#DowhatHesays - Week 2 - Study Notes

English

#Dowhathesays

James 1:5-8

This week, we return to the pastoral letter written by Pastor James, brother of Jesus, to some of his parishioners, i.e., to those who had been forced out of their Jerusalem church and community because of the persecution we read about in Acts 7-8. They were facing tough times in their new locations so James started his letter this way: "Consider it a joy, my brothers and sisters when you find yourselves facing all kinds of trials..." Do you remember I said that what he meant was that we who follow a resurrected Jesus can stop for a while in the midst of trials and recognize that God is not absent from this situation. We believe that God uses both good and bad times to do his work.
Well, I've gotten a lot of response about that message. One of our LAC life group's told me that Pastor Gordon Kirk once defined joy as "the positive confidence the comes from knowing and trusting Jesus Christ, regardless of the circumstances." I like Pastor Kirk's definition a lot. To build upon it, I think the joy-filled confidence that Jesus-followers have in the midst of trials comes from 1) knowing the character of God and 2) knowing that God has promised to those who trust him to bring good things out of the trials we go through. If we believe that a trial is actually the vehicle God is choosing use to bring about something wonderful in us, then we can find joy in it.
But, it was a different response to my message last week that leads into this week's sermon. One man walked through my door and said, "Thanks, Pastor Greg. Now, I know how I should think when I go through trials. But, what I don't know is what I should do!" And that's precisely what James wrote about in the verses we come to today, James 1:5-8.

The Situation: Not knowing what to do in the midst of trials.
...so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom... (1:4-5)
Look how v. 4 flows into v.5. The significant thing that ties v.4 to v.5 is the word "lack". I believe James was anticipating the very same question some of you asked me this past week: We can have a deep inner joy even when the trials we face are weighty because we know God "will work all things together for the good of those who love him (Rom. 8:28)." When all the trials of this world are over and we have been faithful to God, we can be assured that our own lives will be complete and will lack nothing. However, knowing that does not in and of itself help us to know what we are to do when times are hard. James' phrase for not knowing what to do is "lack wisdom".
James was a Jewish man who knew the Old Testament well. For him, the word "wisdom" was very clear and very practical. In our world, when we use the word wisdom, we often think of a professor or guru speaking about philosophy. But, in the Bible, wisdom is not about philosophizing or even about providing good spiritual insights. Wisdom has to do with God's truth applied to everyday life. Wisdom speaks of the way that God, the creator of life, has designed life to be lived. The "world's wisdom" might say, "When trials come, fight back and get whatever you can for yourself." But, God's wisdom is different from the world's wisdom.
So, in James 1, when James wrote about trials, he thought immediately about wisdom. What kind of wisdom is lacking in James 1? It's the wisdom to know what to do when we are in the midst of a stress-filled situation. When you think about it, one of the greatest problems about passing through trials is that difficult circumstances bludgeon our minds. It's often difficult to think sensibly or rationally about the situation when we're under trial. That's a big part of the problem.
And that can be fatal because, as James had just been saying in vv.2 4, this whole biblical approach to handling trials confidently and joyfully is only possible for the one who can think straight, who is able to "count" or "consider" (1:2) what is happening and make a God-directed decision. "For you know," James said in v.3. The joy James spoke of in v.2 requires the ability to apply rationally what we know about God and from God's Word to our situation. Where can we ever find the kind of level headed judgment we need in the midst of the emotional and mental upheaval that always accompanies trials?
James wrote, "I will now tell you the source of God's direction – of God's wisdom -- that you need in times of confusion and mental distress." Listen to me carefully from this point on: We all have times when, left on our own, we lack wisdom. What did James teach us to do?

The First Wise Step: Ask God.
If you lack wisdom, ask God... (1:5).
It looks so simple: If you are being overwhelmed by what is happening, if you feel a trial is battering you senseless, then ask God to give you the next step you should take. Ask Him to give you the mental poise and the insight into His will that you need. Pray simply, "Lord, I don't know what to do next. Show me what my next step should be."
Before I say anymore about this, I want you to see that James points out two beautiful things about God's character.
#1: God gives freely: First, James says that God is a father who gives "generously" in v.5. The word is probably better translated "freely." God doesn't do a "this for that" that exchange when he gives. God doesn't say, "I'll promise to give you guidance if you give $5M to the church next week!" No, he gives because he loves us and wants the best for us. Like any parent loves to have the children come up and ask personally for guidance, God loves it too and gives his guidance freely.
#2: God gives without finding fault: That means that God won't laugh at you because you can't cope with the situation on your own. The good parent doesn't tell the child when the bike needs to be assembled, "Ha, you're making a mess of it. That's your problem. Don't bother me with it." "Without reproach" means that God does not say, "What? You again? I just gave you what you wanted and you're back here bugging me again?" God never makes you feel cheap or irresponsible for asking again and again. Rather, He invites you to ask for all the wisdom you need. Some fathers are stingy and selfish. Their standard answer is, "No!" Or, if they grudgingly give you what you ask for, they never let you forget it. You have to budget your requests carefully, because if you get a yes on something, it will be a long, long time before you get another yes. But, good and wise parents wait simply to hear, "Will you help me?"
And, James says, that's the way God deals with us. We need to come to Him and ask Him. The prayer will often be something like this: "I don't know how to think. I don't know what the next step is. God, how would you have me handle this? What is your wisdom for this situation?"
That's what Christian prayer is about. It's not us becoming God's master and saying, "Here's my wisdom and will for the situation. You do it." It's just the opposite. It's saying, "I need your wisdom. Tell me what to do and I'll do it."
So now, back to the question of when churchgoers go through trials: What is the first thing we think we should do in tough times? What do you tell people you will do when you hear about their trials? It's prayer. "Pray about it." "I'll join you in prayer." "Our entire small group or ABF is praying for you."
This implies, of course, that we know we have a need and that we admit that our own wisdom is not sufficient. Trials are very helpful in pointing this fact out to us, aren't they?
You may say something like this to me: "Pastor, I've prayed about this situation 1,000 times and I still don't know what to do!" My experience is that when I pray about a trial, I always know at least one step that I should take in the situation. That step is rarely what I want to do – but I know it's a first step that God would have me do. And when I talk with others Christians about this, I find that they usually affirm that when we pray earnestly, we usually identify a sometimes-small-step that we know is the next thing God would have us do. And that point brings me to the next part of the message. We not only ask for wisdom, but when we bring God into the situation, we must do something else.

The Harder Part: Do whatever He says.
When you ask, you must act in faith and not be divided about the matter... (1:6, Waybright Version).
Many Bible students say they have problems understanding vv.6-8. But I don't think the problem is understanding what thee verses are saying to us. The real problem is in living them. Let me unpack them for you. The first issue is what James means by "faith" in v.6. When James says, "When you pray you must believe", many have said that he's teaching that if we believe something hard enough, God will have to give it to us. But I tell you: This verse does not mean that if you believe in something hard enough, God must do it! That false understanding of the verse would leads us to pray: "God, this is what I want you to do in this matter so now you have to do it! I've prayed really believing it will happen."
But that's not at all what James is saying here. What he's saying is that we who know the Lord have the privilege of coming into his presence in prayer and asking for him to show us what he wants us to do in the situation. But, be warned: If we ask for God's wisdom, we must be ready to carry through in faith with what he says. For James, true faith means that we act on what we believe. That's why I translate the verse, "you must act in faith."
Francis Chan spoke about this in a message he once gave. Chan told us to imagine him telling his daughter, "Jen, go and clean up your messy room!". On the next day, she tells him, "Dad, I had a group over today and we took time to study what you told me to do. We talked about the different ways you could understand your words. We discussed what my room will look like and how good it will be when it's clean. One of the girls even translated your words into Greek, Dad. It's been great. We are all so inspired." But, the room was still a mess! "Can you imagine that?" said Chan. That's how it is when we know what God would have us to do and then do not do it.
So, James is saying that when we're having a huge trial and we're not thinking straight but we have a single desire, i.e., to do God's will, we first come to him in prayer and ask for wisdom. We have the privilege as God's children to ask also for healing or prosperity or a miracle or whatever but in asking for God's wisdom, we must submit to whatever we sense he says.
The other part of v.6 that confuses is the phrase often translated "and not doubt." Many read that and think, "The Bible teaches us never to ask the honest questions we have. And I'll tell you this: When we have trials, our minds and hearts are filled with questions. The godliest people in the Bible and in history have had questions in the midst of trials. But, that's not what this text is talking about.
The word has to do with starting to make distinctions. Sometimes this comes out in our lives when we sense what God would want us to do one day and say we're going to do it. But, on the next, we begin to think that God's way would be too costly. We become like the man named "Mr. Facing-both-ways" in his book, Pilgrim's Progress. Have you ever been like that?
The other way this plays out is that when trials come, we pray and sense what God would have us do but then we start looking out into the future and parsing out all the problems we will have when we do what God has told us to do. You may think, "I know I should go and tell my friend the truth – but if I do, then telling the truth will lead to all sorts of other problems. So, I think I'd better not do what I know God will have me do this time. It won't work out."
James says, "That person is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind... Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do." Do you see it? Have you ever experienced it? A double-minded person. A person ripped up inside. The word James used, literally, is a "double-souled" person. It refers to people whose hearts are divided between doing what God says on one side and doing what we think might work out better on the other. In other words, it refers to those times when you're not sure you want to know God's wisdom, because you aren't fully committed to submitting to it. You think it would be nice to know God's wisdom for his situation, but before you commits to obeying it, you needs to find out it will work well for you. If God's wisdom sounds good, follow it. But if other wisdom sounds better, follow that.
Let me tell you two stories going back to my earliest days of being a pastor. See if you can see any traces at all of yourself in how these people handled trials. The first was of a young woman who came in to see me and wanted me to do her wedding. But, she told me that she was under great duress from both her own family and friends and from the man's about the marriage. When I asked her why, she confessed to me that it was because the man was still married and had two children. She said that they were having an affair. When I told her I was sure I knew why she was having problems, she quickly told me, "But, Pastor Greg, I know God has led us together." I told her, "I know he has not." And she said, "But God has given me a peace about it." And I said, "Whatever peace that is, it is not from God."
It was very clear that she really had no peace and that her life was in turmoil. I said, "I know how you can begin to find direction and stability in your life. You need to ask God what he would have you to do? Will you do that?" And she said, "Yes – I'll do anything as long as he lets me marry this man." She chose to go her own way instead of God's – and it led to years of misery.

