Chad Coley
Series in James/ Faith That Works
How To Endure Trials
James 1:5-8
23 February 2020
James is encouraging his readers and us to persevere through trials by having the right perspective. And to have a right perspective in trials, what we need is wisdom that comes from above. We need to recognise that we are at the end of ourselves and that God (and only He) has the wisdom that we lack.
How do we define wisdom? Wisdom is the God-given ability to apply His instructions for living our daily lives. This is not about mere knowledge, but practical living.
Verse 5 describes God as a giving God; it's a statement of God's character. His motivation is to give wholeheartedly; with a singleness of intent. What’s more, He gives without reproach or shame. He doesn't make us feel guilty for asking. Neither does He give us by reminding us of the wrong that we have done in the past. Instead, He gives without shaming us; He gives freely and generously. Which means we can trust God to answer our request when we come to Him in humility asking for wisdom.
The key point to note here is that when we pray for wisdom, we need to ask in faith. Failure to ask God for wisdom displays a self-sufficient attitude that is prideful. But maturity says we need to understand our trials from God’s perspective. Faith indicates a right attitude that wholeheartedly seeks God's view of what we are going through. In turn, He answers prayers in accordance with His character and nature. And in accordance with His word.
If faith is asking with single-hearted intent, then doubt is not having that single-hearted intent. So often we pray with a human perspective in terms of what we think is possible. If we're doubting, we’re living an anchor-less life. The person who is not expecting anything from God is one who is operating from a subjective point of view; because they fail to see things, and operate, from God’s perspective.
Double-minded literally means “double-souled”. It refers to a person who is vacillating constantly and paralysed by indecision; someone who is relying on worldly wisdom and the opinions of others, and then gets caught between these points of view. But what's really happening is that they're not trusting in God. Instead, they're being hypocritical because while claiming to be Christian they're actually not trusting in God.
But James is challenging us to not be like this. James wants us to be stable; to reject doubt and faithlessness.
The immature response to trials is “Why me?” However, the mature response says, “What does God want me to learn through this?”