5If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6But 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. 7For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. James 1:5-8 ESV

The goal of the Christian life, James says verse 4, is that we be perfect (or mature) and complete, lacking in nothing spiritually. This is the effect of trials in the life of a faithful follower of Jesus. But to turn trials into toughness, the one thing you need to not lack is wisdom. Trials do not automatically make us tough. Some trials only make us bitter, angry, lonely, burned out, or selfish. Navigating through trials faithfully is what makes us spiritually tough. But navigating faithfully requires that we possess wisdom from above. When believers face times of testing – whether physical, emotional, moral, or spiritual – they have special need of God’s wisdom. At such times, they should remember Solomon’s words of wisdom: 

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.” Proverbs 3:5-7

Rather than crying out, “Why me?” as we endure these tests of our faith, the believer should be crying out, “I need wisdom.” This simple change in mindset converts all our trials and tests into opportunities to gain wisdom! 

James says, http://thevintry.com.au/category/magazine/page/2/?v=7516fd43adaa If any of you lacks wisdom…And lets be honest, who can say they don’t? plaguily Lacks is a play on words from verse 4, “lacking in nothing.” Part of what James understands as a perfect and complete faith is that we do not lack wisdom. Without wisdom, there is little hope of faithful endurance. Divine wisdom is the only thing that will stabilize us in the storms of life. It’s the only guard against bowing the knee, giving into temptation, or fleeing adversity. And wisdom is not a luxury for super-Christians, it’s gift that God is eager to supply in abundance to all who ask! 

Wisdom is More Than Intelligence

What is wisdom? Wisdom is not just being smart in general. There are countless brilliant people – scholars, theologians even, who are absolute fools. They have no wisdom. Why? Because wisdom begins with the fear of God. 

Kent Hughes says wisdom is, “far more than the accumulation of important intellectual perception. It is understanding for living.” Dan McCartney, adds that wisdom is the ability “to make sound judgments and speak the right words.” And Douglas Moo says, “Wisdom is above all a practically oriented virtue that gives direction for the life of the godly person.” I would summarize wisdom as understanding how to respond in life’s trials in a way that pleases the Lord and joyfully submits to His purposes. 

But perhaps we need to begin where Job began when he asked the question in Job 28:12…

“But where shall wisdom be found?…” Job 28:12 From Job’s discourse we know it is not in the deep and we know that the price of it is greater than pearls, topaz, and pure gold. So where is it and how can we get it? Job concludes in verse 28 “…Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom.” Job 28:28

Wisdom, which begins with the fear of God, is explicitly God-focused. It centers on the Creator and sustainer of all things. Remove God and you get foolishness. “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” Psalm 14:1 Einstein was a scientific genius. But even a scientific genius who denies God is a fool. At least at one point in his life Einstein was a fool. Einstein wrote in one of his papers, Understanding the relationship between religion and science, saying, “In their struggle for the ethical good, teachers of religion must have the stature to give up the doctrine of a personal god.” (https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/religion/albert-einstein-solves-equation, last accessed 3 FEB 2022)

Therein is the logic of Romans 1, “Claiming to be wise they became fools.” Why? They serve the creature rather than the Creator. In his quest to understand the creation, Einstein, along with many of his brilliant peers exchange the truth of God for a lie. And their delusion continues 90 years later.  Romans 1 might have been written about the 1st century Romans, but I believe it’s just as applicable to 20th and 21st Century Americans. People have lost their minds because they’ve unhitched themselves from the only thing that won’t move in the changing tide of culture – the fear of our holy, Creator God. 

Keep in mind James was primarily concerned that worldliness had infiltrated the church. Worldliness is sneaky, cunning, & subtle. We’re now four Sundays into James. Heart-check…are you seeing the Holy Spirit’s work in your life? Is He challenging paradigms and worldviews? I hope so. Worldliness comes in so many forms. But it is driven out by wisdom from above. So, we should ask for wisdom! 

Where Wisdom is Found

Who should we ask for wisdom? James tells us, Let him ask God. Why God? Because wisdom comes from God. “All good gifts come down from above,” says James later in his letter. And wisdom is an “above” way of thinking. It is oriented on God and on His priorities and His principles. 

Notice that this is not advice. James issues another command here. James knows that when a believer faces trials, those trials are meant to draw us closer to God. And when a believer fails to submit himself and ask the Lord for wisdom, John MacArthur says God will extend that trial until he makes his “ear attentive to wisdom and inclines his heart to understanding.” (Prov. 2:2) So do yourself a favor and seek wisdom now! 

