Consider it pure joy
The Book of James is one of my favourite books of the
Bible. In the past whenever I attended a new church and
Bible study as a new Christian, they always seemed to be
starting a study on James. It seems God had some practical
things for me to learn on how to live as a Christian.
In his letter, James emphasizes the importance of actions
along with faith. Faith in Christ alone brings salvation,
but for faith to be alive and vibrant he says, "So you
see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good
deeds, it is dead and useless”. (James 2:17 NLT)
Text for today – James 1:1-12
James 1:1-12 - This letter is from James, a slave of God
and of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am writing to the "twelve
tribes"--Jewish believers scattered abroad. Greetings! 2
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way,
consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know
that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a
chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance
is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete,
needing nothing. 5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous
God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you
for asking. 6 But when you ask Him, be sure that your
faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with
divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that
is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not
expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Their loyalty
is divided between God and the world, and they are
unstable in everything they do. 9 Believers who are poor
have something to boast about, for God has honoured them.
10 And those who are rich should boast that God has
humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in
the field. 11 The hot sun rises and the grass withers; the
little flower droops and falls, and its beauty fades away.
In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their
achievements. 12 God blesses those who patiently endure
testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the
crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.
Points for today
Today I have three main points I want to bring out.
1. James tells us that we should be joyful when
struggles come our way.
Verse 2 says, “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles
come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.”
This verse really got my attention when I sat in that
first Bible study all those years ago. When bad stuff
happens, I should be joyful. I sat there and quietly
thought this is crazy. Only a crazy person would be joyful
in tough times.
But as I sat there and listened to the rest of the study I
soon realised that the next verses gave that context.
Verses 3 and 4 say, “For you know that when your faith is
tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it
grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will
be perfect and complete, needing nothing”.
James was saying that faith that is tested, grows. And
faith that grows, comes to maturity. And when we are
mature, we lack nothing as it says in verse 4.
James who wrote this book knew what it was to face trials.
He saw His half-brother Jesus die on the cross. He was
there for the early persecution of the church. Likewise,
the Apostle Paul knew suffering. He was beaten, stoned and
left for dead, shipwrecked, he was imprisoned, and lived
with not much at all. Yet he had a rock-solid faith and
was a great missionary for God. The Apostle Peter was
imprisoned for his bold preaching. Yet he was the rock
that Jesus built the church on and thousands were added to
the church as a result of his Holy Spirit empowered
preaching! History tells us that James, Paul and Peter
were all martyred for their faith.
The thing I find interesting about James is how he started
his book. Of all the themes he talks about, he chose to
touch on trials and temptations first. It is almost like
he is saying that if want a live a life that really makes
an impact for the Kingdom, you can expect trials and
temptations to be part of your journey. After all in verse
2 he says, “When trials come your way”, …not if they come
your way!
Sometimes in this life, God allows trials to come our way.
This is not because He is a mean God. It is because He
loves us and He wants us to grow and mature. As I have
said before, “God loves us the way we are. But He loves us
too much to leave us that way”.
Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest put it this
way. “Saints [believers] are like a bow and arrow in the
hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint
cannot see, but our Lord continues to stretch and strain,
and every once in a while the saint says, “I can’t take
any more.” Yet God pays no attention; He goes on
stretching until His purpose is in sight, and then He lets
the arrow fly.”
The arrow can’t fly as far, if the bow is not pulled back
far enough. So trials are necessary for our growth and for
God’s purposes in us to be fulfilled.
So years on from that initial Bible study, and being a
little bit more mature I can see what James means when he
says, “consider it pure joy when trials come your way”.
2. James tells us that if you need wisdom ask God
James 1: 5 says, “If you need wisdom, ask our generous
God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you
for asking”.
Who knows that when we go through trials we need wisdom?
Wisdom from God is so vital when we are going through
trials.
When I was a new Christian and bad things happened, I
would throw my hands up in the air and whinge at God. I
would say things like “How could You let this happen?” or
“Why have You left me alone?” or “Are You really there
God?”. Over time my questions changed as I matured. I said
things like, “Where are You in the midst of this Lord?” or
“What are You trying to teach me Lord?”. Rather than
whinge at God I prayerfully proclaim His faithfulness and
all the times He had helped me in the past. And how I knew
this trial would not last forever. I would see things
through the lens of eternity, not just the here and now.
This is a more mature way of looking at things.
