April 7, 2015 – James 1:2

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. James 1:2-4Looking for joy while in trouble seems a bit strange.  Instead we want to suffer loudly and gain sympathy — not joy.  If for no other reason than knowing joy lurks in trouble, we should rejoice.  It is God’s way of teaching us faith and endurance.In this day and age, we find many places to seek wisdom and ‘know how’.  There are books, Google, instant YouTube videos — that will provide just what we think we need.  These avenues of learning often supersede God, when He should be our first ‘go-to’.  When we ask Him, our faith should be in God first and alone.  Stability in faith is the key to be open to the Lord’s gifting.  God will not rebuke us for asking.Discouragement chips away at our faith and causes us to seek help elsewhere.  When I think of frustration and faith, I think of the man of faith who asks God to help him when he is unable to complete a ‘fix-it’ job.  God’s Way is the Only Way to victory and joy.If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. James 1:5-8