Why should we ask God? Because God gives generously to all without reproach. That’s a way of saying He gives wisdom without keeping record of whether you used it the last time you asked for it. James is exhorting us to keep asking the Lord for wisdom! He’s generous and He’s not keeping record, unlike some people you may know.   

James says God gives generously. That word literally means “simply, singularly,” which is set in contrast with the double-minded man in the verse 8. This gift from above is a simple gift, or a pure gift. It has no strings attached. Daniel Doriani says this means that God’s gift of wisdom “neither returns a favor nor expects a favor in return. It neither pays back nor expects payback. God’s gifts do not become debts.” I like that a lot…God’s gifts do not become debts. Why is that? Doriani concludes, “When God gives, he acts according to His divine character.” 

This is an important point for us to not gloss over. God is a generous God. One commentator says that James called God the giving God here. Dan McCartney asserts that, “God’s generous character is a central tenant of the Gospel.” I can see that; afterall Paul associates the giving of Jesus, God’s Son, with His generosity in all things in Romans 8, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” Romans 8:32 

God Gives Wisdom Freely

When God gives generously, He does not “reprimand” us for past failures. James says He gives without reproach. He doesn’t throw it in our faces that we’ve already messed up so many times before or that we should have come to Him long ago to deal with this issue. We might respond to someone asking us for money by sighing, and saying, “Yes, I’ll loan you money again…but what happened to the money I loaned you last time?” Or we might respond to a request for help, “Yes, I’ll help you pack up and move tomorrow, but why did you wait until the last minute to start packing?” This is what you’d call giving with reproach. But God gives wisdom without reproach. 

James adds that God gives without reproach in case a man thinks he has approached God too frequently or hasn’t made the best use of previous dispensations of wisdom. When we’re dealing with our fellow man we know that even the most generous people can sometimes be worn out in their generosity, or their gifts come with strings attached. Not so with God. 

Think about it like this – you approach your parents, or your friend, or mentor and you say, “I need relationship advice.” They give you their advice and it sounds pretty good, so you take it and try to put it into practice. Before long you realize you’re no longer living by that advice – we’ll call it boundaries – you’re no longer living with relational boundaries and you’re back in the same spot you were in when you needed advice. So, you think to yourself, should I go back to them for more advice? Perhaps you do, only to find out they’re not as generous with their advice now because you didn’t really listen the first time. Or perhaps it takes four or five times to exhaust their generosity.  Point being, God isn’t like that. He gives generously to all without reproach. 

He’s not huffing and puffing when you show up at His throne of grace saying, “Ok, Lord I’m back and this time I’m really trying to listen!” He’s compassionate, merciful, gracious, above and beyond what we can even fathom. He’s a good Father and He is ready to dispense with wisdom from above if we will but ask. James desires that we approach God with confidence and boldness and request wisdom. James makes a definitive statement at the end of verse 5, saying that if we ask for wisdom, it will be given him. 

We Need to Ask in Faith

But it is not just any request made in any kind of way. It is a request God answers when it is made in faith. Faith is more than hope that God will do what we ask. Rather, it is confident trust in His character and His capability. James says in verse 6, But let him ask in faith, with no doubting. Trials test our faith; enduring those trials proves that our faith is real. So, it’s no wonder that James highlights faith once again, but for James faith always leads to action. You can give mental assent to the Bible, you can refuse to deny God’s existence, but genuine faith causes you to act or behave in line with belief. And what is the action our faith should lead us to take? 

We are invited to approach God with confidence, like children to their father. He’s good. Do you believe that?! He’s gracious?! He’s generous! Do you believe these things? He wants to give you wisdom so that you will lack nothing. This faith is not so much about the existence of God, but about the kind of God you serve. It is trust in God’s character, in God’s purpose and plan for you, in God’s ability to provide and protect. If you believe that you serve a God who in the words of Hebrews 11:6, “rewards those who seek Him” you will seek Him. You will go to Him with your desire to gain wisdom. Outside of faith, this verse tells us it impossible to please God. 

“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” Hebrews 11:6

Paul takes it one step further. “…For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” Romans 14:23b People who have been bought by the blood of Jesus, promised eternal life with God in His Kingdom, and have been granted unconditional forgiveness of sin have a moral duty to live by faith in Him. To not live by faith suggests at best an immature understanding and at worst a false conversion. 

