Joy in the Storm

Introduction

Today we begin a study of the book of James. And if you have your Bibles, go ahead and open to chapter 1:1-8. James, the brother of Jesus, wrote this letter most likely to the Jewish believers that were dispersed from Jerusalem and are now living throughout the Roman world. He wrote this letter to exhort, command and encourage the readers. He encouraged his readers, his brothers, to live their lives showcasing the truth and reality of their theology.

As we will see as we work our way through the book, one of James’ main focuses is the practicality, or the orthopraxy, of the Christian faith. He will take orthodoxy, the true doctrine and theology, and he will say, “If you believe this and if this is true then live it out.” In other words, James answers the question, “How then shall we live?”

With this in mind, let us look at the text.

The Text

James 1:1–8 ESV

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Point 1: Joy in Trials (vv 2-4)

The very first thing we read after the greeting is, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.” Let’s break it down real fast.

Count. It. All. Joy.

This isn’t a suggestion. This is a command. Have only joy. Have absolute joy. Let there not be any other emotion within you but joy.

Count it all joy when you what?

Meet trials of various kinds.

What kind of trials? The word James used could either mean temptations, in other words, inner turmoil and enticement to sin. Desires that are contrary to the new life we are to live.

It can also mean external afflictions and things that happen to us, not within us. Within the context of the passage, it would seem that it would be the second definition. James is telling us to count it all joy, have complete joy when you are faced with affliction.

He tells his readers, “Count it joy my brothers when you are chased from your home, your city, your nation. Have joy when you are dragged out onto the streets and mocked and hated. Rejoice when you are thrown in prison for the sake of the Gospel.”

Count it joy when the flood waters surround you and there is seemingly no escape.

Count it joy when you are plagued with illnesses.

Count it joy when the storm clouds of depression surround you.

Rejoice when your body breaks.

Count it joy. Count it joy, Count it joy.

But you ask, “How am I supposed to rejoice when I am unable to put gas in my car, or buy groceries, and when my grandmother is sick?”

“How can I find any form of joy when I am pressed in from all sides?”

“Have you seen the pictures of the flooding? Where’s the hope there? Where’s the joy to be found in that?”

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”

Every trial we go through, whether it be external, or internal has a purpose. Whenever the devil and his minions looses their flaming darts at us, God uses it to produce in us steadfastness. As we go through trials, our faith is tested. Do we truly believe God will deliver us from every trial? The only way to truly know is if we go through trials.

We can rejoice as we barely scrape by because we know that God will remain faithful and see us to the other side.

Romans 8:28 ESV

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Speaking of inward temptations, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:13

1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Psalm 23 ESV

A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Friends, keep your faith. God is a firm foundation. Our rock and our strong tower. In him there is life and peace.

And as we go through our various trials we grow in endurance and steadfastness.

We are able to see God’s past faithfulness and know that He will continue to be faithful until we arrive to the Celestial City.

In John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian and Faithful meet trial after trial. Temptation after Temptation. Foe after foe. They travel through various nefarious places. Neither one of them complete their pilgrimage without scars. But through it all, God’s faithfulness, grace, and mercy, was with them and spurred them on.

By the time Christian reaches the last test (death) he is able to endure and lacks nothing.

This is our life too. When I face depression, anxiety, and fear, or when my hours get cut at work, or when I have a terrible visit with my boss’ boss, or when my past injuries flare up and I lose feeling in my hand, or when I am nearly stranded on a river in Wisconsin, I have two options:

a. I could look inward and try to figure it out on my own. I could just dive head first into anxiety and fear because that always makes everything better for me.

or

b. I could remember the words of Isaiah. Isaiah 50:7

Isaiah 50:7 ESV

But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.

I can put my faith in God and rely on him for deliverance.

And I can praise God and rejoice in his faithfulness knowing that he will see me through to the end.

And this produces steadfastness. Praising God through the storm produces endurance. And steadfastness will lead to us lacking nothing.

Romans 5:3–5 ESV

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

We will be able to, like Christian, cross the river, and approach the gates of the Celestial City in full confidence that we will be welcomed in as children and heirs of God. We will be mature and complete in Christ.

Now, this doesn’t mean we do not feel pain or necessarily desire trials. Christian and Faithful end up arrested, tried and Faithful ends up being executed. Christian is wounded in battle.

It is foolish to desire difficulties and trials. However, when we do face them, do not shrink back. Face them with boldness and rejoicing knowing that it is only through the fire that we are refined and strengthened.

Praise the Lord in the midst of the storm. Praise the Lord through the tears. Praise the Lord in the midst of anger and confusion.

Point 2: Reliance on God for Wisdom (vv 5-6a)

In verses 5 and 6 we read that if anyone lacks wisdom, ask God because he gives generously without reproach. The person that asks must have faith. It takes faith and to rely on God. It takes faith to choose joy in the face of adversity and trials. It takes faith to humbly approach God and ask him for something.

