“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him 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 let not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
Following the rule that when we’re looking at a passage that begins with the words ‘but’ or ‘therefore’ we have to glance back and find out what they refer to, we look back and remind ourselves that James has begun his letter with encouragement for times of trial, and admonishes his readers to endure in faith and thereby be made strong and mature spiritually.
So when he says “But if any of you lacks wisdom…”, we naturally conclude that he means wisdom pertaining to trials.
Endurance in a time of trial does not merely imply gritting our teeth, suffering in silence and digging in our heels until the pressure is off.
The troubles of life almost always call for some decision-making, some counsel sought or given, some action taken. Therefore they also call for Godly wisdom. If we react to them in our own strength and worldly wisdom we will never submit to God’s will for us in them.
Wilmington’s Book of Bible Lists gives 25 reasons for our suffering, with scripture references.
1. To produce the fruit of patience Rom. 5:3; James 1:3–4; Heb. 10:36
2. To produce the fruit of joy Ps. 30:5; 126:5–6
3. To produce the fruit of maturity Eccles. 7:3; 1 Pet. 5:10
4. To produce the fruit of righteousness Heb. 12:11
5. To silence the devil Job 1:9, 10, 20–22
6. To teach us Ps. 119:67, 71
7. To purify our lives Job 23:10; Ps. 66:10–12; Isa. 1:25; 48:10; Prov. 17:3; 1 Pet. 1:7
8. To make us like Christ Heb. 12:9, 10; 1 Pet. 4:12–13; Phil. 3:10; 2 Cor. 4:7–10
9. To glorify God Ps. 50:15; John 9:1–3; 11:1–4; 21:18–19; Phil. 1:19–20
10. To prevent us from sinning 2 Cor. 12:7, 9–10
11. To make us confess when we do sin Judg. 10:6–7, 15–16; Ps. 32:3–5; Hos. 5:15; 6:1; 2 Chron. 15:3–4
12. To chasten us for our sin 1 Pet. 4:17
13. To prove our sonship Heb. 12:5–6
14. To reveal ourselves to ourselves Job 42:6; Luke 15:18
15. To help our prayer life Isa. 26:16
16. To become an example to others 2 Cor. 6:4–5; 1 Thess. 1:6–7
17. To qualify us as counselors Rom. 12:15; Gal. 6:2; 2 Cor. 1:3–5
18. To further the gospel witness Acts 8:1–5; 16:25–34; Phil. 1:12–13; 2 Tim. 4:6–8, 16–17
19. To make us more than conquerors 2 Cor. 2:14; Rom. 8:35, 37
20. To give us insight into God’s nature Job 42:5; Rom. 8:14–15, 18
21. To drive us closer to God 1 Pet. 4:14; 2 Cor. 12:10
22. To prepare us for a greater ministry 1 Kings 17–18; John 12:24
23. To provide for us a reward Matt. 5:10–12; 19:27–29; Rom. 8:16–17; 2 Cor. 4:17
24. To prepare us for the kingdom 2 Thess. 1:5; 2 Tim. 2:12
25. To show God’s sovereignty Rom. 8:28; 1 Cor. 10:13; Ps. 66:10–12; Gen. 45:5–8; 50:20
WHERE WISDOM IS FOUND
Now James is kind here and says, “…if any of you lacks wisdom…”. I say kind, because he would have been very accurate in saying, “Now since no one of you has wisdom…”
There is no wisdom apart from God. What we call ‘worldly wisdom’ is just that. It is of the spirit of this world and will inevitably lead away from God and truth. (James 3:15)
Job understood this:
“But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Man does not know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living.” Job 28:12, 13
That’s Job 28:12, 13. In your own time if you go there you can read the rest of that chapter and see the things Job says about wisdom. For the sake of time I just want to tell you now how he ends the chapter.
“And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;…” (vs 28)
That line should take the mind of the faithful Bible student to the Psalms, which declare “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” Ps 111:10
We have not begun to search for wisdom and have not begun to be in a place of being able to expect to find wisdom, until first there is in our heart a deep and real reverence for God.
James’ next phrase is ‘…let him ask of God”. The scholars of the Biblical languages I researched tell me that the Greek is imperative. That means it’s not a suggestion, it’s a divine command.
If the Holy Spirit wasn’t compassionate He might have inspired James to write, “Since no one of you has wisdom, you are hereby commanded to ask God for it”.
It’s typical of a parent/child relationship, isn’t it, that the parent can ask the child to please do something as though they have a choice in the matter, but the child knows that it would not be wise to say ‘no’?
If Nicole is going to ride her bike to Wal~Mart and I say ‘Avoid Woodgate Road until you get to where there’s a sidewalk, ok?’ She knows that what I’m really saying is, ‘Stay off of Woodgate until you get to where there’s a sidewalk or don’t go at all’. But she knows I’m saying it with her safety in mind.
Well God commands that we seek wisdom from Him because there is wisdom for our trials nowhere else.
But it’s also a gracious invitation, because He is willing and more than willing, desiring, to lavish wisdom on us for the enduring and Godly handling of the present circumstances.
