20:06 Finding Purpose in Trials and Pain
• 31:13 Shifting Perspective for Spiritual Growth

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

What is up? Faith and failures. Welcome back to another episode. Today we're going to be diving into something that I feel, being that we're in February, we need to check ourselves to see if what we set out to do January 1, if we are still being intentional. This is something we should do every month a self-evaluation, self-checking, seeing if we are sticking to what we believe. Have we veered off and have we compromised anything?

Speaker 1: 0:45

I preach and teach this all the time that we, as believers. The Bible says that they will know God's love. They will know who God is by the way we love each other, and I also believe that they will know, or they will be shown, what sin is. They will be shown what true Christians are by the way we live our lives, and so they will define what is okay or what is not okay, what morality is, what morality shouldn't be, by us. So are we staying focused on that and are we keeping a clear vision of what the word says? Are we remaining faithful to what we say we believe is true? So stick around, because we're about to dive in.

Speaker 1: 1:28

Before we get into today's video, I just wanted to say thank you to all of the new subscribers. If you haven't yet consider subscribing, hit that bell notification so that you can see every time I put out a new video. A Major portion of you that watch my videos haven't subscribed yet, so why not? It's free. You can also find a PayPal link below if you want to give a one-time or give a monthly to support the channel. Anything, great or small, is appreciated.

Speaker 1: 1:54

Now let's get into the video. So let's dive into our key verse. You know, usually we start off with some scripture and we kind of go through a few. If you want to take screenshots and if you would ever be interested in the slides or the verses and stuff from the episodes, I'm thinking about starting, maybe, a Patreon where every slide and every verse and every text, whether in a PDF or slides, you can just download and or screenshot on your phone. I'm thinking about starting a Patreon that will kind of have this type of stuff in it early releases of episodes, things like that, special live streams where we can do more of a Q&A, one-on-one type feel. So let me know in the comments if you'd be interested in that, because I plan on, if the interest is high, to start off with that very soon. So don't forget, like you just saw, to subscribe to the channel. And if you're listening on a platform for podcasts, please make sure to subscribe to that, follow the podcast and download the episodes. That helps me out greatly.

Speaker 1: 3:14

So let's look at Philippians 1, verses 12-14. And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the good news For everyone here, including the whole palace guard knows that I am in chains because of Christ and because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence, confidence and boldly speak God's message without fear. So here's the bottom line. Now I don't know if you've experienced this, but if you're of any amount of age, like I have a 16 year old right now, I have a 16 month old right now, and both of them have different levels of things. They go through that to them, just like me being 39 years old.

Speaker 1: 4:08

Every tier of age group, whatever is happening in their lives, when it happens to us, to my little 16 month old, when she doesn't get what she wants, it's the end of the world. She will, she will grab her little face and she'll go and she will slowly melt down. It's just tearing her apart and things are over my teenager. He kind of does a rendition of that same thing. When things aren't going his way, he gets a little mouthy, he gets sometimes belligerent. Now, granted, there's a lot of chemical things going on in his head and new things happening to his body. So these are the very sensitive stages right now of where he doesn't really he's experiencing new things. And so I have to be very gracious and not immediately get upset with him, because I have to realize that, okay, what I have to teach him is beyond the frustration, because we're always going to get frustrated, we're always going to get upset, we're always going to be in situations that could possibly make us angry.

Speaker 1: 5:17

And yes, guys, you talk. Some guys talk about women being super emotional, but anger is an emotion, so you are also super emotional. It's when your emotions, anger being one of those, runs away with you. And the Bible says that we are allowed to be angry, we are allowed to be sad, we are allowed to have emotions. It's a good thing to have emotions, sometimes releasing those emotions and like, sometimes, men and women, both, I guess they just need a good cry, and literally there is scientific proof of, when you cry, the as things are pouring out of your eyes. So is mental, physical, emotional clarity. You're being purified and purged a little bit of emotional blockage, emotional pileup. So it's a good thing.

Speaker 1: 6:06

But everything in our life does happen, whether you're in a 15, 16 month old, you're at a 16 year old, you're at a 40 year old or you're at a 90 year old. Life happens and things Sometimes you just can't control what happens. Matter of fact, most of the time you can't control what happens. But what can you control? You can control your perspective. You can control the way you look at things. You can change the way you see things. Change your perspective on life, change your perspective on your struggles, change your perspective on life, change your perspective on your struggles, change your perspective on your trials, change your perspective on your sickness or a loved one's sickness, change your perspective on suffering. So I kind of titled today's little bit as I can see clearly now. So hopefully, by the time you get done watching this episode, I hope this helps you and encourages you to see things differently, because we are called as believers Once we get grafted into the true vine, once we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and make him Lord of our lives.

