This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

(upbeat music) - Welcome to day three of our Look Through James, chapter one in
Daily Drive Time Devotions. We're going to be looking at verses five to 12 today.
You might remember yesterday we talked about how faith works when I have
problems, when I consider it pure joy, what God can do in my life even through
the problems.

Faith works when I have external problems, but it also works when I have
internal struggles. It works when I doubt. Faith has the power to handle your
doubts.

It wouldn't be faith if it didn't. It has the power to handle your doubts.
Listen to what James says about that, James one, verses five to eight.

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all
without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must
believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea blown and
tossed by the wind. That man should not think that he will receive anything from
the Lord.

He is a double-minded man, unstable in all that he does. How does faith work
when I have doubts? Well, James gives us the answer before he talks about doubt.

He begins by talking about if you lack wisdom, ask God. When I ask for God's
wisdom, that attacks my doubt. When troubles come or doubts hit, wisdom should
be your first request.

Now, our first call is usually help get me out of this as quickly as possible. I
feel like, I think most of us feel like, my greatest need is immediate and
complete escape when I have a problem. And I think the same thing is true with
doubt.

Just make it go away, God. Just make it not be there anymore. Just sort of erase
that doubt from my mind.

But James says instead what we should do is ask God who will give us wisdom. He
doesn't erase the doubt, he answers the doubt. God has an answer and he answers
the doubt.

James reminds us here that our greatest need is wisdom. I need, you need insight
beyond yourself. It's just that simple.

If I'm going to face my problems in life and have joy in my problems, I need
insight beyond myself. And if I'm going to face my doubts and see God's answers for
those doubts, I need insight beyond myself. And so he says, if any of you lacks
wisdom, you should ask God.

Now, that's interesting to me. If any of you lacks wisdom, that's a special way
of saying things that might be called a polite if. It's like you get into a
crowded elevator after a group has eaten a meal at a restaurant that has lots of
garlic in it.

And you say, if anyone needs a breath mint, obviously everyone does. And
obviously every one of us needs wisdom. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should,
she should ask.

You ask. The way to wisdom is to ask. God, I need wisdom.

In fact, you might do that in your mind right now. God, I need wisdom for this
business decision. I need wisdom in my family.

I need wisdom in my own life. I need wisdom for this doubt that I'm facing. Ask.

Now notice the motivation for asking. The motivation for asking is God is
generous, God is willing and God is not judgmental. Did you see that?

He should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault and it will
be given to him. God wants to give us wisdom and he generously gives wisdom.
Somebody on our research team wrote in as they were studying through this
chapter, if God is so generous, why don't we ask more often for wisdom?

That's a great question. If God is so generous, so willing to give me wisdom,
why don't I ask more often? Sometimes it's because of pride.

We want to do it ourselves, but I don't know about you. More often it's because
of busyness. I'm just rushing through life, just doing it my way.

I'm not stopping long enough to ask. Now I know some people think that God is
not generous, that he doesn't want to give, but remember he is. He wants to
give.

So ask for wisdom, ask often. God is generous, God is willing. He will give, it
will be given to him and God is not judgmental.

I love this phrase, without finding fault. Sometimes we think, I'm going to go
to God and I'm going to ask for wisdom and I'm going to hear it back in prayer,
stupid. How come you couldn't get that one right?

How come you didn't understand that one? That one's so obvious. Why did you even
ask me about that?

That's not how God treats his children. He gives generously to all without
finding fault. So you ask him.

You ask him the simplest questions. You ask him for wisdom. The motivation for
asking is God's generosity and willingness and the fact that he isn't
judgmental.

And the barrier to wisdom is the same thing that wisdom answers, it's doubt. He
must believe and not doubt. Believe that God is willing.

You see, what am I believing in when I ask God for wisdom? I'm not believing in
wisdom. I'm not believing in myself.

I'm believing in God. I mean, I'm believing in God's character, that he is a
willing, loving God who wants to give me wisdom. So once again, where do you
need God's wisdom today?

Right now in your mind, ask God, I need wisdom here. I need wisdom here. It can
be a very brief prayer.

In fact, you can even ask God for wisdom in the midst of a meeting with your
eyes open, everybody else talking. You don't have to say, oh, let's all stop
now. We need to bow our heads for five minutes so I can ask for wisdom.

You can ask for wisdom in a moment. God, I need wisdom right now. Give me your
wisdom.

When you ask God for wisdom, that's giving him great honor. And when you ask God
for wisdom, that's recognizing that you need his wisdom. That's a humble step of
faith.

The way to answer doubt is to ask for God's wisdom. The way to answer doubt is
also to recognize who you really are, to get a good appraisal of yourself. James
chapter one, verses nine to 12, help us to see life a little better from God's
perspective when it comes to who we are.