Be Fully Convinced of God’s Goodness

When James says no doubting, this is not about removing all doubt that God will give whatever you have asked for. It’s not about naming it and claiming it. Speaking it into existence. Nor is it about being certain about what is or is not God’s will. Rather, this is about trusting in the character and promises of God rather than vacillating between hoping in God one moment and taking things into your own hands the next, “just in case.” James is talking about an unwavering commitment to God. 

So when James says Let him ask…with no doubting, he’s not saying that we have to act like we’re fully convinced we know exactly how God is working in our lives, or what His will is for us, or what all the steps might be to navigate a particular trial. Not doubting is about not wavering between hope in God and hope in ourselves, or other people, or money, or anything else that we think can solve our problems. Our primary confidence in asking for wisdom is that we know God loves us enough to keep His promises and we rest in that knowledge. We find peace in that faith. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. When we lack that faith, when we doubt, all we feel is angst and turbulence.   

6b For the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. James pictures a person who, like a wave, is hopelessly adrift in the sea of popular philosophies, ideas, and worldviews. We like to think we’re stronger, more predictable, more protected from worldliness than what the Bible says is true of us. We are extremely vulnerable to the philosophies, the mindsets, worldviews, perspectives of the world around us. And they are ever changing. When the cultural tide moves this way, the doubting man moves with it. He normalizes what culture normalizes. Often, he doesn’t even realize how he is being shaped because he’s going along with the culture, going with the flow. Accepting as true the presuppositions of the world. Douglas Moo explains, “This person is always shifting and moving according to the direction and strength of the wind. A doubting person has no ‘fixed beliefs and directions.’ Their loyalty to God is constantly threatened. They are inconsistent and insincere in their allegiance to God.” 

Don’t Be the Double-Minded Man

If you approach the Lord with a wavering faith, treating God as if He doesn’t really exist, that He doesn’t really hear, doesn’t really care, or doesn’t really have good in store for you, why would you expect Him to hear that request? We should not. Let’s look at verse 7. 

7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; Again, it is not that we should never have any question about whether something is the Lord’s will or walk in any uncertainty about life’s situations. This is about doubting God’s character. This kind of doubt is an affront to God because it questions His goodness, His love, His willingness to intervene, His sovereignty.  

That person will not receive what he half-heartedly asks for; as if that is a surprise. One cannot manipulate God; you can’t throw Him some crumbs of faith while doubting whether He’s really capable of giving the wisdom to endure trials and keeping one eye out for any other passing life-line. When someone comes to God for wisdom, he comes whole-heartedly, or he doesn’t walk away with anything at all. He puts all his eggs in that basket. Otherwise, James says in verse 8, he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. 

In Luke 16:13 Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters.”  Which is what a double-minded man is trying to do. He is trying to “serve” God – really he wants to be served by God, and at the same time serve himself by scavenging for any morsel of wisdom he can glean elsewhere. His mindset is, “Ok God, if you’re real, I need you to fix this problem for me. But I’m going to do everything in my power to fix it myself.” This man is unstable. Its obvious. But it’s so stinkin’ common, isn’t it? This isn’t how we ought to go through life. That word unstable describes what it’s like to walk while you’re drunk. A double-minded man is like a drunkard who staggers along the path, unable to walk with clear direction and purpose. Their lack of faith impacts “all his ways” or every part of his life. It’s like a toxin that works its way into every facet of a person’s life. 

One of James’ primary concerns is that Christians live out their faith and not just talk a good game. So, James introduces us to the concept of a double-minded man. He thinks one way in certain circumstances and another way in other circumstances. He is unstable, meaning he does not know what he believes, nor does anyone else. And that’s by design. He does not want to be pinned to the wall on anything and therefore he is like a chameleon; he just blends in. Where it is convenient to seek the Lord, he’ll do that. But, if there is a better, more expedient solution, that’s where he’s going. He might give God a half-hearted shot, a nod in God’s direction, but he’s always got one eye on other means of achieving whatever he’s going for. 

Kurt Richardson says, “Although such people claim to trust in God, they in fact do not. They may pray the prayers of profession, but they do not pray authentically, that is, the prayers of surrender to God’s will.” 

John MacArthur takes it a step further, saying, “He claims to be a believer, but his actions reveal he is an unbeliever. When he goes through a severe trial, he turns to human resources rather than singularly trusting the Lord for answers and for help…He does not renounce God, but he acts as if God doesn’t exist, doesn’t care, or isn’t capable of delivering him from trouble. As James points out later in the letter, that person’s problem is sin.” MacArthur is referring to James 4:8, which says, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” James 4:8 

Notice that James here in 4:8 calls the double-minded people sinners, which is a term used only for unbelievers in the New Testament. MacArthur concludes, “Regardless how he may see himself, the double-minded man is trying to serve two gods, which the Lord declares is impossible.”  

The unstable find themselves tied in emotional and mental knots because they can never settle on one thing consistently. John Calvin describes the double-minded doubter this way, “Sometimes they are bursting with fleshly assurance, sometimes they plunge into deep despair.” This person might be interested in hearing God’s opinion on the matter so he can weigh the options, but he is not seeking God’s wisdom believing that that is the best & indeed only option. To seek His wisdom is to decide beforehand that you will obey it and live by it when you’ve received it; that you will do what God says. You’ll go where He leads, stay where He says stay, you’ll do what He says do or quit what He says quit. You’ll take the steps of faith that He lays out for you even if you cannot see where that’s going to lead you.  

Although the double-minded man should expect to receive nothing, the faithful man should expect to receive abundantly that which God promised – wisdom for living, wisdom for enduring the trials that test faith! How does a person accept the wisdom from God before they know what that wisdom is? By reminding themselves that God is God. That’s it. That’s the strategy. He is God and whatever wisdom He supplies is exactly that – wisdom. Our generous Heavenly Father is eager to supply wisdom to anyone who asks in faith with no doubting. Let us pray at the very least the prayer of the father in Mark 9, “I believe; help my unbelief!” Mark 9:24. 

Do you feel like you’re a wave in the middle of the ocean tossed to and fro by the wind? Do you relate to that doubter; one moment you feel great confidence in your own abilities and the next moment hopelessly lost? Are you finding yourself navigating what feels like an impossible trial? What you need is wisdom; our Heavenly Father stands ready to supply that wisdom without reproach. You just need to ask for it and trust in God’s character! 

As we transition now to the observation of the Lord’s Supper, we should recognize that this is the greatest reminder and proclamation of God’s character there is. That’s why Jesus commanded us to keep observing it. It’s a constant reminder of the lengths our Father went to to save us and bring us close to Him. He gave His one and only Son, who went willingly to the cross, so that you can enjoy a peaceful, providential relationship with the God who calls Himself your Heavenly Father. 

The reality is you are either walking through a trial right now, you are just coming out of a trial, or you’re getting ready to go into one. That’s a fact of life. And James tells us we should rejoice in our various trials. Why? Because God uses trials to test our faith; and if we’ll let Him work, He’ll draw us in closer, make us tougher, and give us divine wisdom. Every trial we face, then, becomes an opportunity to grow in true wisdom. An opportunity…you get to choose whether your trial is going to lead you by faith to ask for wisdom, or by doubt to be tossed around like a wave. 

Take some time now to reflect upon who God is and all He has done for you. If you do not know Him in personal relationship by faith in His Son Jesus, either abstain from the Lord’s Supper this time, or surrender your life to Jesus – asking forgiveness of your sin and confessing His Lordship over your life right here, right now. If you do know the Father, if you are a forgiven follower of Jesus, consider why you would entrust your soul to Him for all eternity, but at times struggle to trust Him with this month’s bills. Or that relationship struggle. Or a medical diagnosis. What do you gain by doubting God’s character when trusting Him opens the floodgates of the divine wisdom necessary to navigate all life’s trials? 

God is a good, good Father. Let Him show you how good He is! Choose faith, beloved, and let go of doubt.

James Bibliography

Calvin, Jean. Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries: A Harmony of The Gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke: And the Epistles of James and Jude. William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. 1995.

Doriani, Daniel M. Reformed Expository Commentary: James. P&R Publishing. 2007.

Hughes, R. K. James: Faith that works. Crossway Books. 1991.

MacArthur, John. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Series: James. Moody Publishers. 1998.

McCartney, Dan G. Baker Exegetical Commentary: James. Baker Academic. 2009.

Moo, Douglas J. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: James. IVP Academic. 2015.

Richardson, Kurt A. New American Commentary: James. B&H Publishing. 1997.