It is interesting that James transitions from steadfastness having it’s full effect making us complete and lacking nothing, to telling us that if any of us lacks wisdom to ask God.

There is some disagreement within commentaries about whether James is tying wisdom with the endurance during trials that he writes about in the previous verses. I think the fact that James transitions using a contrast between lacking nothing, and lacking wisdom, is evidence that James is continuing his thought.

Are you doubting whether you can endure? Do you fear that you will fail and not me made mature and complete? Are you foolishly thinking that you have spent too long in the pits of despair for the Lord to pull you out again?

James says, Ask God for wisdom and he will answer you. Jesus says in Matthew 7:7–11

Matthew 7:7–11 ESV

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

God is a gracious, merciful, and generous God. He gives without reproach. In other words, He will never begrudgingly give you what you ask for. He will never hear your prayer, and say, “Man I wish Jeremiah would get it together, this is the 100th time this week he’s asked me for help.”

He wants us to seek him. He commands us to ask him for our needs. And he said He will give it to us because he loves us!

Do you need wisdom to see that you are not alone? Ask God to give you wisdom!

Do you need strength to get through your storm? Ask God to give you strength!

Do you need light to see in the darkness? Ask God for light!

James is telling us that the only way for us to get through trials is if we rely on God and ask him to provide us our needs. He is the anchor for our souls. Cling to him.

As you climb the Hill of Difficulty, or descend into the Valley of Death, cling to God. Seek Him. Rely on Him. Ask Him for help. He has given you a way out, ask him to show you it.

Later in his letter, James writes that the prayer of the righteous has great power because the Lord hears it and answers it.

If God answered the prayer of Joshua to make the sun stop for a whole day so they could defeat their enemies, God can answer your prayer for wisdom and deliverance from your trials.

Have elders/deacons prepare for communion

Point 3: Faith vs Doubt (vv 6b-8)

In the last two verses of today’s passage James explains the necessity of faith and the contrast between faith and doubt.

Now, the doubt James is referring to is not the occasional question or struggle with faith. Nor is he referring to a person who wonders whether or not God will answer a particular request. We all doubt. We all have times where our faith wavers and we are just not sure.

This is not what James is referring to. Rather, James is referring to double-mindedness. What this means is that the person who does not fully trust God, who is trying to play Christian and prays so they can play safe but are not really committed to Christ wants to be part of the world AND the family of God. They’re both fresh water AND salt water. They’re riding the fence. They’re dipping their toes in but still clinging to the edge.

The double minded are the ones that want the pleasures of the world and the wonderful promises of the God. These people, James describes as a “wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.” They have no purpose. No security. Wherever the wind blows, they go.

They are at the mercy of the world and the world is merciless.

But it is not so for you and I. You and I, even when we falter, we are like a ship with it’s anchor secure. No matter how much the waves rock us, and no matter how hard the wind blows in our sails, we are anchored in place.

We are on solid ground, we have built our house on a firm foundation, and not sand. We will withstand the pressure of the world, and the floodwaters of our storms because we belong to the Lord.

And because we are anchored in Christ, we can ask expectantly of God for help in our times of need, knowing that He will give us what we ask for.

But James says that the one who is double minded cannot even think that he will receive anything from God.

Conclusion

The double minded has no anchor, no foundation, no hope to survive the torrent of the world.

But those who rely on God through faith can rejoice in the midst of their trials knowing that through those trials we will have endurance and through endurance we will be made complete.

Do you rejoice in the midst of suffering? Do you praise God while you go through trials? Do you look to Him for your salvation?

Ask God for strength and for your eyes to be opened to see Him working through the difficult and trying times in your life. Ask God to give you wisdom to see that he is continuing the good work that he began on the day of your salvation.

If you do not belong to Christ, you can have hope. You can come to Him and cling to him. Repent and believe in Jesus.

And if you do so, you will be anchored to him and can withstand the storms of this world.

As we prepare for communion, I would like to end with a few stanzas from It is Well. If you remember, It is Well was written by Horatio Spafford after learning that he lost all four of his daughters in a shipwreck, his wife alone survived. In a time of great sorrow, pain, and regret, he wrote this beautiful hymn.

“When peace like a river, attendeth my way

When sorrows like sea billows roll

Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say

It is well, it is well, with my soul

It is well

With my soul

It is well, it is well with my soul

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come

Let this blest assurance control

That Christ has regarded my helpless estate

And hath shed His own blood for my soul

It is well (it is well)

With my soul (with my soul)

It is well, it is well with my soul.”

Communion

Matthew 26:26–29 ESV

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

read after communion, then pray

Psalm 46:1–3 (ESV)

God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,

though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam,

though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah