3. (James 1:5-8) How to receive the wisdom you need from God
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But we must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him: James acknowledges that often the believer lacks the wisdom to face trials successfully. Just as when I lacked wisdom to pass those surprise English quizzes, we risk failing the tests God brings us for lack of godly wisdom. Trials bring a necessary time to seek wisdom from God. But, James tells us that our Father in heaven is ready and willing to provide us with the needed wisdom to pass His tests if we only ask.
Let him ask of God: Notice it does not say we are to seek books, friends, family or members from our church. No. If we want wisdom, we are to seek it directly from its source. It is so easy for us to seek out other sources--sources which are corrupt--to solve our problems. God tells us again and again to ask Him for the solutions to our problems. And yet, we so rarely do. It seems it is easier and safer to seek advice from the world around us than to search for answers from the Maker of all things.
Without reproach: And, He will answer our requests for wisdom in the face of trials without reproach. The Greek word for "reproach" is oneidizo, which means without casting an insult. There is an important difference between my high School English teacher and our Father in heaven. If I had stopped in the middle of one of those surprise pop quizzes to ask my instructor for the knowledge I lacked, I can tell you what I would have learned--I would have learned to never do that again! My request would have been met with much reproach.
However, our Father wants His children to grow in spiritual maturity because our degree of spiritual maturity in this life will be the Lord's measuring stick for assigning us our reward in the world to come. Our Father desires that we please Him and bring Him glory so that He may reward us.
James states that these trials and tests and experiments will come upon us by God's hand. He brings us these trials not to harm us but to develop within us endurance and patience and persistence, which, over time, will give opportunity for us to develop spiritual maturity. With that maturity, we can serve Him with steadfastness and faithfulness.
Moreover, these tests are open book tests! God is willing to give us the answers, the wisdom we need to pass His tests. When we recognize that we lack the knowledge to face our trials in a godly and mature manner, we are to ask God. But how do we ask God? By petitioning Him in prayer and seeking Him in His word. And James says the Lord will ALWAYS answer our requests. The Lord is willing to give us the godly wisdom we need to pass His tests because the whole point of taking a test is to pass. Our teachers did not give us tests to cause us to fail. Rather, tests were opportunities for us to succeed and grow. When we failed, it was only because we lacked knowledge.
Remember, our final exam is not found in this life. It comes at the Judgment Seat when the Lord will judge the works of believers. We should all want to be ready for that day; we should all want to be counted as perfect and complete.
We must ask in faith: Our request for wisdom must be made like any other request--it must be done in faith. Notice, we must not only come in faith, but we must also ask in faith. This is where the prayers of many people fail. People often make petitions unto God without having any confidence He will answer them. People pray in such a way in which they ask for nothing, and God, in return, answers by giving them nothing.
Without any doubting: In the New American Standard translation, the scholars translate the word diakrinomenos as doubting. The word literally means to discern or judge between. But, when it is taken with James's example of a surf, the word has a different meaning. James is not talking about a man who doubts, but a man who has a divided motive or an inconsistent approach to facing trials.
A better translation here is the King James Version: "But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed."
In the King James, it is much easier to see the connection between vacillating and the movement of the sea, up and down, but never stable. James goes on to describe this person as someone driven and tossed by the wind.
The person James is describing is someone, during the midst of their trials, is unstable and wavers. The person might call out to God, but he does not have confidence that God is producing these challenges and that God has the solution to get us through the turbulent times. Moreover, as the person continues to seek godly wisdom, he grows impatient and runs to the world for their solutions...and the world is filled with an overabundance of wisdom--there is Dr. Phil, Cosmo, Christian books, horoscopes, Facebook, Twitter and even family and friends. But none of them are a replacement for God's own voice and His word. This instability results in God withholding the wisdom we desire when facing trials.
When we approach God for the wisdom to face a trial, we must approach the throne boldly in faith. It is in faith that we are able to accept from God the right answer. When we waver, we oscillate back and forth between God's wisdom and the world's wisdom. Wavering is a characteristic of spiritual immaturity.
However, when we grow in our maturity and rely on God's direction (from the study of His word and from praying), we become a more stable person. We become equipped to face big and small trials in ways in which do not greatly disrupt our lives. We learn to accept and understand God's purpose through all of it. It is a mark of spiritual maturity when we wait patiently on the LORD and accept His answers when we receive them. If you want God to give you wisdom to face trials, learn stability. Rest in God, and do not seek out worldly wisdom.
A double-minded man, unstable in all his ways: A double-minded man is literally a two-souled man. The man of two souls has one soul for the earth, and one soul for heaven. It is a man who wishes to be secure in both worlds. He will not give up his earthly soul and at the same time, he clings to his heavenly soul.
4. (James 1:9-11) Encouragement for those affected by trials
But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.
But the brother of humble circumstances: Have you ever thought of wealth or status as a form of a trial? It is, and it does not matter which end of the financial spectrum we find ourselves. God has placed us in our financial positions as a test to develop spiritual maturity. On the the one end of the scale is poverty. It is an inward test in which we must maintain a proper attitude through it. We show spiritual maturity as we contend with needs we cannot meet in this life. If we listen to the popular health, wealth and prosperity teachers, the answer to our poverty is to seek for that wealth "in faith" and demand God provide it. However, James says the exact opposite. We are to take satisfaction and glory in spiritual riches you have in the kingdom. Paul echos the same theme in Colossians 3:2 "Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth."
