Don't be a loser - James 1:1-10

On first glance this whole chapter is just a mishmash of "best practices" for believers. It seems a bit disjointed, bouncing from one subject to another from one verse to the next. However, I think there is a strand that ties these seemingly random thoughts together. I can say it in a word, "winning". James may have been a football fan if he lived in the U.S. in this day and age. He was interested in making sure that the people of God didn't just have a reasonable familiarity with how "the game was played." He wanted followers of Christ to have a playbook to look to. He wanted a simple, "do this and win," set of instructions.

The first section in James' playbook concerns itself with trials. He digs in right away and lets the reader know in the first 1/2 paragraph that trials are not "fowl play" the are part of what a believer lives with. The serve a purpose. They provide a means to gain inner strength and maturity. The one element that can keep this process from working correctly is a lack of wisdom. So James tells us to ask for it. If you don't have wisdom, you will miss the point of the trial you are going through, so ask for wisdom. A man with wisdom who goes through a trial walks out of the other end with more tools to live life better.

However, there is a warning. Asking isn't enough. If you want something from God, you have to believe that God will give what He promised. While I might sound like a sleazy televangelist freaked out faith preacher here, it's the truth. If you have "little faith" you can expect "little results". This just isn't a place where grace covers us. We have to trust. God isn't going to trust in Himself for us. We must trust God to be faithful to the promise.

The application here is that trials are part of our spiritual education. The way we learn is through an intelligent examination of those trials. If we don't have the wisdom to see what is happening we ask God for it. If we ask without trust, we won't get what we need to learn from the trial.

The take home? Trust God before the trial for preparation, in the trial for strength, and after the trial for the lessons that need to be learned.