Trusting God in the midst of temptation requires wisdom...

This week, we are looking at the opening section of a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of James. Yesterday, we looked on as James, the half-brother of Jesus commanding followers of Jesus to consider it all joy when you encounter various trials.

 In other words, as followers of Jesus, we should expect to be involved in trails of various types and kinds and when we become involved in those trials of various types and kinds we should engage those trials intellectually in a way that regards those trials with an attitude of gratitude and gladness. James commanded followers of Jesus to engage the temptations that come about as the result of being involved in various circumstances intellectually in a way that regards those temptations with an attitude of gratitude and gladness.

And it is here that we see James reveal for us a timeless truth when it comes to the faith that works in that the faith that works trusts God in the midst of temptation. As followers of Jesus, the faith that works trusts God in the midst of temptation because trusting God in the midst of temptation results in us becoming more like Jesus.

As followers of Jesus, we are to respond to temptation with an attitude of gratitude and gladness because our response to temptation reveals the genuineness of our trust in Jesus. And as followers of Jesus, we are to respond to temptation with an attitude of gratitude and gladness because our response to temptation produces spiritual maturity.

We talked about the reality that our response of trust in Jesus in the midst of temptation produces the ability to bear up in the face of temptation. And our response of trust in Jesus in the midst of temptation produces a spiritual maturity that reveals itself by our lifestyle. A spiritual maturity that becomes fully developed and a spiritual maturity that meets all expectations and does not fall short when it comes to revealing a reflecting Jesus to those around us.

Now right about now you might be thinking to yourself "well Dave that sounds easy in principle, but that is so hard in practice. Trusting God in the midst of temptation is easy to talk about but so difficult for me to do. So how can I get to the place where I do a better job at trusting God in the midst of temptation?" We see James address this issue beginning in James 1:5-8. Let's look at it together:

But 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. But 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. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Here we see James reveal for us the reality that trusting God in the midst of temptation requires wisdom. James explains to followers of Jesus throughout history that, if any of you lacks wisdom when it comes to how to respond to the temptations that we are facing, let him ask God for that wisdom.

James then explains that the reason why we are to ask God for wisdom when we lack wisdom in dealing with the temptations that we face is because God gives wisdom to all generously and without reproach.  In other words, we are to ask God for wisdom because God will give wisdom without any reservation. And we are to ask God for wisdom because God will give wisdom without finding fault with our request.

God is not up in Heaven going "I can't believe that Dave would dare to ask Me for wisdom when it comes to dealing with the temptations that he is facing. What an idiot." Instead, God desires that we ask Him for wisdom when we lack wisdom in dealing with the temptations we face because God desires to give us that wisdom so that we would be able to bear up in the face of that temptation in a way that produces spiritual maturity.

However, in verse six, James explains that when it comes to asking God for wisdom to deal with the temptations that we face, we must ask God for wisdom with the right attitude. When James states that "he must ask in faith without doubting", he is revealing for us the reality that, as followers of Jesus, we are to ask for wisdom with an attitude of trust in God to give us wisdom.

What is so interesting here is that the word doubting, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to be at odds with oneself. James then paints a powerful word picture of what a person who is at odds with themselves looks like internally: "for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.” James paints this word picture to reveal the reality that just like the wind can toss and turn the sea in different directions, depending on which way the wind is blowing, the person who doubts God’s ability to give wisdom will be tossed around by their competing desires.

And because of that reality, as followers of Jesus, we are to ask for wisdom without doubting God to give us wisdom because as James explains in verse seven, the person who doubts God to give us wisdom ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord. James point is that the person who doubts God’s ability to give wisdom should not expect to get wisdom from the Lord.

James then reveals two reasons why the person who doubts God's ability to give wisdom to face temptation should not expect to get wisdom from God to face temptation. First, James states that the person who doubts God's ability to give wisdom to face temptation should not expect to get wisdom from God to face temptation because they are a double minded man. Now this phrase literally means to be uncertain about something.

James point is that the person who doubts God's ability to give wisdom should not expect to get wisdom because their desires are divided. Their desires are divided between pleasing God by trusting God in the midst of temptation and pleasing themselves by giving into the temptation.  Second, James states that the person who doubts God's ability to give wisdom to face temptation should not expect to get wisdom from God to face temptation because they are unstable in all his ways. James point is that the person who doubts God's ability to give wisdom should not expect to get wisdom because they waver when it comes to trusting God.

And in the same way today, as followers of Jesus we are to ask God for wisdom in how to respond to temptation with the right attitude; an attitude that trusts in God's ability to give us wisdom; an attitude that trusts that God desires to give us wisdom without reservation and without finding fault with our request; an attitude that desires to please God by trusting Him instead of desiring to please self by giving in to the temptation.

James then turns to address a specific temptation that followers of Jesus face that requires trusting God in the midst of that temptation. Tomorrow we will look at that temptation…