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James 1:1-18
Getting the Most Out Of Adversity
Introduction
Read vs 1. James' letter, along with Paul's letter to the Galatians.
are probably the two earliest letters in the New Testament, dating to
the mid-40's AD.
James is a very practical letter, so it is fitting that he immediately
addresses one of the most practical issues which face all of us—adversity.
Christians are not spared from adversity (sometimes they get more), but
as God's children they are given the means to get the most out of adversity.
This passage explains four insights which enables us to do this . . .
1: Understand God's Purpose In Trials (vs 2-4)
Read and explain vs 2 (both “trials” and “various”
emphasize the all-encompassing breadth of adversity included): No matter
what kind of painful adversity I experience, I should consider it an occasion
to rejoice.
Why should I consider it an occasion to rejoice when a loved one dies,
when I contract a serious illness, when I experience disappointment
when a cherished goal is thwarted, when I am hated and treated unjustly
by others, when my children are making poor choices, when I experience
a serious financial setback, when my sincere efforts to serve God seem
to have failed, when the painful consequences of my own wrong choices
come crashing in on me, etc.?
This sounds ridiculous, masochistic, even cruel—and it would be
if it weren't for vs 3-4 (read).
“Knowing”: The reason that we should rejoice in the
midst of all kinds of trials is that God is sovereignly working through
them for a good purpose.
APOLOGETIC: God does not cause all things to happen or call all
things good. This would make God evil. But that because God is sovereign
and loving, he is able to work through everything, including evil, for
good (Romans 8:28).
What is this good purpose? Paul says it is conformity to Christ's character
(Romans 8:29); James says it is spiritual growth and maturity (vs 4b).
He uses a the image of an ATHLETIC COACH/TRAINER here.
Why does the athlete need a coach/trainer? To get in shape physically
and develop his athletic skills to their fullest potential. And what
is one of the main ingredients of achieving this goal? Subjection to
various kinds of physical and mental stress and strain. A good coach/trainer
creates a program individually designed for you to tone your muscles,
develop stamina, hone your skills. It involves many different kinds
of suffering - and sometimes you don't understand what he's trying to
do—but the suffering is worth it because it helps to accomplish
the goal.
James says God is our trainer/coach in a far more important arena—the
development of godly character and the accomplishment of his purpose
for our lives. And he is superior to any human trainer/coach for two
reasons. First, he loves us perfectly and therefore always trains for
our good and never to get back at us. Secondly, he is sovereign and
therefore knows how to work through every adversity toward this goal.
Even though we can't always see how this works at the time, we can trust
his love and sovereignty.
“We should not be . . . too taken aback when unexpected
and upsetting and discouraging things happen to us now. What do they
mean? Why, simply that God in His wisdom means to make something of
us which we have not attained yet, and is dealing with us accordingly.
Perhaps He means to strengthen us in patience . . . compassion,
(or) humility . . . by giving us some extra practice
in exercising these graces under specially difficult conditions. Perhaps
He has new lessons in self-denial and self-distrust to teach us. Perhaps
He wishes to break us of complacency . . . or undetected
forms of pride and conceit. Perhaps His purpose is to draw us closer
to Himself in conscious communion with Him; for it is often the case
. . . that fellowship with (God) is most vivid and sweet,
and Christian joy is greatest, when the cross is heaviest. Or perhaps
God is preparing us for forms of service of which at present we have
no inkling.”
So we must understand God's purpose in adversity. But this does not ensure
that God's purpose will be accomplished. Our response to trials is what
determines whether God's good purpose for our lives is fulfilled or frustrated.
For this reason, James explains practically how to respond properly to
adversity and contrasts those to improper responses . . .
2: Ask God For Wisdom (vs 5-8)
Read vs 5. The first thing we should do when we are hit with adversity
is to ask God for wisdom. “Wisdom” here means better understanding
of God's purpose and how to respond to this kind of training. Go to God
and ask him “What specifically are you working on in my character
through this?” and “How specifically should I respond to this
training?” It may even include a request for comfort and encouragement
to keep going. Nothing delights a trainer more than to hear these questions.
God will answer these requests in the best way and in the best time . . .
But these requests are not magical incantations that elicit an automatic
response from God. They must be accompanied by the right heart attitude
toward God. Read vs 6-8. This is a very troublesome passage because
it seems to say that any fluctuation of feelings of confidence in God
will be rejected by him. This would be an impossible demand because everyone
experiences such fluctuations during adversity. Instead, James is referring
to our personal attitude toward God's character during trial, which is
something we can choose regardless of our feelings.
To “ask in faith” means to approach God choosing to trust
that he is sovereignly and lovingly involved in this adversity for my
good. It means to personally affirm Romans 8:28 - “I believe
that you are involved in this trial for my good, and I want you to have
your way with my life. Please show me what you are trying to teach me
and how you want me to respond . . . ” This is putting
your theology to work.
To “doubt” means to fail or refuse to adopt this attitude
toward God. It means to believe your circumstances or feelings over
God's Word and conclude (however subtly) that God is not involved, doesn't
care, can't help, etc. I know personally that it is possible to “go
through the motions”—praying to God, even quoting scripture
verses and asking for technically right things—but secretly denying
his loving sovereignty by merely wanting a way out or being angry at
God for allowing it. In that case, I am “double-minded”—saying
the right things but believing the wrong things.