The second is a very different kind of story and comes from this past week. I was talking with a wonderful young pastor who called me because he had heard that I had often wrestled with an issue he was dealing with. In his church, he had a respected and leading couple struggling with a very difficult personal issue that had the potential of ripping the smaller church he was pastoring apart. We walked through this James 1 passage together. And I asked him, "Even though many things are not clear to you, is there any small next step that you think you should take that clearly is in keeping with God's Word?" He thought about it and said yes. "But," he said, "I think that if I take that step, it would lead to a chain reaction that could explode and tear the church apart."
This is an outstanding, courageous and wise young pastor. But he and I both acknowledged that simple obedience to God is hard (even when we are pastors) – but that this is what is necessary. In the midst of a trial, if we do not do that thing we know God would have us to do, 1) we will not please everyone and 2) we will not be at peace with God. We will be driven back and forth as we seek to navigate the mess. But, if we seek God in prayer, discern at least a part of what we should do, and then do what He says, then – if nothing else – we will know we are right with God. We will not be blown here and there by trying to please everyone. It is the fear of the Lord – the single desire to please God – that leads to wisdom.
Have you ever made a hard decision after praying and done the thing you thought God would have you do only because you said, "I will please and obey God." I can tell you that this is what leads to lasting peace.
This is how it works out:
• A trial comes as trials always come in our imperfect world;
• You stop and "consider" that God is not distant and that he uses trials to do good things;
• But you don't know what to do so you pray;
• You discern perhaps just one thing that you know undeniably that God would have you do;
• But it's hard. You foresee all sorts of problems that obeying God might lead to;
• But you... what do you do?

I call you to do what God says. When you seek God and sense there is a step you should take, don't rethink it. Just do what you believe God has shown you to do in prayer. Just do what He says. That's what Pastor James told his people centuries ago. I tell you this: It's still the way Jesus-followers are to act in the midst of trials here in the 21st C – right here in Southern CA. Let me leave you with Prov. 2:3-6:
If you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding,
And if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure,
Then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.
For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

(One of the things we miss in this text is that James takes it for granted that Christians will walk through trials together. We are not meant to handle trials alone. When we pray and seek God's wisdom, we should seek it together with other believers. I'm going to give you that opportunity right now...)

To His glory,

Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor