James 1:5-8, Part 2

[Hidden In Him]

Outsmarting The Enemy, By Receiving Wisdom From God, Part 2

                     

     Continuing from Part 1, James has been advising his readers that when they encountered various trials and testings, they need to receive wisdom from God on how to deal with it. The reason is because they need to be able to respond in ways that help their situation rather than hurt it. In circumstances like being financially exploited, religiously belittled and insulted, or spiritually abused, there will be both wise and foolish ways to respond, and what demons look for is for believers to respond in hate or resentment. When they react this way, they make it appear to onlookers as if they deserve the kind of mistreatment they are receiving, which then creates an intolerable situation. The believer can no longer even take solace in the fact that they are suffering for righteousness' sake, but have now been made to appear worthy of being ignored at best, and insulted, abused or even killed at worst, for even mistreatment has now been made to appear as if it is justified.
     What believers needed to do in such situations, therefore, was ask God for the wisdom on how to respond wisely. As scripture taught, ""Kind words are like honey. They are sweet to the soul, and healthy for the body" (Proverbs 16:24). If they sought God for it, they would know what to do and when to do it, what to say and how to say it, to avoid Satan gaining the upper hand on them through their enemies. And it was precisely because Jesus knew the Devil would be coming after them that He advised the disciples once, saying, "Pray on this wise: Lord lead us not into trials, but deliver us from the Evil one." Yet believers could do just that if they weren't careful. They could end up asking for even greater sufferings if they answered others unwisely. Thus, knowing that the enemy wanted nothing better than to make His disciples appear as if they deserved it, the Lord warned them in advance to pray for His leading, so as to keep that from happening.
     This, then, is why James was likewise teaching his readers to ask God for wisdom when they encountered various trails and tests in life. Certainly these trials could build up greater endurance, but if a believer could be made to look as if he deserved them, both his confidence and witness before God could be completely undermined, for he was the one committing the evils to start with instead of "overcoming evil with good." 

     My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the proving of your faith builds up endurance. But let endurance have its perfected work, that you reach full potential and development, not falling short in any circumstance. But if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who with simplicity gives wisdom to all men and does not bring reproach, and it shall be given unto him. (James 1:2-5)

     The concept of overcoming evil with good can be found throughout scripture. As was taught in the proverbs, "A soft answer turns away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger" (Proverbs 15:1). This is why the apostle Paul likewise taught never to return evil for evil, for this is what the Devil will use our enemies to try and get us to succumb to. But ultimately we are not fighting against flesh and blood, but against spiritual powers in high places:

     Bless those who persecute you. Bless, and do not curse... Recompense evil for evil to no one, providing good conduct in the sight of all men, if possible, from yourselves [at least], living peaceably with all men, not avenging yourselves, beloved, but giving place to wrath. For it has been written, "Vengeance is Mine. I will repay," says the Lord. Therefore, if your enemy should hunger, feed him. If he should thirst, give him something to drink… [and] be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:14, 17-21)

     In this passage, Paul was teaching his readers to seek to convert enemies over to friends, if possible. But this can be no easy task sometimes. The enemy can get ahold of people in a big way, and turn them into insufferable jerks who will sometimes "try your patience" to the very limits of what you can tolerate. You reach a point where you are crying out to God for help before something terrible happens. But when it comes to praying for wisdom on how to respond, believers must become absolutely determined that they are going receive it from God, which was a principle even the Lord Jesus Christ taught.
     Such was the case in the Parable of the Friend at Night:   

     And He said to them, "Who among you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and say to him, "Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine is come from a journey to me, and I do not have anything to set before him," and he, answering from inside, should say, "Cause me no weariness. The door has already been shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot rise up to give it to you." I say to you, even if, having risen up, he will not give it to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence, having risen, he will give him as many as he needs. So I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. And to him who knocks, it will be opened. (Luke 11:5-11)

     In this teaching, "bread" represented the bread of Life. More specifically it represented a word from God that a friend might be asking for about a particular situation he was encountering. The Lord was saying, "When you need a word from Me for a friend, be persistent in seeking Me for it. Don't just give up and walk away if you don't get your answer right away." Part of the reason is because it sometimes takes time to figure out what a friend's situation actually is. Secondly it may also be complicated. But if you stay persistent in prayer for the answer, the answer will come, just as assuredly as if an earthly friend got up and would give you bread just so as not to have to be bothered about it anymore.
     James likewise knew his readers would have to be persistent in prayer. It would do no good to ask God for wisdom yet give up before actually receiving it, so he now used the analogy of a crashing wave to teach what a believer would be like if he let the enemy derail his prayers before they ever got answered.


Riding A Crest, But Crashing Into Shore

                   

     As James would now continue, the key to receiving wisdom from God was in remaining persistent, and not allowing "time and tide" to talk one out of received it:

     If any man falls short in wisdom, let him request it from God... But let him ask in faith, making no distinctions (about who will and will not receive), for the man who makes distinctions is like a wave of the sea being driven by wind and tossed. Let not that man suppose he shall obtain anything from the Lord, being a psychologically conflicted man, and mentally restless in all his ways. (James 1:6-9)
 
     The tossing of waves as they rushed into shore was referred to elsewhere in scripture, in Jeremiah 5, the Lord spoke to through the prophet that He could protect His people from being attacked by foreign nations just like He fixed the shores as a boundary over which the waves could not pass:

     "Do you not fear Me?" says the Lord. "Will you not tremble at My presence? I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea. An eternal decree so that it cannot cross over it. Though the waves toss yet they cannot prevail, and though they roar, they cannot cross over it." (Jeremiah 5:22)

     This then is what James was referring to when he likewise mentioned a wave eventually getting "tossed." Believers were like a wave being driven towards the shore, and riding a crest at first but eventually crashing; riding the very heights of self-confidence before God in prayer, but ending up getting tossed down into the sands of despair at the end. A possible scenario would play out something like this:

Day #1: "Lord grant me the wisdom to know how to deal with this individual. I believe you that I have the mind of Christ, all things are possible with God, and a bunch of other good stuff from scripture like that, so praise God for giving me wisdom in advance. Let the Hosannas ring out! He reigns forever!!"

Day #2: "Hmmm, that's funny. Still don't have a clue and he's getting worse, but it's ok. I'm probably gonna get my answer any minute now."

Day #3: "What in the WORLD am I gonna do about this nasty ...?!! What I wanna do is take the air out of his tires and call the cops that he's double parked, but I'm not gonna. Why hasn't God told me what to do yet?"

Day #4, and going down fast: "I tried to ask God what to do about this awful situation, and look where it got me. I lost it and told him his ugly suit smells like kitty litter, and now I've been demoted to cleaning the bathrooms and working weekends. Why doesn't God love me?!!!"
 
     As discussed in Part 1, the Jews also had a habit of comparing themselves to one another, so prayers could devolve quickly into doubts about whether one was as truly "righteous" enough or not. On Day #1 they were a spiritual giant, and of course God would grant them the wisdom they were seeking. By Day #4, they were a spiritual worm and nowhere near as worthy as saintly brother so-and-so who wears a halo on his head and couldn't be more righteous if he tried.
     These types of doubts could especially lead to being mentally restless, and when one's mind is overworked and filled with all kinds of anxieties and fears, it makes it that much harder to hear from God. Our Lord doesn't shout in anyone's ears, so you have to quiet the mind and be at peace mentally or you won't be able to hear Him speak. 
     These, then, were some of the obstacles James' knew his readers might be experiencing in trying to receive wisdom from God, and why he said to simply stay in faith and not doubt. The answers would be coming if they simply trusted Him that they would, and refused to give up asking Him until their answers finally came.


Tips From A Lifetime Of Hearing From God

     As the Parable of the Friend at Night suggests, the promises about receiving wisdom from God apply to many things besides just receiving wisdom on what to do about a difficult situations. It can also apply to receiving the wisdom necessary to make good moves in business relationships, church relationships, family relationships, and all forms of interpersonal communication where doing or saying the right thing necessitates asking God. Maybe most importantly, it can also be applied to receiving accurate interpretation concerning Hs word, and this is were I have personally applied the teaching most of all. 
     One of the first things one needs to understand is that the Lord will wait for a proper time and place to speak to you. He whispers in the ear, and speaks implants thoughts upon the mind, and because He speaks quietly He will wait until He knows He is going to have your undivided attention. By contrast, having a "restless" mind becomes problematic. Even fears and worries about IF God will speak to us can make the mind restless, which then becomes an obstacle, so remaining mentally at rest and staying in faith are both keys to receiving answers from God. Unfortunately, anxieties over marriage, children, work, relationships, and anything else that might keep our minds consumed need to be increasingly set aside. So it pays to orchestrate one's life around having as much quiet time as possible, so as to give the Lord as many opportunities to speak to us as we can.
     In general, the following are some things to keep in mind:

     1. Anger and resentments the enemy can foist upon you about various matters need to be set aside (Colossians 3:8-16). If your mind is too troubled over someone who is sinning against you, your attention will not be fully His for the Holy Spirit to teach you (James 1:19-21).

     2. Anxieties and fears about the affairs of this life should also be set aside, for the same reasons (2 Timothy 1:7).

     3. It must also be understood that sometimes we can ask for wisdom that will be hard for God to relate to us given our current level of understanding, similar to how children sometimes ask questions that are far beyond their ability to understand the answers to yet. But God will nevertheless begin teaching us on the subject and continue to until we finally receive our answers, provided we don't give up.

     All these things are why persistence in prayer is ultimately the key to receiving wisdom. You must persevere in faith, not praying simply to receive your answer but until you receive it, no matter how long it may take. Once you develop the determination, however, it usually doesn't take very long. And another principle soon comes into play as well, and that is that success breeds success. Once you start operating in it and seeing your prayers get answered, this causes your faith to grow to the place where you know it is no longer a question of "if" but when your answer is coming, so your faith keeps increasing in the reliability of God to fulfill His promises. Again, I can't vouch as much for seeking wisdom from God in the midst of trials, but when it comes to my own life I certainly can when it comes to receiving revelation from God concerning His word, so I know it works, for the principles are all essentially the same.


Questions and Applications

1. As we will cover in the next study, times are going to get increasingly difficult in the earth financially and psychologically. Would you be able to hear from God if you were enduring greater stresses than you do today? Suppose you began struggling financially, or with family, or with employers, or all the above, and the enemy had you in a bind concerning earthly matters. For how long do you think you would you be able to stand in faith believing God for the wisdom on how to fix your situation? How long do you think you could hold out before your faith came crashing to the ground, and you simply assumed you weren't able to hear from Him?

2. As will also become increasingly relevant in hard times, more people in the world will be searching for answers. If a friend came to you with questions, how much confidence would you have in receiving answers from God to help them?

3. How about if you were needing to understand God's word? What if you didn't understand a passage or a verse, and yet everywhere you looked no one seemed to have the answers. Would you be able to believe Him to give it to you?   

4. If it's where you felt Him leading you, would you have the confidence to look into original language helps in order to better understand His word? This too sometimes requires believing God for the ability to do so, if one doesn't have much education or training.