Listen to what these verses have to say. The brother in humble circumstances
ought to take pride in his high position. But the one who is rich should take
pride in his low position because he will pass away like a wild flower.

For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant, its blossoms fall,
and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even
while he goes about his business. Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial
because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God
has promised to those who love him.

These verses are an example of the kind of wisdom, the kind of perspective that
God points us to when we ask. And when you have this kind of perspective, it
does answer your doubts. Sometimes the reason I have doubts, I don't know about
you, is because I'm trusting in myself.

I'm trusting in my things. I'm trusting in my stuff, which isn't going to last. If
you feel inadequate, sometimes guess what?

You are inadequate, but God is more than adequate. Obviously, I'm not all
powerful. You're not all powerful, but God is all powerful.

So what do you do when you're feeling doubts? You look to him and you get an
honest view of yourself. I love these verses.

They remind us that you don't let what you lack make you feel inadequate. If
you're a brother or sister in humble circumstances, take pride in your high
position. You're a child of the king.

You're a son of the king. You're a daughter of the king. You're headed for
eternity.

Don't let anybody look down on you because you seem to be in some low position
on this planet. It's going to last for such a short time. Don't let the evaluation
of you be based on some false evaluation that's going to last only for moments on
planet Earth.

No, take pride in your position with Jesus Christ. And these verses also remind
us that if you have more riches in this world, take pride in your low position,
because those riches, they're not going to last. You're not going to last.

It's interesting. As Americans, we tend to think, let's just be honest, that
humble circumstances are a person's own fault. If you'd just work harder, then
you'd be richer.

But for most of the world, and for most of history, people had very little
control over their circumstances. And even in America, we have less control than
we think. Your blessings, the blessing you have in your life, they are much more
the result of God's hand in your life than you and I tend to think.

Yeah, God lets us work, and he lets us see the fruit of our labor, but there are
so many ways that he blesses us that we just do not see that allow us to be
where we are. So you just hold it with an open hand. And you realize, whatever
God has given, it's like that bunch of flowers that I bought last week, and I
brought in, I put them in a vase on the table.

Within a week, they were wilted and gone. All these things that we tend to trust
in, they're going to be gone. So don't let what you have make you feel safe.

Don't let what you lack make you feel inadequate. Don't let what you have make
you feel safe or bigger or more prideful. Recognize, I rejoice in my low
position.

God, thanks for these things. I want to use them as you've given me to use them,
but I don't want to trust in them. As soon as you start trusting in things, your
life will be filled with doubts.

No doubt about it. These verses also remind us to not let the now become greater
than the then. In verse 12, blessed is the man who perseveres under trial,
because when he stood the test, he's going to receive the crown of life.

You've got some trials you may be going through right now, and they cause doubt.
You look at those trials and you think, why am I going through this? Is it my
faith, is it me, is it God?

Is he not strong enough? Why am I going through this? We let the now totally
color our thinking to the extent that we think that maybe God doesn't love us
anymore.

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, the woman who perseveres under
trial, because when you stood the test, you will receive the crown of life. The
trial you're facing right now, that's not going to last. You persevere in it and
you grow through it.

The crown of life that God's going to give in eternity, that will last. You see,
these verses, they're really about our hope. Blessings begin to happen in our
lives, and they happen to those who endure the trial.

These verses remind us that crowns are worn by those who stand the test. These
verses remind us that promises are received by those who love the Lord. He will
receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

So you want to deal with doubt? You get your eyes off of the right now. It's like
you're on a path, beautiful path, and you're looking down just at your feet.

Get your eyes up and see what God's heading you towards. Yeah, the trials are
tough, but don't let them make you doubt God's love, 'cause that love is going to
last all the way into and through eternity. As we pray together today, let's
take our doubts to God and ask him to put a new wisdom, a new faith into our
lives.

Our Father, we have doubts. We're human. Answer our doubts with your wisdom, we
pray.

Answer our doubts with your wisdom. Help us to see when we're trusting in
ourselves and trusting in the things around us. The reason we have doubts is
we're not trusting you, we're trusting ourselves.

Help us to see when our doubts come from a misunderstanding of who you are,
beginning to think that maybe somehow you don't love us when you do. Lord, help
us to understand that the trials that come our way, although they make us doubt
sometimes, they make us wonder if there's something we've done some way that you
don't love us any longer, that God, when we persevere, even through the trials,
we will receive the crown of life that you have promised to those who love you.
In the end, Lord, it's all about your love for us and our response and love to
you.

So when we have problems, when we have doubts, God, help us to remember you love
us. Help me to remember today you love me. In Jesus' name, amen.