Epistle of James: Perseverance in Suffering
Epistle of James: Perseverance in Suffering
James 1:2-12
“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 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 he 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 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. 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.”
James 1:2-12 NASB1995
This epistle will be challenging but I hope readers stick with it and I have prayed for guidance on these devotionals to make them interesting and relevant. After a short greeting to his brethren, James (known in some circles as James the Just) wastes no time on frivolities. He immediately tells the brethren to consider it “all joy” when they encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of faith produces endurance. The audience he is addressing in the first century AD has suffered persecution and loss and will suffer more in the immediate future, from both the Romans and the local authorities.
I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure that joy has been the response that I have had to the trials and travails of this world. The Greek word for Joy, chara, means “cheerfulness, calm delight; gladness; joyousness” (in the usual definition round robins back to the same base word that we run into when parsing Bible terms). Think of our world today and how people react to minor annoyances and trials in their daily lives, like traffic jams, sudden extra work from the boss, or airline flight delays. I know I’ve reacted poorly to these types of events in the past and not with anything resembling joy.
The response by many people to a recent change in ownership for a social media company (which is merely a place to waste time) is beyond belief in terms of the hatred and anger that is being spewed because something changed and there may be more “opinions” that must be tolerated. A major trial (like a serious illness or death in the family or loss of property in a natural disaster) leads many, if not most people, into depths of despair and not into gladness because they are not thinking of God in those circumstances.
But James tells us that God wants us to have joy in our trials and build endurance. If we lack the wisdom to do this (and you can’t fake it), we should ask God, who gives to all generously and without reproach. But there is a caveat to receiving this wisdom: We must not doubt, but have faith when we ask. The language James uses is about doubt creates an enduring image, describing it like a storm-tossed wave in the sea, rising in hope and falling in despair. The doubter should not expect anything from God, because being doubtful is being double-minded and is unstable in all [his] ways, which is trying to keep one foot in this life and also pay some attention to the Kingdom at hand. David Guzik has this to say about being double-minded in his excellent Enduring Word commentary.
e. A double-minded man, unstable in all his ways: To ask God but to ask Him in a doubting way, shows that we are double-minded. If we had no faith, we would never ask at all. If we had no unbelief, we would have no doubting. To be in the middle ground between faith and unbelief is to be double-minded.
i. According to D. Edmond Hiebert, double-minded is literally two-souled. “The man of two souls, who has one for the earth, and another for heaven: who wishes to secure both worlds; he will not give up earth, and he is loath to let heaven go.” (Adam Clarke)
ii. The man who said to Jesus, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24) was not double-minded. He wanted to believe, and declared his belief. His faith was weak, but it wasn’t tinged with a double-minded doubt.
iii. “Do you believe that God can give you wisdom, and that he will do so if you ask him? Then, go at once to him, and say, ‘Lord, this is what I need.’ Specify your wants, state your exact condition, lay the whole case before God with as much orderliness as if you were telling your story to an intelligent friend who was willing to hear it, and prepared to help you; and then say, ‘Lord, this is specifically what I think I want; and I ask this of thee believing that thou canst give it to me.’” (Charles Spurgeon)
Being double-minded (and having doubt) has been a problem for me during a lot of my past life of wavering belief/unbelief. I wanted this world but I also wanted God to help me and would even plead with Him at the time when I claimed I was an atheist. Faith is indeed a journey, however, and the Good Shepherd does supply all the wisdom that we need. As my photo image says, you can transform wounds into wisdom through God’s guidance.
This passage continues with a comparison of a humble man and a rich man, with the former taking glory in his high position in the Kingdom and the latter glorying in his humiliation when all is taken away, like withering grass. Both the humble and rich man should be joyous in their circumstances; it is a lot harder for the rich man to find gladness if he loses everything in this life. Recall the story of the young rich man (Mark 10:17-22) who wanted to follow Jesus and was despairing when he was asked to give his possessions away. I don’t know how many times it can be repeated, but you can’t take it with you! The treasures of this life are gone in a moment; the treasures in heaven are eternal. As this message was reiterated in a sermon at our church on Sunday, it is time for us to start purging the moth-eaten “treasures” of this life now, not later. As James says, to end this first lesson, blessed is the man who perseveres through trials (whether he is rich and loses it all or poor and never gains), because he will receive the Crown of Life!
I’m adding a new feature to these devotionals - a short prayer we can all pray.
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer: Dear Lord, please guide us and give us wisdom to persevere in any circumstance and have joy in trials that we encounter in this life. Help us to move away from being double-minded and only be focused on your will and your Kingdom, now and to come.
My next devotional will examine James 1:13-18: Blame in Temptation.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org
Commentary by David Guzik on Enduring Word is used with written permission.