Sermons

God's Wonderful Gift of Wisdom

February 7, 2016 Speaker: Reid Strahan Series: James - A Portrait of Living Faith

Passage: James 1:5–8

Years ago, there was a group of people at work that I ate lunch with, and one day someone brought in a puzzle for us to solve. It was a piece of paper with a string looped through it with two beads on the end and you were supposed to find a way to separate the string from the paper without tearing the paper or breaking the string. No one could figure it out. It became a big topic of conversation at work. At the time, Cindy and I were leaving for a short trip to Door County, Wisconsin. One day, I pulled this puzzle out while I was driving, and I prayed “Lord you gave wisdom to Joseph, to Daniel, and I ask you for the wisdom to solve this and I will give you the glory at work if you do”. And within seconds it came into my mind exactly how to solve this. And it worked. So when I got back to work, I shared with believers and unbelievers, how God gave me the wisdom to solve that. Some would consider that very frivolous or silly but I never forgot it, and recall it to mind many times when I feel the need for wisdom.

We are given an amazing and comforting promise here in James; No matter what trial you will EVER go through, small or big, whether is lasts 5 minutes or 5 years, God will give you all the wisdom you need to get through it! God will send wisdom from his throne in heaven, so that you will know just what to do.

Josh said last week, the first thing people ask when a trial comes is “why?”. Luke leaned forward and whispered, that's not what I ask..”I ask how can I get out of this the quickest way possible?” I think there is a third question that comes when trials press in upon you, “O my! What I should I to do?”. This problem has changed things! It has thrown me a curve. How am I supposed to react?

You get an email from someone that cuts you to shreds; or your car has a major problem and there is no room in the budget to repair it, or you experience a huge disappointment with one of your children, or a close friend; or you had such great hopes for something, that you thought God was in, and it just didn't happen. Or you have a family to take care of and you aren't getting enough sleep. Or it seems that no matter what you do, you can't please your boss at work.

James already told us to count these things as pure joy, because we see that our trials are the pathway to wholeness, completeness, to the fullness of what God destined us to become. But you ALSO need wisdom to know what to do, and wisdom to know how to see your troubles in this supernatural perspective of joy!

There was once a king named Jehoshaphat, who expressed this same feeling. A vast army was coming against him to drive him and his people out of their land. His forces were so small compared to his enemy that he said, “we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us.” Then he said this amazing thing to God, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you”. That is largely what makes it a trial – you just do not know which way to turn, or what to do.

Psalm 107 describes different people in different kinds of troubles. Vs 27 says, “They were at their wit's end. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble”. The NASB footnote on this phrase says, “literally all their wisdom was swallowed up”. That is how you feel in trials.

So right after James told us to consider it all joy whenever you face trials, he says but “If any of you lacks wisdom he should ask of God”. This promise of wisdom is for “ANY who lack”. God will give YOU wisdom just as much as any other Christian. If you are overcome by a trial that just knocks you over, James says, There is an answer for you.

*If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God”. When we don't know what to do, or how to handle things, we tend to go to books, to people, or to Google search, to anything and anybody except God. But James directs us to go to God. Ask God! He doesn't even say, sit down an mull this over in your own mind till you think of a solution. Go to God!

So how do I get this wisdom from God; do I need to work up a certain feeling, do I need to pray for a certain amount of time? Is there a secret to getting this wisdom from God? James says, the secret prayer formula for getting wisdom is “Ask”! Go to God and ask him as specifically as if you were going to the bank to ask for a loan.

And you ask, knowing that God is generous! The verse continues, “He should ask God who gives generously to all, without finding fault”. IE Trust in the generosity of God. David Guzik said, “He is the God of the open hand”. Alexander MacClaren says this could be translated, “Let him ask of the Giving God”. What is God like? He is a “giving generously without reproach”, kind of God. God is glad to give to you.

He gives without reproach or without finding fault. “He does not resent you asking”. He never says, “You should have asked earlier, I can't help you now.” or “If you had done what I said the last time you wouldn't be here, asking again.” He is not bothered by you! And he never listens to your prayer and says, you did not use the right prayer formula, you did not say just the right words. All he asks is that you ask, and that you believe in his willingness to give.

There are all kinds of wisdom that you need when you encounter trials:

First: You need wisdom as to how you can rejoice in the middle of your trials. James just told us to count it all joy when you encounter various trials. Your mind and your feelings probably push back at this! We need God's wisdom to see and feel this way! John Calvin said, “If this doctrine is higher than you can reach ask the Lord to illuminate you by his Spirit”. IE you ask for godly perspective, to see your trial with eyes of God. We count it all joy when we encounter various trials because we SEE things that nobody else sees. Or we see things now in a way that we never used to be able to see. We SEE that these trials are making us whole, complete, people. That takes wisdom to look at trials that way. There is a pagan, or worldly way of looking at trouble and God's way of looking at trouble. God's way is to count your trials pure joy. That takes wisdom

When Job lost all his possessions, all his wealth, even his children, and he fell to the ground and worshiped! He said “naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord”. That is wisdom. Paul and Silas were flogged and thrown in prison at Phillippi, and with bloody backs they sang hymns to God at midnight. Wisdom from God enabled them to see their trials in such a way, that they could do that!