Speaker 1: 7:22

The way we see things should become differently. For instance, a mature way of looking at sin or looking at deciding whether something is a sin or not. Maturity doesn't look at it and say is it a sin? What maturity will do is what is this costing me compared to what, without it could gain me? That being said, for instance, we watched, we had a movie night at our church like four weeks ago, five weeks ago, and in the movie it was about what was it called? I don't remember, but it was a young man who got a job. At the job there was a boss. The boss ended up being a Christian and he talked to him about and the young man didn't want anything to do with God, but the mother was praying for him and man, that's going to drive me nuts. That I can't remember.

Speaker 1: 8:19

Then it forged I think forged, not forged, forged and he brought a man to disciple him. He was mentoring him, but because he was a christian, he actually was discipling him in the ways of god, in the ways of christ, and giving him biblical principles to live his life, to be a better man. So he was bringing him in, uh, getting him closer, and he challenged him to step up, and at the end of the movie he stepped up in a big way. Well, through this whole process of letting things go that he should have let go, or when he gave his life to God, he knew that there were some things that he should let go of, not because they were bad, but because it was robbing him of time that he could be spending in the word and with God, praying. And he ends up coming home and one of the things as most young men today, and apparently grown men too, I don't do it personally, there's no, I'm not throwing stones, it's just I don't have the time. It's not how I unwind. So I don't play video games.

Speaker 1: 9:25

But in the movie this young man did, and so he came home and gathered up his PlayStation or whatever it was, put it in the box and got rid of it. So what happened was my son after that movie whether he felt convicted or was extremely motivated in what was going on he came home and he boxed up his Xbox and it's and put it in my office and he said he wanted to get rid of distractions and just wanted to make that choice. So I was okay, it's your choice, like we didn't try to push him in that direction, he just ended up doing it. Well, it's like four or five weeks later and I noticed last night that in my office the box is the X-Box is missing, and so I asked her about it. So what do you? I thought you made a choice, and so this is one thing that that he's doing as a teenager, but we do as adults all the time. We say, okay, god, I'm going to dedicate, I'm going to choose to follow you, I'm going to choose this path that I know you put in front of me, that you've convicted me of that you have, or in front of me that you've convicted me of that you have, or that you, you want me, how you want me to serve, or whatever the case may be. But then we talk ourselves into keeping it around, not necessarily saying that it's bad, but could my life be more fruitful in Christ without it? And usually the answer is yes. And if you end up trying to dissect whether something is sin or not and trying to keep it in your life, then in my personal opinion, because I've done this, I can talk myself into keeping things around that I really should let go of.

Speaker 1: 11:17

This is like TV shows, music. I'm a big music guy. I lead worship at my church and I literally do not listen to anything but Christian music. I don't listen to the radio because they get on my nerves. It's the same songs. Five years later I'll turn it on. It's the same song, same BPM. It's so annoying to me what they have turned music into, but anyways. But YouTube music. I got a playlist a mile long, spotify, things like that. I love music, I love worshiping.

Speaker 1: 11:51

So for me to decide whether and this is, I'm not saying this is the choice that should be for you. What I'm saying is this is the choice that I have felt should be for me and in my house, for instance, like if my son is playing music or whatever, I don't let him play anything but Christian music in my house. Now I know some people are like well, that's old school, that's legalistic. No, it's not legalistic If you look at the lyrics of the songs that you listen to, if you listen to anything but Christian music.

Speaker 1: 12:23

I'm not saying you have to, but what I'm saying is why is it that we fight and close ourselves off to the possibility that getting closer to God should be a pruning of what is still in our lives. If you immediately get like bowed up of like, well, I'm not letting that go, that's dumb, that's not really so. If you're doing that, you're, so why? That's a very important question you need to ask yourself is why will you not let those things go if it's not getting you closer to God? And, as believers, everything in our lives should be doing that either trying to get ourselves closer to God or trying to get others close to God. And so something in your life may not keep you from God, but it may not help others close to God. And so something in your life may not keep you from God, but it may not help others get to God. It may not affect anybody else, but it may privately affect you. So you have to toss and turn and weigh these things out with intentionality.

Speaker 1: 13:24

I believe here in America and I'm guilty of this is that we get so caught up in what we think is right and wrong and we don't think about is it what God wants in my life? Not necessarily what is wrong, but what is right for me, what is right for God, what God has called me to do. And so, when the Xbox disappeared, I went to my son and asked him and he was like well, I was going to plug it in, but I didn't. And I said, well, why, why? Why do you? Why do you do that? Why do you? I'm asking him, him this, these questions, when I do the same thing, sometimes, like I will, I'll say, well, I'm not going to do this. And then a few months later I'm like, well, I guess it's not that bad. Or I'm around somebody that does it or that thinks that way and I'm like, well, if they're doing it or somebody I look up to, this has happened to me multiple times that they, their standard is not my standard and something that was between me and God.

Speaker 1: 14:22

I felt I should let it go, or felt I should stop doing it, or felt I should stop watching it or listening to it and other people around me do. So it's easy. It's easier to gravitate towards the compromise and talking myself into keeping things that really they don't benefit me in the long run. It may not be something that's damaging me now, but it could possibly harm or do damage later and I should want to run from anything that looks like that If I want to keep myself 100% pure and focused on God.

Speaker 1: 15:01

So he didn't plug it in, but I talked to him. I said listen, you know, I understand that you felt you need to do it. You hear something, you watch something, you see something. It inspires you. You come to the altar, you cry it out, you feel good and then, like a month later, you're like well, maybe I wasn't supposed to do that, because we get on spiritual highs, we get worked up about things and maybe God was calling you to maybe lighten up on some things and not necessarily give up on some things. So you have to work that out between you and God and be open to this consistent conviction. So some of us will get saved and we stay in the exact same place for the next five years.

Speaker 1: 15:50

And I don't believe that's God at all. I believe God calls us into transitions to move us closer and closer and closer to him, closer to maturity, closer, getting more discipled in Christ, not staying the same. We really want to change the world and make a impact on the world around us for Christ. We have to give up things along the way. An impact on the world around us for Christ. We have to give up things along the way we have to become. The Bible even describes more and more like Him and less and less of me. So there's a part of letting go of what was so that we can move into what God desires for us to move into Because we're called to in our lives. To not just survive life. God desires for us to thrive in our lives, to be fruitful, to be full of life, to not just survive life. God desires for us to thrive in our lives, to be fruitful, to be full of life, to be full of purpose.

Speaker 1: 16:35

Now ask yourself, when you look back in the last year, even the last month, how easily did you allow things in your life to tear you down, to distract you, to dismantle what God's tried to do in you? Did you let circumstances control or manipulate the way you act or respond, or your feelings, and did it rob you of your faith? The Apostle Paul, a man whose life should have been a TV show, a reality TV show. He had, like some of the most back-to-back-to-back series of unfortunate events, unpredictable to everyone, but God had a purpose, as we read in our key text, for his suffering. Yet in this suffering, paul still had joy, still had peace.

Speaker 1: 17:24

Now, joy and happiness are not the same thing. Happiness is a synthetic of joy. It is a manipulation of your well-being to make you feel like you are good and you are safe and you are content. But in reality it has no substance and it cannot sustain you. But joy comes from the Lord. It is eternal, it is powerful and the Bible even says that the joy of the Lord is our strength. So that's where our strength comes from. It's hard to fight the battle well, if you're depressed or you're anxious, but if you have joy and you have peace that comes from the Lord, you can fight properly. Your head stays clear, your mouth stays sanctified, your heart stays purified. So there's a reason to cling to the joy and peace of the Lord so that we can remain effective, to the joy and peace of the Lord, so that we can remain effective. So his joy and peace will give us profound insights that are key ingredients to be truly content in our perspective, how we see things. He teaches us an invaluable lesson that you cannot control what happens to you, but you can control how you see the problem, how you see the situation and how you see the things around you.

Speaker 1: 18:40

So let's look at some context of Paul's journey in Rome we have, if you want to look in your Bibles or mark it 23, 11, paul is supposed to take. He is taking, uh, and he has a vision of taking the gospel to rome. Now the rome, the roman days, the roman people. In this, in this time period where where paul was living is the epicenter of political power and cultural influence, imagine the impact he thought of sharing Jesus with the leaders of the known world. Paul wasn't some bum. He actually had interactions and was high up in, I guess you would say, the chain of command in the Roman church I say the Roman church, the Roman culture in the Pharisees, sadducees, all that organization. So Rome took over, but they let them have their religion aspect, the Jews to keep the peace. That makes sense. So they took over, they conquered them, but they let them keep that. Let them keep that. If you see when Jesus, if you pay attention, when Jesus was being brought before Pontius Pilate, he was a part of the Roman government.

