Thursday, Nov. 1

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Thursday

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.  But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.  - James 1:5-8

I only went sailing once when I was a boy.  We had taken a family vacation to Florida and my dad thought it would be fun to rent a little sailboat and go out on the water just the two of us.  It was fun, for the first half an hour or so.  The sun was bright and the breeze was blowing, as we sailed along getting farther and farther away from shore.  It wasn’t long before the clouds rolled in and the breeze turned into a strong wind.  We were totally outmatched in our tiny little boat as the waves grew larger.  It took us nearly two hours, but we finally made it back just before the boat rental place was about to send out a rescue crew!

As a veteran shepherd of souls, James knew that it’s relatively easy to live as a Christian when things are calm.  But it’s a much more difficult prospect when the storms of life hit with full force. At such times, it’s easy to get off course or even to make shipwreck of your faith. His readers were facing various difficult trials.  They were dispersed throughout the Roman world, mostly due to persecution.  They had suffered the loss of their homes and possessions.  Many were not able to escape persecution even in the places to which they had fled.  James wanted them to know how to navigate through these trials so that they could not only endure, but joyfully endure.

Whenever you study the Bible, it is crucial to study the text in its context, and also to understand how the words are used in Scripture.  In the context of James 1, wisdom refers to the wisdom that we need to endure trials with God’s joy, so that we will be “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (1:4).  James realizes that in a time of trials, God’s people often do lack His wisdom on how to endure those trials with joy.  Of course, we can ask God for wisdom in any matter in life that we face, but in the context here, it is focused on asking God for the wisdom that we need to endure trials joyfully.

When James says, “If any of you lack wisdom,” he is not suggesting that some have it together so well that they have no need of wisdom. The Greek conditional sentence implies that we all lack wisdom when we face difficult trials. But, we don’t always see our need for God’s wisdom.

Enduring trials with joy goes against every natural human inclination.  When trials hit, we’re all prone to ask, “Why is this happening to me?”  But that is usually the wrong question.  Sometimes, God graciously reveals to us the reason for our suffering, but not always.  For many of us, the answer to why we (or others) suffer must wait until we see God face to face in the next life.  The important questions to ask when a trial hits are, “How can I understand this trial from God’s perspective?  How can I navigate through this storm in such a way as to bring glory to God?  How can this trial help me grow in spiritual maturity?”

Pastor Warren Wiersbe tells about a secretary of his who was going through a difficult trial. She had had a stroke, her husband had gone blind, and then he had to be taken to the hospital where, as far as they knew, he would die. 

Wiersbe saw this woman in church one Sunday and assured her that he was praying for her.  She startled him by asking, “What are you asking God to do?”  Somewhat startled, he replied, “I’m asking God to help you and strengthen you.”  “I appreciate that,” she said, “but pray about one more thing.  Pray that I’ll have the wisdom not to waste all of this!”  Wiersbe observed, “She knew the meaning of James 1:5.”

What are you facing that just doesn’t make sense to you?
What waves and storms are buffeting your little boat right now?

Ask God to give you the wisdom you need to make it through the storm with Him!

Jeff Frazier