All we need do is ask. But we do need to ask. Listen to His words to Jeremiah:
“’For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart’.” Jer 29:11-13
Why do we need to pray and ask for wisdom? Because if He just gave us wisdom for the moment every time we need specific wisdom, we’d only give ourselves the credit and assume the wisdom came from us.
How do I know? Because we do it all the time, don’t we?
But if we’ve gone to Him asking, because we’re up against a wall and don’t know where to turn or what to do, and He gives us wisdom to endure and to act or to wait, or whatever the solution is, then in faith and gratitude we will say, “I sought the Lord and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears”. Ps 34:4
He gets the glory.
A GLARING CONTRAST
Do you realize that every time we doubt God’s willingness to give us any Godly thing we ask, every time we question His purpose, every time we fail to trust completely in His promises, we sin?
Of course we do ourselves no favors.
My dad used to tell a story of his boyhood in upstate New York, how one particularly cold winter day in the woods near his home he and some friends were out exploring when they came to a stream that was just wide enough to present a challenge. None of them wanted to get their feet wet since the temperatures were freezing and snow covered most of the ground, so they found the narrowest spot they could and decided to jump across. My dad was elected to go first, so he backed up five or six steps and ran toward the creek. Just before his feet left the ground his brother yelled, ‘You won’t make it!’ The sound of his brother’s voice shouting that negative thought put just enough doubt in my dad’s mind to cause him to falter just slightly, but it was enough to land him on his rear in the middle of that cold stream.
God has revealed His own character to mankind throughout history and in all the Scriptures. He has made His purposes for us clear and never have any of His promises been seen to come up unfulfilled.
When we listen to the voice of the enemy or our own selfish flesh whispering its poison to our souls, we suffer.
More importantly however, infinitely more heinous, is the insult to our Heavenly Father that is engendered with every faithless question concerning the revelation of Himself to us.
“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” said Paul to the Romans (8:32).
If the Father sent His own Son to die on Calvary’s cross and purchase us to Himself at such a great price as Christ’s sinless blood, to doubt His goodness and generosity is to count that sacrifice worthless.
What has James told us about God here in our text?
First, He is generous. Now you just think for a moment about Who we’re talking about, and then knowing that He is the Creator and Owner of the universe and by His own declaration owns the cattle on a thousand hills (in other words it’s all His, wherever and whatever it is), and see if it doesn’t just blow your mind.
When I was in my last year of Bible College the President, Jack Hayford at that time, visited our evening classes one night to announce to us that four million dollars had been donated to the school by the owner of Simmons Mattress Company, Leland Simonson, who wanted to give the money to ministry while he was still alive rather than having it fought over after he was dead.
Now in 1980 that sounded like a lot of money to a room full of near starving students, and it is still a lot of money. I know that it is far surpassed these days by donations given by people with a great deal more to offer than even that generous man had.
In a surprise move some months ago Oprah Winfrey gave a brand new car to everyone in her studio audience during her television show, and more recently it was announced on the news that she will be giving homes to many of the folks displaced by the flooding in New Orleans.
Unfortunately these things aren’t being done in God’s name, although she, just like anyone else, owes all she has to Him, nevertheless she is an example of generosity and I’m sure the ultimate amount of her giving is staggering to the average middle-income mind.
According to a 2004 article in Forbes magazine there were, at that time, 587 individuals or family units worldwide who were billionaires.
In an article at e-Commerce internet business magazine from June of 2005 it is stated that there are 8.3 million millionaires worldwide.
I don’t know any of these people.
But none of them, however generous, can match God in giving. They could not combine their resources and have any hope of outgiving God.
He could make planets of silver; galaxies of gold; turn Saturn’s rings to diamonds.
None could ever match His generosity. Nevertheless James says that God’s generosity is displayed in His dispensing of wisdom to the one who asks in faith.
Warren Weirsbe gives this example of Godly wisdom.
“An associate of mine, a gifted secretary, was going through great trials. She had had a stroke, her husband had gone blind, and then he had to be taken to the hospital where (we were sure) he would die. I saw her in church one Sunday and assured her that I was praying for her.
“What are you asking God to do?” she asked, and her question startled me.
“I’m asking God to help you and strengthen you,” I replied.
“I appreciate that,” she said, “but pray about one more thing. Pray that I’ll have the wisdom not to waste all of this!”
Do you imagine that is the kind of prayer God delights in answering? I do. I think that God had already lavished His gift of wisdom on this woman for her to give such a response to Mr. Weirsbe.
All through Scripture God declares His generosity and all through Scripture He demonstrates it in His people. His people, I say, because the one condition of experiencing God’s specific generosity in reference to wisdom, is faith.
We’ll get into that more.
WITHOUT REPROACH
First, let’s pause and consider this strange bit of composition.
James says “…who gives to all generously and without reproach…”
Doesn’t it sound a little strange at first? Generously and without reproach.
Does that mean He won’t fault us for asking? Like the rich miser chiding the ragged beggar for not going out and earning his own money?
