Welcome to the Paul Tripp podcast, where pastor and best-selling author Dr. Paul David Tripp connects the transforming power of Jesus Christ to everyday life.

The book of James starts off with the phrase, count at all joys, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.

James intentionally uses the word when and not if. In today's episode, we'll

listen to the first sermon from a series Paul preached called Street Level Christianity,

and in it he teaches why we suffer and why we hate it. Here's Paul.

If you this evening could ask one question of the Lord, right here, right now, what would you ask?

If there's a riddle of your own faith, your walk with God, that you would like to present before your Redeemer,

what is that? Maybe you don't understand why your life has had so much difficulty in it,

and you thought that the life of a believer was a life of blessing.

Or perhaps you think that there's these moments in life where you just lack wisdom.

And you know that your Lord is the ultimate source of wisdom,

and you don't understand why you have these moments where you lack wisdom.

Or maybe you recognize that there's way too much anger in your life,

that you experience way too much conflict in you,

and you don't understand why.

Or maybe you know that God's sovereign,

yet you know that you're supposed to plan and you you struggle with that balance between

what's your responsibility and what you can entrust to God. Or maybe you really struggle with

getting the best out of God's word. You love the preaching of God's word, but when you have

the Bible yourself and the privacy of your own devotions,

it just doesn't seem like the word of God speaks to you. Or maybe there are moments where you feel

like the most insignificant, unrecognized member of the body of Christ, and you feel like you

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