James’ background:
Brother of Jesus
Didn’t believe in Jesus
Powerful apostle who was instrumental in the Council of Acts 15.
Lead the First Church in Jerusalem while Peter and Paul went to other regions.
After Jesus’ resurrection and ascension he was a big part of the church launching.
2 Main influences:
Jesus (Sermon on the Mount)
Proverbs
James’ focus is on what will last… God & His Word.
James 1:1
“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.”
James 1:2
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds”
The moment you decide to follow Jesus is the moment that you should expect the trials and tribulations to begin.
James tells us we should celebrate those moments and learn to look at them with joy.
James 1:3-4
“Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
You wouldn’t be tested unless you were doing something serious.
Those who follow Jesus are not simply supposed to survive.
How do we navigate this?
1. Lament
Feel it before you fix it.
Cry out to God.
Psalm 142:1-2
“I cry aloud to the Lord; I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy. I pour out before him my complaint; before him I tell my trouble.”
2.Though and Yet
Psalm 42:2-4
“My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’ These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise
among the festive throng.”
Psalm 42:5
“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.”
Psalm 42:9-10
“I say to God my Rock,
“Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?”
My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’”
Psalm 42:11
“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.”
Romans 8:28
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
An important distinction:
He’s not saying that all things are good. He saying he can make good come out of all things.
James 1:5-8
“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double- minded and unstable in all they do.”
The challenge of faith is the challenge not to be a wave… We sparkle and dance and listen for a moment but then crash into the shore and are no more.
Learning who God really is and what he is truly like – and reminding ourselves of it regularly – is the key to it all. Without that, we are double minded, swept away one minute and that way the next. We will just be another wave. But with it, we will have character. Wisdom. Patience. Faith.
It begins with wisdom… the ability to see hardships thru a new lens or perspective.
Romans 15:13
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
- The filling is for you.
- The overflow is for them.
True wisdom is choosing to believe God is good despite my circumstance.