Speaker 1: 20:06

So you have outside or out in the I guess it was outside, I wasn't there but you see in the movies and all this stuff. There's not really a description in the word, but they're out there in kind of the main square and they're yelling crucify him and stuff. They bring out Barabbas, all these things. So you have the Pharisees that started that chant free Barabbas, free Barabbas. Okay, so it's obvious that in the Pharisees were the religious leaders of the Jewish people. They knew the law, they obeyed the law, they were the ones to uphold the law, they had councils and things like that. So all of this was allowed, but they could not do certain things or go above their pay grade, so to speak, because they had to have the Roman stamp of approval, because they were their rulers.

Speaker 1: 20:47

When the roman soldiers showed up, you paid attention and you did what you were told, or they would. The crucifixion was a roman way of punishment and they would try to be um, think of it as competition between this little regime over here and this one over here. They would try to find different ways to torture and kill people and crucify people to kind of make a name for themselves and be recognized and become influential in killing people, which is gruesome and crazy to even think about. But that's the setup. So Paul was thinking in his head. I'm sure that he's about to go and he's going to change the Romans. You ever done it before? You get excited about Christ. You get excited, you got saved, you got baptized, you got filled with the Holy Ghost. Come on somebody and you go in and you're about to change everybody and instead you end up in chains.

Speaker 1: 21:44

That was his situation. He thought he was going to, he knew what he was supposed to do, he knew there was no doubt in his mind. Jesus spoke to him and appeared to him on the road to Damascus. And then you have the vision of what he's supposed to do in Acts 23, 11. But when Paul finally arrived in Rome, it wasn't a celebration of a preacher, but a prisoner chained, awaiting trial. To us. If it was me and I'm just being honest that would be a massive letdown and I would feel like I wasn't doing the calling on my life that God called me to do, when in reality, god positioned him exactly where he was supposed to be. So we have to change our perspective. Let's look in. No, I was still talking about Philippians, sorry, philippians 1, 12 and 14 that we read at the beginning. We see the essence of changing your perspective.

Speaker 1: 22:51

Despite his chains, paul saw his situation not as a setback but as a setup for the gospel to be advanced in the Roman Empire in a way that he never imagined. Every guard chained to him, because it became an ear to hear the gospel. Every guard chained to him, every prisoner around him became an ear to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, paul couldn't control the circumstances he was in prison but he could control his perspective. When you begin to realize that that dark place you are in right now isn't a place of being abandoned by the Father, but it is a place to shine the light in the dark places and to reveal the gospel of Jesus Christ in those dark places, you understand that it's not you being tormented or you being in a place of suffering, although you may be suffering, but it could be a place of salvation for others while they watch you suffer and how you act in a situation. Romans 8, 28,.

Speaker 1: 24:01

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose. Even in our darkest moments, god is weaving our stories for his glory. If your life belongs to Christ, then you should be living like it. No matter what happens, it will all be worked together for your good, no matter if it's the worst season of your life or the best season of your life. It'll be worked together for your good, because you are loved and you are called according to his purpose. Which means that you have to say, lord, I am not, I'm not having fun where I'm at right now, but I trust you. I'm not enjoying this at all, but I trust you. I know that you are a good God. I have seen you time and time and time again. I know who you are. Help me to remember who I am and what I am called to do, and your eyes will be opened to the purpose. I believe Sometimes we don't know the purpose, but understanding that there is a purpose in the pain and that will help us to understand it, he may be doing something.

Speaker 1: 25:17

And here's one thing just like Joseph, you know the coat of many colors. When he was sold into slavery, he went through this whole ordeal, ended up in Egypt, he got arrested because he was blamed by Potiphar's wife of something he actually didn't even do. He actually ran and all of these things that seem to be back to back to back to back to back to where it was always something bad happening to him, but it was actually every step that he took in a bad or rough season or what seemed like torture and chaos and terrible seasons of his life, was one step closer to where God was actually leading him to actually walk into his purpose. Some of us want to just wake up and listen. I'm the same way. We want to wake up and we want to be like you know I don't understand what's going on. But, lord, I know you're about to bring me into my purpose and it may be years down the road Before you get to where God's actually leading you, to where you can, because there may be some things you need to learn along the way. There may be some training Over and over again.

Speaker 1: 26:30

You see that from the very beginning of his story, joseph was having dreams and he didn't really know when to say, when not to say. He kind of. You know he said it to his brothers, but that was the very beginning of the chain of events that led him to where God was going to have him over his brothers. That, in full circle, fulfilled the very first dream that we read about from Joseph. So don't get discouraged, because God is sovereign. When we begin to understand that the almighty power of God, how powerful he is, you begin to step back and just let the good Lord do what only he can do. Just be quiet and enjoy the ride. Sometimes the ride is full of suffering, sometimes it has a little bit of pain, but understand that it will all work out in the end for your good. So let's go to the next one. James, chapter one, verses two and four. James chapter one, verse two and 4. James 1, verses 2 and 4.

