Context No. 2704 of 4322 · James

James 1:1-8: in context

1James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are in the Dispersion: Greetings. 2Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations, 3knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4Let endurance have its perfect work, 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 liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed. 7For that man shouldn’t think that he will receive anything from the Lord. 8He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

James writes to believers scattered across the empire and opens with a word that cuts against instinct: count it all joy when you fall into various trials. Not because the trials are pleasant, but because the testing of your faith produces endurance, and endurance, allowed to finish its work, leaves you mature and complete.

Then he adds the practical hinge. If you lack the wisdom to see your trials that way, ask God, who gives to everyone generously and without scolding, and it will be given. But ask in faith, not wavering. The doubter, he says, is like a wave driven and tossed by the wind, double-minded, and should not expect to receive. The gift is there for the asking, on the one condition that we actually trust the God we are asking.

In my trials, do I ask God for wisdom and then trust the answer, or ask while inwardly braced not to receive it?

Sources

Romans 5:3: "We also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces perseverance."
1 Kings 3:9: "Give your servant therefore an understanding heart to judge your people, that I may discern between good and evil."
James 1:17: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights."