More On Faith

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 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 1:2-8

That used to be me: "a double-minded man, unstable in everything." When I first became saved, I thought being a Christian meant that everything would work out in my favor from then on. After all, I had God on my side; a God who loved me, who knew me better than I knew myself. But every time I was faced with a trial, my faith would waver. I would try to rely on my own wisdom instead of God's wisdom. By wisdom, James is talking not only about knowledge, but about the ability to make wise decisions in difficult circumstances. Whenever we need wisdom, we should pray to God, and he will generously supply what we need. As Christians, we don't have to grope around in the dark, hoping to stumble upon the answers or simply assuming we are going in the right direction. We can and should ask for God's wisdom to guide our choices. Wisdom also means practical discernment. It begins with respect and love for God, leads to right living, and results in increased ability to tell right choices from wrong ones. God is willing to give us this wisdom, but we will be unable to receive it if our goals are self-centered instead of God-centered. To learn God's will, we need to read his Word daily and ask Him to show us how to obey it. Then we must do what He tells us to do. Sounds easy, no? Yeah, but anyone who is being honest with themselves knows that this is where the greatest struggle lies: in doing what we know to be the right thing, because many times the right thing is not in our own best interest. We have to continually take our eyes off of ourselves. As John the Baptist said, "I must decrease, so that You may increase." As human beings, we are so full of ourselves; so full of worry, doubt, and fear about our circumstances or about our future that we take our eyes off the one person who has it all figured out already. If we would just abide in Him, rest in Him, rely on Him, trust in Him, talk with Him, walk with Him, then the promises of God could begin to be fulfilled in our lives. The life that God has promised you is yours for the taking, but you have to go to Him to get it, to attain it. T.D. Jakes once gave a sermon about a crying newborn baby who was hungry and wanted to be fed. The mother was holding her baby gently, ready to give her child what he so badly desired. But the baby would not take the breast. He would continue to cry, whine and kick about being so hungry and uncomfortable. He would fight and writhe trying to get away. But the mother would talk soothingly into the baby's ear, trying to calm him and encourage him to feed. But the baby would continue to cry instead. That is how so many of us are today. Crying and whimpering about our circumstances, complaining about what we don't have. All the while, God is waiting right there, speaking to us, soothing us, waiting to bless us. All we have to do is stop fighting and take what is rightfully ours; take what God has prepared particularly for us. A mother's milk is prepared for a season particularly for that child, no one else. As it is with God. His blessings are prepared particularly for you, for this season. Take hold of Him and accept what He has for you. It is that easy. God Bless you and Keep you, J.H.