What happens when we have this attitude? We prevent God from giving
us wisdom (vs 7) and we remain unstable—subject to our circumstances
and feelings (vs 6b, 8b).
SUMMARY: Why is it that some Christians become more stable and
confident of God's faithfulness during suffering, while others remain
confused, angry, enslaved? The answer is traceable to their habitual response
to God during trial.
3: Don't Confuse Temporal Comfort With Spiritual Good (vs 9-12)
One of the trials these Christians were suffering was financial poverty
and hardship. Chapter 5 indicates that wealthy non-Christians were not
only not helping them, but even exploiting them (5:4-6). Because of this,
James' audience was viewing their rich neighbors as the ones who truly
“had it better” than they did. James sees this as a dangerous
attitude and corrects it (read vs 9-12).
QUALIFICATION: The Bible never justifies non-compassionate hoarding
of wealth; and it rebukes exploitation of others to get wealth (5:1-3).
Wealthy Christians are responsible to treat their employees justly and
use their wealth compassionately. We can never say, “I'm exploiting
them so they'll grow spiritually.” Neither does the Bible glorify
temporal discomfort and say that we should seek it out (ASCETIC MONKS).
James' point here has to do with what our perspective should be toward
temporal comfort when we lack it. Don't confuse temporal comfort with
your own spiritual good; they are not the same thing. And since spiritual
maturity is more important than temporal comfort, we should value it enough
to welcome temporal discomfort if God permits it in our lives and see
as proof that we are loved by God. There are two obvious applications
to this truth:
Don't envy those who have plenty of temporal comfort. Mark 8:36—it
is not true that “the one with the most toys wins.” At best,
they have a sobering responsibility to handle it properly. At worst,
they are in peril of wasting their lives by being addicted to it and
allowing it to seduce them from knowing God and wasting their lives—as
these people evidently were (vs 10-11). More importantly, to envy
them is to say subtly to God, “You love them more than you love
me; you treat them better than you treat me.”
Realize that your temporal discomfort may be a blessing in disguise.
C. S. Lewis called suffering “God's megaphone” and it has
certainly been an effective way for God to give me a “wake up call.”
“Physical pain and weakness cause us to feel our frailty. Perplexity
reveals our lack of wisdom. Financial reverses point out how limited
our self-made security is. Mistakes and failure humble our pride.”
If we realize this and let these things drive us to God to transform
our characters, we will look back on them later and realize how privileged
we were to have been disciplined in this way.
“We ask for strength that we might achieve; we are made weak that
we might obey. We ask for health that we may do greater things; we are
given infirmity that we may do things better. We ask for power that
we may win the praise of men; we are given weakness that we may feel
our need of God. We ask for all things that we may enjoy life; we are
given life (often through suffering) that we may enjoy all things.”
Consider praying this: “God, I recognize my own tendency to want
comfort more than maturity, and to forget you when I am comfortable.
Please do whatever it takes to keep my attention so I stay vital in
my walk with you.”
4: Beware Of Blame-shifting (vs 13-18)
DAUGHTER SLUGGING OTHER DAUGHTER & THEN SAYING “IT WAS HER FAULT
BECAUSE SHE KEPT TEASING ME.” You and I laugh at this and we correct
our children. What her sister did was wrong (and maybe we will correct
her), but she cannot use it as an excuse for her wrong behavior. Unless
she understands this and assumes responsibility for her response to adversity,
her life will be set on fire . . .
But what we see so clearly with our own children, we often fail to see
in ourselves!! When we are experiencing divinely permitted adversity,
how often we refuse to take responsibility for response for it.
“I am so lonely that I had to seek companionship through sexual
immorality.”
“I was mistreated so badly that I am justified in being embittered.”
“It hurt so badly to fail in trying to serve God that I will never
try to serve him again.”
If we're not responsible for our response, who is? What we're really
saying, whether we realize it or not, is that it is God's fault that
we sinned. He let things get so bad that we had no other choice but
to do what we did.
When you react this way under pressure, you may experience short-term
relief (“It wasn't my fault”), but you are paving the way
to long-term misery because you will believe more and more that you
are a victim of circumstances and how others treat you rather than
a freely choosing child of God who is working to increase your moral
freedom (COVEY'S “REACTIVE PERSON”).
James has a better solution—read vs 13-18.
Remember God's loving sovereignty. God never influences anyone (actively
or passively) to violate his will (vs 13). In fact, 1 Corinthians 10:13
says (QUOTE). Only good things and influence to do good comes from God
(vs 17). And the greatest thing he ever did for us is to make us
his children when we come to Christ (vs 18).
Take responsibility for your response to adversity. The influence and
the choice to do evil comes from ourselves, not God (vs 14-16).
GOTHARD: “You are never responsible for how others treat you. You
are always responsible for how you respond to their treatment.“
This may be painful in the short-term, but it opens you up to experience
God's forgiveness and results in greater moral freedom long-term.
Conclusion
SEEKERS: You will suffer also. The question is whether you want
your sufferings to be redemptive or not. The first step toward this is
becoming God's child . . .
Footnotes
Copyright
1993 Gary DeLashmutt
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