James 1:1-7 1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. 2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. 5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6 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. 7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. |
As Christians we are often faced with difficulties and trials. James asks of us to do something that goes completely against our natural tendencies. The flesh would tell us to break down, or to give up, it would tell us to quit. This is exactly what our enemy wants us to do.
James tells us to count it all joy. Let's be honest, it is very difficult to take an inventory of our lives, and place our trials into the joy category. When we understand that the trials we are walking through matures us, then we can see the tremendous value of trials.
Our first reaction may cause us to ask God to immediately remove the trouble we are faced with, but God has truly shown me something in this text. It's OK to ask God to remove our trials according to His will, but there are times we should ask God to give us the wisdom to know what to do in the trial v.5. Maybe our request should be; "God If it be Your will, please remove this trial from me, but if not, please grant me the wisdom to know how to handle it."
We can be victorious in trials if we keep our eyes on Jesus.
Pastor Todd McClain