In the Trial, God Shapes Your Heart for Complete Joy

"Lord, why the trial?" This is the question Pastor Samuel MABBOUX (church of Nice l'Ariane) hears very often, and one he asks the Lord himself before finding the theme of this message. His answer is rooted in Deuteronomy 8:2-4: God himself explains why he let his people go through 40 years in the wilderness. Five precise reasons. And one promise: even in the trial, he remains faithful.

This message is for you if you're going through a hard season, a hospitalization, an abandonment, a suffering in your family. It's also for you if you're watching someone you love walk through the wilderness. You won't find here a recipe for avoiding trials, you'll find the voice of a Father telling you why he allows it and how he walks with you through it.

What you'll find in this message

• Why God allows the wilderness in your life
• Five precise reasons drawn from Deuteronomy 8
• The difference between a trial permitted by God and a trial caused by your own sin
• How God remains faithful even when everything seems lost
• Why the trial can become a reason for complete joy

The outline of the message

1. The wilderness, that place that strips you bare

In the Bible, the wilderness almost always speaks of trial. No water, no bread, no place to hide from the sun. You look ahead: nothing. To the right: nothing. To the left, nothing either, and behind you even less. The wilderness is the moment you're stripped bare, when you can no longer hide.

For you, the trial may have been a hospitalization. A difficult season in your family. An abandonment. A physical suffering. You were looking for a rock to protect you, and there was nothing. It's exactly at that moment (when you have nothing left) that you lift your eyes toward the Lord. And you realize that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD (Deuteronomy 8:3).

Sometimes God brings you into the wilderness. He takes away your comfort, your security, your supports. Fear returns. He does this to make you react before you sink too far.

"You shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or not." (Deuteronomy 8:2)

2. First reason: to humble you

The word "humble" appears twice in the text. Nobody likes that word. Nobody looks for humiliation. But when it's the Lord who does it, it produces something good in you. The exact meaning of the verb: to shape, to knead, to make you moldable in God's hands.

To be humbled by God is to become dependent on him. To give up your own will, to give up the flesh. "Not my will, Father, but yours." The Bible says he resists the proud. You cannot stand your ground against God, you cannot be stubborn before him, because he can break you to bring you to humility. Without humility, you cannot see God, and you cannot belong to him.

And in that suffering, there's a new food: manna. A spiritual food you didn't know before. Like in a hospital, there's a particular kind of food, not always very good, but particular. The Lord gives you manna tailored to you, dosed exactly for your trial. His motto: "A particular season, a particular grace."

3. Second reason: to prove you

To prove means to remove what's wrong, to purify, to make clean. The Hebrew word speaks of "putting through a check," of testing. God likes to put you through a check to see where you stand: in your faith, in your sanctification, in your consecration. He wants to uproot you from the world and from fleshly things so he can root you in himself.

4. Third reason: to reveal what is in your heart

What are your deep motivations concerning the things of God? How many of us came to the Lord (or came back to the Lord) after a trial? After eating the dust of the wilderness. After being at the very bottom, in that valley of dry bones where there's no more hope left. That's where you cry out to the Lord and fall to your knees.

The trial forces you to take a stand. To stop sitting on the fence. To stop having one foot in the world and one foot in the church. To stop having one foot in sin and one foot in sanctification. How many Christians put on their nicest shirt on Sunday, a bit of perfume, and are completely sinful the rest of the week? Samuel MABBOUX says it with humility: that's what he was for years.

This is what God tested in Abraham's heart when he asked him to sacrifice his only son. "What is in your heart?" It's easy to receive. It's harder to give back to the Lord what he takes from you. But it's only in the trial that you truly know where you stand with God. You will never make as much spiritual progress as you do in the trial.

"Don't pray for the trial, that's risky. But pray: Lord, in the trial, help me learn, help me discern what you want me to learn, what you want to remove from my life."

5. Fourth reason: to see whether you will keep his commandments

Obeying the word of God, even when you don't see the promised land. Even when nothing improves in your life. Knowing whether the first commandment is true in your heart: "You shall love your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind."

You can't know that until you've gone through the trial. That's where you see whether you really hold on to God. Perseverance takes effort, Paul speaks of "finishing the race." The true Christian is the one who holds on when he's tired, when he wants to give up, when others start to pass him by. You discover your spiritual limits in the trial.

6. Fifth reason: to teach you that what matters most is spiritual

Our body constantly pulls us back to the earth, to fleshly things. It won't inherit heaven, so it's logical that it looks down. But your soul is eternal. The text says: "that he might teach you that man does not live by bread only, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh."

Bread, here, represents the fleshly, the earthly, the temporary. The spiritual world is just as real as the physical world, and more important, and more lasting. Everything you can touch will pass away. The spiritual world, though, is eternal.

So put God first. Put Sunday morning first in your schedule. It's the tithe of your time. We often talk about the tithe of money, but there's also the tithe of your time, your praise, your words. Detach yourself from the earthly to attach yourself to the heavenly. Physically bend the knee before God, not as a ritual, but spontaneously, at home, with your family. Bring your family to their knees and declare: "You are the God of our family."

7. Even in the trial, God remains faithful

Deuteronomy 8:4 is striking: "Your clothing didn't grow old on you, neither did your foot swell, these forty years." For 40 years, a miracle renewed every day. Clothing that lasts 40 years. Feet that don't swell despite the walking.

God has manna every morning. He has quail. He has the pillar of cloud by day, the pillar of fire by night. He leads his people. Sometimes you're in the wilderness and you tell yourself: "I've lost the pillar." So come back: "Lord, show me the pillar. I want to follow you. You are my guide, you are my master."

"No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." (1 Corinthians 10:13)

No trial is above your strength. God also gives you the kit to survive in the wilderness. He prepares the way of escape. I don't know what your trial is this morning. Everyone has their own. But no matter what: God is enough for your trial.

8. The right question: are you in the trial to learn, or through disobedience?

The trial doesn't always come from the enemy. Sometimes it's permitted by God. But if you put yourself in the trial through your own sin (like Jonah, who refuses to go to Nineveh), the only question to ask yourself isn't "What does God want to teach me?" but "Where do I need to repent?"

In the belly of the fish, Jonah prayed to the LORD. And immediately the fish let him go. What brings God near is repentance. "I have sinned against heaven and against you," says the prodigal son. There, the Lord comes, forgives, helps. There may even be human consequences to face, but the Lord will help you restore what's broken.

9. Look at the trial as a reason for complete joy

The pastor quotes James:

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (James 1:2-4)

Careful: you're not joyful because of the trial. You're joyful because of what the trial will produce in you. Patience. Maturity. The crown of life promised to those who love the Lord (James 1:12).

Naturally, you tend to grow spiritually lax. To grow cold. Sometimes small trials, small spikes, are what allow you to hold on and stay standing.

10. The final goal: the promised land

The goal for the people during those 40 years was not the wilderness. It was the promised land: "a land of brooks of water, of springs, and underground water flowing into valleys and hills." God provides for you here on earth, of course. He loves you, he helps you. But his main goal is your eternal life.

We live in the instant, Amazon delivers in 24 hours, we can't stand to wait anymore. But God, he's eternal, and he knows that time works in his favor. You too are eternal. Remember that.

"We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28)

Whether or not you understand God's plan for your life, whether or not you know why you're going through this trial: trust the Lord. He knows.

Key takeaways

• God allows the wilderness to humble you, prove you, reveal your heart, train you to obey, and remind you that what matters is spiritual.
• In suffering, he gives you manna tailored to you: a particular season, a particular grace.
• Even 40 years in the wilderness doesn't wear out what God carries: he remains faithful every day.
• If you're in the trial through your own sin, the only right response is repentance, like Jonah.
• The trial isn't joy itself; but it produces complete joy (James 1:2-4) and prepares the crown of life.

Personal application

Take a moment before God and answer honestly:

• What trial are you walking through right now in the wilderness? Are you ready to ask God what he wants to teach you through it?
• Are you there through obedience or through disobedience? The right response isn't the same in both cases.
• What crutches is God trying to take away so that you finally lean only on him?
• When was the last time you physically bent the knee before God, at home, outside of Sunday?
• Do you have the tithe of your time set aside for the Lord this week, or have you replaced it with something else?

Verses cited

• Deuteronomy 8:2-4 · why God let his people spend 40 years in the wilderness
• Jonah 2 · Jonah prays from the belly of the fish
• Psalm 23 · the valley of the shadow of death
• 1 Corinthians 10:13 · no trial above your strength
• James 1:2-4 · count it all joy in various trials
• James 1:12 · the crown of life promised to those who love the Lord
• Romans 8:28 · all things work together for good
• Philippians 4:13 · I can do all things through him who strengthens me

FAQ

Why does God allow trials in a Christian's life?

Deuteronomy 8:2-3 gives five reasons: to humble you, to prove you, to reveal what is in your heart, to test whether you will keep his commandments, and to remind you that man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. The trial is never pointless; it exists to shape you.

How can I tell a trial permitted by God apart from a trial caused by my own sin?

Ask yourself one question: "Am I here because God wants to teach me something, or because I disobeyed?" If it's the second, the first step isn't to ask "what am I supposed to learn?" but to repent. Like Jonah in the belly of the fish: the moment he prayed, the fish let him go.

What does James 1:2 mean by "count it all joy" in trials?

It doesn't mean being happy because of the trial. It means rejoicing over what the trial will produce in you: patience, maturity, a tested faith. James promises a crown of life to those who endure patiently. The joy isn't in the suffering itself, but in the fruit it will produce.