Wisdom as we know is so much more than knowledge.
Knowledge means we know stuff. Having wisdom means we know
what to do with the knowledge we have. It is about making
right decisions at the right time.
James tells us ask God if we lack wisdom. He tells us to
ask the One who knows the beginning from the end. He tells
us to ask the One who is all powerful and all knowing. He
tells us to ask the One to where our help comes from, the
maker of heaven and earth. If you need wisdom, you just
need to ask God.
James also warns us in this section to make sure we look
to God alone. Verses 6-8 remind us that, “6 But when you
ask Him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not
waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled
as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.
7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from
the Lord. 8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the
world, and they are unstable in everything they do.”
James is saying we can’t look to God for wisdom or
guidance about the future and then look to the world for
answers, like go to a psychic or read our horoscope. We
can’t look to God for provision and then go and buy a
lotto ticket hoping you would win. We can’t look to God
for relational advice and then go and complain to our
friends about our spouse. We need to look to God and wait
on Him for answers. Our loyalties can’t be divided. We
have to stay the course. We have to believe God will
answer our prayer for wisdom and in time He will guide us
in what to do. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to look to God and
lean not on our own understanding, and He will show us
which path to take.
If you need wisdom in your current trial, seek God and ask
for wisdom. He will give it.
3. James tells us that God promises to bless us
Verse 12 says, “God blesses those who patiently endure
testing and temptation. Afterwards they will receive the
crown of life that God has promised to those who love
Him”.
All of us here could probably stand up and tell us of a
trial they are going through or have been through. Health
issues, family issues, problems at work, financial issues,
legal issues, or issues with other people. None of us are
immune. We live in a fallen world that is effected by sin.
As hard as it is when we are going through it, if we walk
through it with God, we are not alone. And if we walk
through our trials with God, we grow our faith through
them. On the other side of the melting pot of the trial,
we are made mature. We have a deeper faith and trust in
God and we are better able to handles the stresses of
life. We lack nothing.
Those of you who know me well know that I am into sports
and keeping fit. Fitness is one of those things you have
to work at consistently and if you want to improve you
have to put the work in. I have been doing weights since I
was 18. I started with light weights to strengthen my body
that was ravaged by Rheumatoid Arthritis. When I started I
could lift a 3kg dumbbell for some exercises. Over the
years I have gradually got stronger and I now do the same
exercise with 20kg. I couldn’t do squats at first and now
I squat over 100kg. I couldn’t do deadlifts, but now I
deadlift over 100kg. To do this I have had to work hard
and be consistent to build strength, build fitness and
build my body.
It is the same with building our faith and trust in God.
We read our Bibles, pray and come to church to encourage
each other. That helps our spiritual muscles to grow. But
we need something extra to really build our maturity, we
need trials and the blessing that comes from going through
them. We need to archer to stretch the bow.
Would I want to go through the things I have been through
in my life again? No way. But I am glad I have been
through them. Because I have a depth of relationship with
God and an unshakeable trust in Him that I would not have
if I didn’t face my trials.
If you are going through some sort of trial at the moment
I would encourage you to look to God. Look for His
strength to help you through. Look to His wisdom to let
you know what to do next. Look to the future with hope
knowing that once you are through this, your level of
faith and trust in Him will be greater than you have ever
known. You will know a level of maturity that only comes
through walking through the valleys of life. This to me is
one of the great promised blessings God gives us in this
life.
Stand firm, stay the course. God promises that blessing is
coming. And a crown of life.
Some words from Paul…
2 Corinthians 4:8-11 - We are pressed on every side by
troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but
not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never
abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not
destroyed. 10 Through suffering, our bodies continue to
share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may
also be seen in our bodies. 11 Yes, we live under constant
danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life
of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies...
16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are
dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 17 For our
present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet
they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and
will last forever! 18 So we don't look at the troubles we
can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot
be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but
the things we cannot see will last forever.
Closing
Today we have started our series on James. I hope you have
been encouraged by our first sermon. I hope that if you
are going through a trial at the moment, you will remember
these three points.
1. James tells us that we should be joyful when struggles
come our way – because it a chance for growth.
2. James tells us to ask God if we need wisdom – He will
give it to us.
3. James tells us that God will bless us if we endure
through trials – we will grow and receive a crown of life.
Amen
By Dave Quinn
Founder of PASSIONAustralia.org