I think it means He will not fault us for needing to ask. I also think in some instances it can mean He will not reproach us for taking so long to ask.
God is ready, Believer, to lavish His wisdom on the one who seeks diligently and with a believing heart. Because that is one thing that man cannot attain to apart from God.
Men can strive after riches and amass great wealth.
Of course it is only good for this world; this lifetime. But by exercising cleverness and determination they can climb their way up that heap.
But when it comes to wisdom, the kind James is talking about, that just isn’t available. The wisdom of men is not much more than craftiness. The man apart from God whom the world would call ‘wise’ has simply mastered the art of getting along with everyone, avoiding the tricks of those who might be against him, and knowing the right answer to give the seeker of counsel.
But there is nothing Godly in it, nothing of an eternal value, nothing valuable to the Kingdom of God.
Therefore it is not true wisdom; not wisdom from above. When God gives His wisdom we usually see men acting and thinking in ways that would seem contrary to conventional wisdom.
If you pray for wisdom in a given situation or circumstance, don’t be surprised if you seem to be getting leading in your spirit that goes in a different direction than you would ever decide to go on your own. Because God does not think like us, and He knows far better than we what is best for us and how we can best serve Him.
Just know that you can go to Him asking and you do not have to fear reproach. He wants to give you Godly wisdom and He will give it freely and cheerfully.
But remember the condition that James points out, because he uses some pretty strong language here and that tells me it’s something we need to sit up and take notice of.
DON’T BE TWO-SOULED
6 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. 7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Do you get a sense of the contrast from verse 5 to these next three verses?
We have this very wonderful promise and assurance that if we ask God for wisdom He will give it and not chide us or hold back from us, and we think, ‘Wow, that’s great, because in a time of trial I really need to feel that He’s there for me and will see me through. What a relief’.
Then James says in essence, “Before you enter into the throne room to make your request, make sure you’re asking from a believing heart. Because if you go there not believing God will give you what you ask, you’re just going to look foolish and you’re not going to get anything. And if you ask with no intent of following His wisdom you also aren’t going to get anything”.
Think about it! What could be more foolish than to ask while not expecting an answer or worse yet, ask while planning to do things your own way no matter what?
The word for ‘double-minded’ is literally ‘two-souled’. When he uses the same term in chapter 4 verse 8 is comes with an exhortation to purify the heart, indicating that double-mindedness before God is a problem of the heart. It comes from a heart of unbelief.
Now that does not necessarily mean disbelief in God’s willingness or ability to give what we need or ask.
Unbelief is demonstrated in unwillingness to obey and also in a demonstration of lack of interest in knowing Him.
It is divided loyalty that James is talking about. God wants us to come to Him with our heart committed to Him, desiring His will be done, and praying for wisdom so that our actions and reactions to the trial will glorify Him and accomplish His will and purpose, not just deliver us from the trial.
The believing heart, Christian, more than just accepting some facts, is the heart that rests entirely on the character and purposes and promises of God without wavering, and is driven to Him by a steadfast desire to have His will done no matter what the cost; even sustained trial.
In John Bunyon’s “The Pilgrim’s Progress”, Christian and his companion Hopeful come upon a man who refuses to say his name, but Christian suspects he is the one known as “By-Ends”. This conversation ensues:
CHRISTIAN. From Fair-speech! do any who are good live there?
BY-ENDS. Yes, I hope.
CHRISTIAN. Pray, sir, what may I call you?
BY-ENDS. I am a stranger to you, and you to me: if you be going this way, I shall be glad of your company; if not, I must be content.
CHRISTIAN. This town of Fair-speech, I have heard of; and they say it’s a wealthy place.
BY-ENDS. Yes, I assure you that it is; and I have many rich kindred there.
CHRISTIAN. Pray, who are your kindred there? if I may be so bold as to ask.
BY-ENDS. Almost the whole town; but in particular my Lord Turnabout, my Lord Timeserver, my Lord Fair-speech, from whose ancestors that town first took its name; also Mr. Smooth-man, Mr. Facing-both-ways, Mr. Anything; and our parson, Mr. Two-tongues.
CHRISTIAN. Are you a married man?
BY-ENDS. Yes, and my wife is Lady Feigning’s daughter: therefore she came of a very honorable family. ‘Tis true we somewhat differ in religion from those of the stricter sort, yet but in two small points: First, we never strive against wind and tide; secondly, we are always most zealous when Religion is well dressed and goes in his silver slippers; we love much to walk with him in the street if the sun shines and the people praise him.
Note the mention of Mr. Facing-both-ways. Also note the company he keeps.
In our relationship with God being double-minded is as impossible spiritually as facing-both-ways is physically. And according to both James and John Bunyon the religion of the two-souled person is phoney, foolish and useless.
Go to God in confidence believer, that He is willing and desirous of lavishing Godly wisdom on you both for the current trial and for your daily walk.
But go with a believing heart, singleness of devotion, desiring His will at any cost. He is worthy of your absolute loyalty and trust, and He will settle for nothing less.
