Wisdom for Your Trials
Sermon Audio
Sermon Notes
Intro:
Today we’re continuing our series on a book of the bible Jesus’ little brother wrote called James, and right in the beginning James starts things off very real, very practical talking about something we all go through in life which is trials. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Christian, non-Christian, the over/under, the odds you’ll go through a trial in life are 100%. There’s 100% chance you’ll go through trials in life. Everybody goes through trials, but not everybody uses the same sources of wisdom for their trials. Everybody goes through trials in life, but not everybody uses the same sources of wisdom to help them navigate through their trials. What are some of your sources?..What are some of the sources of wisdom you go to, you turn to when facing trials?..What books, teachings, people, friends, Ted Talks, Dr. Phil episodes do you turn to for wisdom when facing trials?..Everybody goes through trials, everybody has different sources of wisdom they go to when facing trials, and today James is gonna teach us that the God of Christianity’s willing to give us wisdom for our trials...He’s gonna teach us that the God of Christianity’s willing to give us wisdom for our trials, and that’s what we’re gonna talk about today. So let’s turn to James 1:5-8 and get into it. The title of today’s message is “Wisdom For Your Trials.” God can give you wisdom for your trials. His wisdom’s like a compass. It’ll help guide you through the roughest storms, and create stability in times of instability.
Context:
Here’s your context...Historically we know James wrote this letter around 40 A.D. during a time when Christians were being heavily persecuted for their faith by the Romans and Jews. He writes this letter to encourage them in the faith and to encourage them to keep living out their faith despite the trials their facing. James himself was persecuted and murdered around 62 A.D., and historians tell us he died because the Jews wanted him to stop telling others to worship Jesus. But he didn’t stop, so they threw him off the temple roof, then came down beat him over the head with a club until he died. This being the man who’s letter we’re studying. He’s a man who talks about trials from personal experience, he writes this letter during a time when Christians are facing heavy trials themselves, and in vs. 1-4 he tells them to count it all joy, to consider it all joy, to consider all the trials their going through as joy because there’s benefits to their trials. He teaches them there’s benefits to their trials, there’s a bigger picture to their trials, there’s things their trials are teaching them that are making them more complete as human beings, more complete in their faith, life, and relationship with Jesus. He teaches them life’s hard, it’s full of trials, but there’s benefits to their trials, and today he’s gonna teach them to go to God for wisdom in their trials. If there’s ever a time when you need wisdom, it’s when you’re facing a trial. James is gonna teach them and us, to go to God for that wisdom. Let’s check it out.
The Word:
James 1:5-8 states this, “If any of you lacks wisdom...” If any of you lacks wisdom, in particular when it comes to your trials. If any of you lacks wisdom when it comes to your trials. Now this past week as I was reflecting on my own trials I was thinking about how much society’s wisdom has affected our view of trials. We’ve adopted society as a source of wisdom, and it’s created a “lack of wisdom” when it comes to how we view our trials. We’ve become very unwise in how we view our trials. For example society’s wisdom’s teaches us to believe if you’re a good person and do good things then trials won’t come. Our belief in this comes out in karmic clichés like “What goes around comes around” or “If you do good things then good will come back to you,” and many of us believe this, we live our lives by this, causing us to think trials won’t come our way. But then as soon as trials come, it shocks them, confuses them, leaves them asking the question “Why do bad things happen to good people?” They’re confused and want to know “Why do bad things happen to good people” or “Why are bad things happening to me?” It’s all because they believe in society’s wisdom that bad things shouldn’t happen to good people. They’ve become unwise in their view of trials, they’re lacking wisdom in their view of trials.
But even those of us who are Christians have our own Christianized version of this. We think if we’re good Christians and are faithful to Jesus then trials won’t come. We may not say we believe that, but when trials come we think it. We’re like “I don’t get it, I don’t understand why I’m going through a trial? I mean I’ve done what Jesus asked, I’ve stepped out on faith, I’ve prayed, read my bible, gone to church and now I’m in a trial. Why? Why’s this happening to me,” and some of you are there...Some of you are there, some of you are in a trial and you feel like you’ve done everything right, but everything’s going wrong and you’re wondering why?..So let me ask you this...Was Jesus good?..City Awakening was Jesus good, was Jesus faithful?..Yes he was. Jesus most certainly was good, he most certainly was faithful. In fact he’s the only one who can claim the title good and faithful because he’s the only who’s never sinned. So according to society’s wisdom he’s the only one who shouldn’t ever suffer or go through trials. But did he suffer?..Did Jesus suffer, did he go through trials?..Yes he did. Jesus most certainly suffered and went through trials. As good and faithful as he was, he still suffered and went through trials... Now since that happened to Jesus, what makes us think it won’t happen to us?..What makes us think we shouldn’t go through trials?..It’s that we’ve come to believe society’s wisdom that bad things shouldn’t happen to good and faithful people. But despite the fact that he was good and faithful, Jesus still went through trials, which tells us society’s wisdom isn’t true, it’s lacking. Now compare that with God’s wisdom, with the bible’s wisdom, and what we learn is everybody goes through trials, including Christians. James even states this in vs. 2 when he says not “IF you meet trials,” but “WHEN you meet trials.” The assumption’s that we’re gonna face trials in life, and God’s good and gracious to warn us of it so we’re not blindsided by trials when they do come. Society’s wisdom might be untrue and lacking, but God’s wisdom, the bible’s wisdom is never untrue and lacking. City Awakening God can give you wisdom for your trials...God can give you wisdom for your trials...His wisdom’s like a compass. It’ll help guide you through the roughest storms, and create stability in times of instability. God’s wisdom is never lacking.