The rich man is to glory in his humiliation: The person who finds himself with wealth experiences a similar test, but this time it is an outward test. We should not glory or celebrate our earthly wealth. Our humility should be our chief concern. Furthermore, riches and humility are in opposition. Money is a means to independence and allows us to live as if there is no God. We can follow our fleshly pride as far as our money will take us. So, when God grants someone wealth, it is a test of spiritual maturity. Will we forgo the independence that wealth offers us and rely on the LORD despite our wealth?
How often do you think Christians pass this test?
First let's consider it is a test that never ends. It seems our perspective on money is a chief tool God uses to develop spiritual maturity. We are to live in the world with eyes for eternity knowing that nothing in this world will last into eternity except our spiritual maturity.
Like flowering grass he will pass away: James compares the rich man's life to the beauty of a flowering grass. In desert climates, flowering grass does not last very long. After a rainstorm, the flowers quickly spring up and litter the land with their beauty. As the sun beats down on the ground and quickly evaporates the moisture, the flowers quickly dry up and die. So too, a man's life is just as short as he spends his time chasing the riches of this world.
Moreover, the riches of this world will certainly fade away just as quickly as the flowering grass. If we put our life and identity into things which fade away, we will fade away also. How much better is it to put our life and identity into things which will never fade! If a man is only rich in this world, when he dies, he leaves his riches. But, if a man is rich before God, when he dies, he will go to his riches.
James being highly versed in the Scriptures of the day (the Old Testament) seems to be referencing his readers back to the Book of Isaiah.
"A voice says, 'Call out.' Then he answered, 'What shall I call out?' All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever." (Isaiah 40:6-8)
B. Living for the LORD in times of temptation
1. (James 1:12) A blessing for those who endure temptation
Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love him.
Blessed is a man: This sounds almost like one of Jesus' Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5-7. In those great statements of blessing, Jesus gave us a sampling of ways in which we can be blessed. Here we learn of another blessing if we endure temptation. As we examine the text, it does not say, "Blessed is the man who is never tempted." Nor does it say, "Blessed is the man who finds all temptation easy to conquer." Instead, the promise of blessedness is given to the one who endures temptation. There is a special gift of blessedness from God to the one who can say "no" to temptation, and thereby saying "yes" to God.
Blessed simply means a spiritual happy life. Thus, enduring trials and stressful tests that God brings us will result in a peaceful content life. Through those experiences and the resulting spiritual maturity, we gain the ability through Christ in us to see these circumstances differently. The blessing we receive comes from having eyes for eternity.
Once he has been approved: Here James states the purpose of God in allowing temptation. The purpose is to approve us that through the testing, we would be revealed as genuine and strong in our faith.
He will receive the crown of life: Once the person has passed the test, he is worthy to receive the crown of life. The word for crown is the Greek word stephanos, which was the wreath awarded to the Olympians who won the race. It reflects an award that can be earned through performance. Therefore, we understand it is not a symbol for salvation. Never does Scripture refer to our salvation as a wreath or crown that can be earned. Salvation is only through grace alone (Ephesians 2:8-9).
This is one of five crowns mentioned in the New Testament for believers who excel in serving the LORD through trials. Crowns are a measure of our faithful service. These awards are presented when the test is over, at the Judgment Seat of Christ that all believers will face. This crown is for anyone who perseveres through to the end of a trial brought upon them to test their love for Christ. Remember, we are not talking about a test of whether we believe in the Gospel or whether we are saved. We are talking about a test of spiritual maturity that demonstrates our love for Christ. The purpose of this testing is to develop us and create a witness for Christ that brings Him glory in the world.
Jesus asks for a similar commitment from the early church in Smyrna. In that city, there was a strong persecution against Christians by those professing themselves to be Jews. They endured the sort of trials and tests James is speaking about here. In fact, James's words were prophetic in the way they foretold what the Christians would face.
Jesus says it this way to the Smyrna church in the Book of Revelation:
"And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: The first and the last who was dead, and has come to life, say this: 'I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.'" (Revelation 2:8-10)
Jesus describes Himself as the One who was dead and is now alive to a church that was soon to experience martyrdom. He wants to encourage the faithful witness even in the face of death. That's quite a trial and test, is it not? But remember what James says about the reward--only after we have passed the test will we expect to receive a reward. Failing the test does not get us the reward. But to those who are approved, the crown of life is held out as a reward for those who endure trials. Our walk with Jesus is by faith, but it is also a walk of faithfulness. The tests God brings us are intended to give us opportunity to prove that faithfulness and our spiritual maturity. Then, God is prepared to reward us at the appropriate time.
To those who love Him: This describes the motive for resisting temptation--our love for God. The passions of sinful temptation can only really be overcome by a greater passion, and that is a passion for the honor and glory with God. Some resist temptation out of fear for man. The thief suddenly becomes honest when he sees a policeman. The man controls his lists because he would not bear to be found out and subsequently embarrassed. Others resist the temptation to one type of sin by the power of another sin. The frugal minister gives up partying because he does not want to spend the money. But the best motive for resisting temptation is to love God--to love Him with greater power and passion than your love for sin.
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