james 1.1-8

joy

"¹James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.²Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,³knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. ⁴And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.⁵But 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.⁶But 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.⁷For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, ⁸being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. "

i like james. he gets to the point...quickly. it's almost like he's saying here's who i am, now lets get to the issue.... how are you facing trials in life? and, do you really believe God when you ask for His help in these trials?

it's interesting to me how he says consider it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds... not "if" you face them but "when" you face them. and not only does he say we will face trials, but when we do we should be joyful. now that just seems weird. why would we be "joyful" when life gets tough? because through the testing (or trial) we learn endurance and become essentially who we are supposed to be...complete, lacking in nothing. i lack in many things- spelling for one, but patience, trust, and so on. and here james is saying that as we endure these trials we are becoming people who (using myself as an example) have trust and patience. who are becoming more like Christ.

and isn't it interesting that right after james says, "that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing," he says "But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously." why "wisdom" i wonder. of all the things we could be lacking and ask God for, why is it that james chooses to use wisdom? maybe because it's what keeps us from giving up.

i've noticed that when i don't have wisdom about a particular topic i tend to give up on it more quickly. when i first started running i thought you were supposed to run as fast and as hard as you could every run. i also didn't know stretching after a run was vital. so my knees started hurting and i immediately had shin splints. almost 2 weeks in i stopped running thinking my body couldn't handle it. it wasn't until a friend of mine, who runs religiously, let me in that my running knowledge was completely incorrect (in a nice way, of course). i obviously didn't have much knowledge about what i was doing and because i didn't, i just gave up. however, the little knowledge i did have was incorrect and kept me from doing what i wanted to do, run. i wonder if it's the same way spiritually? if we don't have the wisdom we need to remind us that this is only a trial and the importance of sticking with it, it's much easier for us to give up. but what's so great about God is that he's gracious. if we ask, he gives us wisdom.

however, there's a catch.... we have to believe it. we have to believe that when we ask God for wisdom or for help, he will. we have to have faith. and we all know how easy that is (that was sarcasm).

so, now, i love running. i took some time, some 1/2 mile runs, some 2 day breaks, and some stretching... but i'm glad i stuck with it to figure it out. i'm actually hoping to do a half marathon soon.

hope you liked your coffee.