Again vs. 5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God...” If any of you lacks wisdom, let him “ask God.” He doesn’t say go to the self-help section at Barnes and Noble, go to Alexa, or google it...He says ask God...He says if you lack wisdom for your trials then ask God...Now it’s not that we can’t gain knowledge from other sources, it’s not that we can’t gain knowledge about our trials from other things like google because we can. If you need more knowledge about having heart surgery don’t go to Leviticus, go to webmd. Actually that’s probably not a good source either, go to your doctor. There’s nothing wrong with that, there’s nothing wrong with you gaining knowledge, gaining information about your trials from google, but you need wisdom to guide you on what information to trust or not trust. You need wisdom to guide you on what information to use or not use, because you can have a lot of knowledge, but still make unwise decisions. Knowledge can fill your mind, but it’s wisdom that’ll guide your mind...Knowledge can fill your mind, but it’s wisdom that’ll guide your life...It’s wisdom that’ll guide your life...So it’s okay to gain knowledge about your trials from other sources, but it’s wisdom that’ll guide you through your trials. James says we need to ask God for that wisdom. It’s because God’s wisdom’s always true, always good, and will always guide you through life, even the darkest trials of your life. The great Charles Spurgeon once said, “A bible that’s falling apart, usually belongs to someone who isn’t.” A bible that’s falling apart, usually belongs to someone who isn’t. It’s because God can give you wisdom for your trials. His wisdom’s like a compass. It’ll help guide you through the roughest storms, and create stability in times of instability.
Again vs. 5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” That’s a promise. God’s giving us a promise here through James. He’s promising to give us wisdom for our trials if we ask for it. It’s not a promise to get us out of our trials, it’s a promise to give us wisdom to make it through our trials. It’s also not a promise to answer all the questions we have about our trials. A lot of times we’re like, “Why’s this happening? What did I do to deserve this? How longs it gonna last?” All kinds of questions we have when we’re in a trial, and James doesn’t promise God will answer all our questions about our trials, instead he promises God will give us the exact amount of wisdom we need to make it through our trials. There’s other places in scripture that promise it’ll all make sense to us in eternity when we’re face to face with Jesus. Promises like 1 Corinthians 13:12 which states, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” It’ll all make sense to us in eternity when we’re sitting face to face with Jesus. Until then not all our questions will be answered, but we can ask God for wisdom to make it through our trials, and He promises to give it. He promises to give it, and here’s what’s so interesting about that promise. It’s the implication that God’s wisdom is still there for you, even when all other wisdom’s have failed you...God’s wisdom is still there for you, even when all other wisdom’s have failed you...If you lack wisdom, if all your other sources of wisdom have failed you, God’s wisdom’s still there for you.
See this is another area where society’s wisdom is lacking, it’s another area where society’s wisdom has affected our view of trials. It’s taught us to believe that we’re in control of our lives, so find hope and security in human ingenuity, in technology. We’ve been taught we’re in control, we can fix our trials, we can fix our problems, we can fix anything we put our minds to through human ingenuity and technology. So we put a lot of hope, security, confidence in our technology other than our IOS updates...and what happens? Technology over promises and under delivers. Technology helps with some things, but it can’t do everything. It over promises and under delivers, especially when it comes to giving us hope and security for our trials. I mean it hasn’t helped decrease the death rate. Despite all our technology it still hasn’t helped decrease the death rate. You know what the death rate was for humanity 2,000 yrs ago? 100%. You know what it is today? 100%. Despite all our technology it’s still 100%, you still only get 1 death per person, which tells you we’re not as in control or secure as we think...We’re not as in control or secure as we think, and a time will come when all the human ingenuity and technology in the world will fail you. There will come a time when society’s wisdom will fail you, and you’ll lack wisdom like James says. You’ll lack wisdom for your trials and have nowhere else to turn. But there’s still one place to turn...James tells us there’s still one place to turn when all other wisdoms have failed you. There’s still one place to turn, and it’s to God. You can still turn to God, because God’s wisdom’s never lacking. James says all you need to do is ask, and He’ll give it. God can ALWAYS give you wisdom for your trials. His wisdom’s like a compass. It’ll help guide you through the roughest storms, and create stability in times of instability.
