The next part of what he says goes something like this (off the top of my head, and I'm guessing what's on the top of my head is the New King Jimmy version):
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and
without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no
doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the
wind. Let not that man suppose he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a
double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
For a long time I thought this part was talking about asking for wisdom to get through the trial. If the trial was cancer, asking for wisdom for finding the right doctors, getting the right treatments, etc., to help me through the trial. If I blew a tire, I would ask for wisdom about getting safely to my destination. However, I don't believe this to be what James is saying here.
The point of the trial is not for us to just get through it. The goal is to get through it having learned the lesson God wants us to learn, looking more like Christ in the end. So what wisdom would one need as they go through the trial? Not what they need to do to make it out, but wisdom to decern what it is God is telling them, through the trial, needs to be changed so that they look more like Christ in the end. If God brings cancer, to go back to one of my previous examples, into your life, and His Spirit is leading you to understand that He wants you to learn to trust Him more, but you say, "That can't be, God. I already trust You...a lot!" then it is this one who is doubting, or "double-minded." You ask the Lord what you need to learn through this, but then when it's revealed to you, you insist that can't be it.
A couple months ago, my wife and I lost our twin babies, miscarrying at about 11 weeks. That's a trial. I'm still wanting to know what exactly the Lord wants me to learn through this...certainly waiting on Him is a part of it. I'm so thankful that He's completely in control, that He has reasons and purposes to all He does, and that He would count me worthy to test my faith through such things. I don't want to waste this trial. I'm listening...
5 comments:
I agree that the wisdom request is not simply "Get me through this." On the other hand, I'm not entirely sure that specific trials are meant to teach specific things, except, of course what we're told -- patience. "You know that the testing of your faith produces patience" (James 1:3). I think that the general idea is not a particular lesson except for one, overarching, hard-to-learn-but-so-absolutely-necessary lesson of "who are you going to trust?" (James calls it "the testing of your faith".) It's laid out there in all its pain and difficulty and you're asked, "So ... are you going to trust Me now?" My response is typically, "I believe; help Thou mine unbelief."
It's also interesting to note that trials are almost never your own. They are shared. When one believer suffers, so do those around him. When one believer matures, so do those around him. So beyond the trying of your faith, it is for the benefit of others as well.
I don't disagree that it ultimately comes down to trusting him and perseverance. And I also agree that not every trial must have some big specific thing beyond what we're told. But I guess I'd like to hear your take on more than just the first verse or two, into the verses that I quoted regarding the need for wisdom and not being double-minded.
I agree with what you said about the first part (because, well, it's pretty explicit). We are to count trials as joy because they produce perfection in us. (I wrote a blog once about whether or not we should perhaps pray for trials if we really want to be Christ-like.)
I see the next part -- the "pray for wisdom" part -- as only lightly connected to the trial part. That is, "If any of you lack wisdom while facing a trial or in whatever circumstances you find yourself ..." If you lack wisdom (about anything), ask God.
Some people take the doubt section as a threat or promise. "If you doubt you will receive nothing." That's not what it says. It says "If you doubt don't expect anything." God may or may not give it. The point James is making is -- if you ask and you doubt you're crazy. Who are you asking? Can He supply what you ask? Does He want what's best for you? Then ... why are you doubting? That's crazy ("unstable"). The point is not "you loser", but "how about if you work on that?"
By the way, my deepest condolences on your loss of your children. (You see, at this point you have to ask yourself, "Is this trial too big or is God as trustworthy as I believed Him to be?" It will determine your response -- doubt or trust. If doubt, on what basis? See how that works? "How about if you work on that?")
Well, we certainly believe He's in control and that He is bigger than any trial we'll ever face, and that we can trust Him with everything, and this is no different.
In my experience I certainly say I believe He's in control but I still question (as a first response) when things go "badly". I call that "wavering". My goal is to shorten the "realization". (I put the term in quotes because there is a point at which what I say I believe becomes real to me.) The quicker I can get from painful or difficult event to "Oh, and I truly believe that God is in control and has my best in mind", the less I consider myself "wavering" or double-minded.