Speaker 1: 27:32

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind, any kind, come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy, for you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. Trials are not just obstacles, but they are opportunities to grow us in our faith and grow us in our endurance. So change the way you see opposition. Change the way you see issues and bad seasons and drama and all this other stuff. A mature believer does not just look at their obstacle as opposition but as opportunity. What is it that I can learn from this? What is it that I can get out of this?

Speaker 1: 28:26

And if you know anything about plants I'm not a green thumb guy, I don't really know a whole lot, but I know this for a fact I have seen trees that have beautiful flowers and all of a sudden they would prune them down to almost nothing. I mean cut everything off, but it was for the betterment of the plant. It grew back stronger, it grew back more beautiful Every single season because pruning was done. Pruning is not fun. Pruning is not sexy. It's not one of those things that you're like, oh yeah, I'm going to go get pruned next week. It's not something that you just walk up to and you're enjoying. It's hard, but it's necessary for good growth out of your life.

Speaker 1: 29:19

So trust God that he knows what he is doing and lean on his understanding and not your own. Let's look at 2 Corinthians, 4, 17 and 18. For our present troubles are small and won't last very long, yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever. So the glory will always outweigh the troubles. So don't look at the troubles we can see now. Rather fix your eyes on the gate, fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen, for the things we see now will soon be gone. But the things we cannot now will soon be gone. But the things we cannot see will last forever.

Speaker 1: 30:07

So Paul is reminding us very clearly to not focus on our temporary troubles, but on the eternal glory they produce. This contrasts our temporary nature of our troubles, the temporary nature of our troubles, with the eternal glory they're preparing for us. Jesus said you will have troubles of many kinds, but he will protect you, he will lead you, he will guide you. So I want you to change this. I want you to stop thinking about things being so bad. I want you to go from here's some key phrases and sayings that we say a lot and we probably say I say things without even thinking Like if it's a saying like my dad used to say well, people in hell want ice water too. Too, when I want something as a kid. So change from it can't get much worse to it could be much worse. See how there's a change there.

Speaker 1: 31:13

Perspective shift Flip your perspective back to biblical principles and promises that God desires for every believer to live in. Every one of us has faced or will face circumstances beyond our control. Sometimes it is a daily thing the job we didn't get, the relationship that didn't work out, the people that abandoned us, the plan that fell apart. But, like Paul, we have the choice to change our perspective. Ask yourself what if your current obstacle is an opportunity. What if this waiting period is God working behind the scenes in ways that you can't yet see and you are just not prepared yet to receive the promise he has ready for you?

Speaker 1: 32:07

Paul's story is a call to action. His change led to his boldness of other believers. So his season he was going through, his circumstance, actually led to other believers, their faith, rising up and becoming stronger in their faith and speaking out more boldly, because they were looking at Paul's situation and saying, well, he is in prison, and prison was no patty cake. He was in prison. He was still preaching, still writing letters, still telling people of the goodness of God. If he's in prison and I'm out here free, why am I complaining about anything? I should be more willing to begin to say more of the goodness of God and sing his praises. Paul didn't let his condition spoil his position, where he did not stop where he was, did not stop him from being who God called him to be. It propelled him into the purpose God had for him.

Speaker 1: 33:09

It's time that we have to embrace the perspective shift that God desires for us and speak out more about the goodness of God, more about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Speaker 1: 33:25

It is good news for everyone, and so I want to encourage you today that, wherever you are or what you have went through, don't look at it as a blemish on your testimony, but look at it as fuel for your faith.

Speaker 1: 33:43

Look at it as opportunity, not opposition, that where you are in the middle of something that is so detrimental to you that it is, it's heavy on you. See the beauty in the burden. Allow God to use what you're going through to not only be encouraged yourself that he is there, he cares for you, he loves you, but also to show others who are watching you, and if you are a believer, you better believe that they're watching. We are to be able to answer for the hope that is within us, and if we have hope in some of the darkest times of our lives, then this right here, that alone can change somebody's viewpoint of who God is and who Christ is and give somebody else hope, because we're having hope when, by all standard of the world, we shouldn't. So I hope this video encourages you. I love you and I'm praying for you, and I hope you have an amazing rest of your week.