Vs. 6, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting...” That’s important, it’s a pre-requisite for receiving the wisdom of God. We have to have faith in who God is and what God can do, before He’ll give us the wisdom on what to do. God’s willing to give us wisdom, but we need to have faith in who God is and what God can do, before He’ll give us the wisdom on what to do. Practically speaking, faith’s what happens when you believe God’s greater than your trials, but doubt’s what happens when you believe your trials are greater than God. Faith’s what happens when you believe God’s greater than your trials, so you ask for His help in making it through your trials. Doubt’s what happens when you believe your trials are greater than God, so you either don’t ask for His help, or you ask but waiver in thinking He can. Sometimes we’ll feel the tension between the two, sometimes we’ll pray “Lord I do believe, help my unbelief.” But even that prayer is a step away from doubt and back to faith, because we’re trusting God will help us in our unbelief, which will eventually lead us to be able to ask for wisdom with faith. It’s a step in the direction back to faith, so we can ask for wisdom with faith and receive it as promised.
Again vs. 6, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.” He’s talking Floridian now. He’s talking Aquatica wave pool, Cocoa Beach, Florida Keys language. What happens when you’re in a wave pool or the ocean? The waves go all over the place and push you all over the place, especially if there’s a storm. Any of you ever been on a cruise when it was storming? My wife and I were on one that was pretty bad. We were going around a hurricane and at one point it got green faced emoji bad. I mean the waves were rocking the boat so much, that it literally took me 2 weeks to get my equilibrium back in check. For 2 weeks I was unstable when I walked, and so it is for the person who doubts. James is saying they’re very unstable in life, especially when they’re facing a trial, especially when they’re facing a storm in life. Listen to what he says next.
Vs. 7, “For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” The person who doubts is “unstable in all his ways.” It’s because they’re “double minded” as James states. They’re double-minded meaning their beliefs, their faith goes back and forth like waves in the sea. The waves go back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. “I believe God’s good, I’m not sure if He’s good...I believe God cares about me, I’m not sure if He cares about me...I believe the bible’s true and authoritative over my life, but now I believe it’s truth is relative and should change as culture changes...I trust God in my trials, I don’t trust God in my trials...I trust God will give me wisdom for my trials, I don’t trust He’ll give me wisdom for my trials...” It’s double mindedness, and James says it’s a very unstable way to live your life, especially when in a trial. He’s juxtaposing vs. 6-8 with vs. 3-4 where he talks about “steadfastness.” He’s contrasting the stability of steadfast faith, with the instability of doubting faith, and he’s saying if you have a double-minded faith and relationship with God, you’ll live a double-minded life, your trials will work you over, they’ll beat you up, they’ll toss you around all over the place like the waves of the sea. He’s saying you need to put both feet on the ground, stand firm in your faith, get your equilibrium back, and ask God for wisdom because He’s willing to give it. If you doubt He won’t give it, but if you have faith He’ll give it. He’ll give you just the right amount of wisdom you need to make it through your trials.
So here’s how all this looks practically. When you go through a trial, go to your knees... When you go through a trial, you go to your knees...You go to your knees in prayer asking for God’s help, asking for God’s wisdom. “God I need you, I need your wisdom, I need your guidance,” and as you pray that prayer with faith, God will give you wisdom. He might not give it immediately, but He’ll give it eventually. He’ll give it always through the bible, and sometimes through people. It happened to me a few months ago. I was going through a trial, so I went to my knees asking God for wisdom, and He gave me a verse and a person. The bible verse stabilized me, the person educated me. I didn’t know it at the time but the person had been through the exact same trial a year ago, and through prayer God led me to call them. It was very helpful to me in my trial. God always give you wisdom through the bible, and sometimes it’s through people, but the bible has the last word over the people. The bible always has the last word over any source of wisdom, because it’s always true, always good, and will always guide you through life even the darkest trials of your life. Society’s wisdom’s lacking, but God’s wisdom’s never lacking. God’s wisdom will always be there for you, even when all other wisdom’s have failed you.
The Big Idea:
Let’s get to the big idea. Here’s the big idea. God can give you wisdom for your trials... God can give you wisdom for your trials...His wisdom’s like a compass. It’ll help guide you through the roughest storms, and create stability in times of instability...Society’s wisdom will eventually fail you, but Jesus’ wisdom will never fail you, and anyone who has faith can have that wisdom. If you have faith that Jesus is your savior who lived, died, and rose again for your sins, if you have faith that Jesus is Lord over your storm, he’s Lord over your trials, then he’ll give you the wisdom you need to make it through your trials. He’ll give you the wisdom.
Luke the historian recorded a time when Jesus’ disciples were in a boat and a bad storm came. Jesus was sleeping, but his disciples were freaking out. Jesus was calm in the storm, but his disciples were freaking out in the storm. But they went to their knees, cried out to Jesus for help, and Jesus calmed the storm...Jesus calmed the storm...The storm was bigger than them, but it wasn’t bigger than Jesus. It’s because Jesus is Lord over the storm...Jesus is Lord over the storm, and he’s Lord over your trials. He’s Lord over your trials, and if you go to your knees he’ll either calm the storm, or give you the wisdom to make it through your storm. James says all you need to do is ask...All you need to do is ask...Your storms and trials are bigger than you, but they’re not bigger than Jesus. So ask Jesus for wisdom...he promises to give it.