When you see someone rejoicing in the midst of trouble, someone who is not complaining or grumbling, but is praising God and giving thanks to God, that person has wisdom from God. Do you want that? Ask!

Second: You need wisdom to know what to do. When trials come you need to know what to say, what direction to head, whether to do nothing at all or to move forward. King Jehoshaphat needed to know what to do when he was surrounded by the Assyrian army. He said, we do not know what to do but our eyes are on you. And God told him what to do through the Holy Spirit by a prophet. “Do not fear, tomorrow march down against them. You will not have to fight. Stand and see the deliverance the Lord will give you.”

King Solomon was faced with the dilemma of judging between two women who were harlots, both had babies, and one of the women rolled over on her baby during the night and it died. She exchanged her dead baby with the living baby of the other woman. In those days how would you ever solve this case! BUT SOLOMON HAD ASKED FOR WISDOM FROM GOD! SO GOD PUT IT INTO HIS MIND WHAT TO DO. Solomon said get me a sword and divide the living child in two and give half to each woman. But the woman whose child was the living one, was deeply moved and said, My Lord, give her the living child and do not kill him. Solomon immediately knew who the real mother was and he said, "Give the living child to the first woman. She is its mother." The story concludes with this observation: "When all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had handed down; they stood in awe of the king, because they saw that THE WISDOM OF GOD WAS IN HIM, to administer justice" (1 Kings 3:28). God offers that wisdom to you!

There was no biblical command to tell Solomon what to do when two harlots claim the same baby. He needed wisdom from God for THAT moment. The plain simple beauty of this promise is: if you need wisdom to know what to do, ask God and he will tell you.

Third: You need wisdom to make the right moral choices, as opposed to foolish or sinful choices. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The fear of the Lord will give you good judgment in what you should do in all the circumstances of life. We need wisdom to do the right thing, to say the right thing, to make the right decision.

When you feel troubled and tried, you are vulnerable to making unwise decisions and choices. You may be tempted to strike back at the person, you feel is the source of your trial, but that is not the wisdom of God. But later James will tell us the wisdom that comes from above is pure, peaceable, gentle, full of mercy. IF YOU THINK THE ANSWER IS TO FIGHT AND QUARRELL THAT IS NOT GOD'S WISDOM! Ask God for wisdom in your trial and he will guide you in a righteous response, not an angry, fleshly response.

*God promises that if you ask for wisdom it will be given to you. “If any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God, and it will be given him!” Jesus said the same thing. “If any one asks, it WILL be given him”. What assurance! What a blessing! What confidence This is a promise. It is based on the faithfulness of God. It is based on the generosity of God. It is based on the nature of God to give – the God who gives. Ask and somehow in someway, at the right time, you will know what to do! Stand on this!!

*How does this wisdom come to us? Will I hear a voice, or will God speak to me in a dream or vision? Should I sit still for an hour and try to hear something inside my head? James doesn't say HOW it will come. He just says it will come! It will be given from God to you. So I think it would NOT be wise to always expect to hear from God in a certain way. You can get enslaved over that kind of expectation.

* But a couple of things we do know. We gain wisdom by God illuminating the scriptures to us: Psalm 119:98 “Your commands make me wiser than my enemies. I have more insight than all my teachers for I meditate on your statutes, I have more understanding than the aged, because I obey your precepts”. God uses the Bible to make you wise. One definition of wisdom is: Wisdom is applying the knowledge found in the Bible to everyday life situations. And I think that is pretty good.

*Also we obtain wisdom through the Holy Spirit inner work in our hearts, where he is prompting, impressing, leading, speaking, reminding us of things. Even if we know the Bible backwards and forwards, when you are hit with a devastating trial, it takes the Holy Spirit to know what to do. Alexander MacClaren - ‘(Wisdom) comes to us from the Spirit of God that dwells in men’s hearts.” (He says that the reason this promise in James means so little to most is because they discount the doctrine of the reality of the Spirit of God actually dwelling in men’s hearts.) “(Wisdom) is a gift, and it is to be obtained from that Holy Spirit who dwells and works in all believers.

As I thought about this passage, I was reminded of so many times I have received wisdom to deal with problems and trials. Just driving up to Twin Lakes for the men's retreat Friday night it was my responsibility to order and pick up pizza at Casey's at a small town on the way. I called when we were about a half hour out and ordered our pizza, the gal said, O my, you should have called earlier in the day. There is no way we can get that many pizza for a long time, it may be an hour or hour and a half, I will have to call you when they are done. My first response was panic, where else can I call for pizza, how could I be so stupid, guys are going to be hungry.... but I asked God for wisdom in what to do. And I felt impressed to go ahead and take the guys to Twin Lakes, so they could unload and unpack and then head back. I took that as wisdom from God and didn't question any more. We did that, it all worked out, I had peace because I had wisdom from God. It was a very small thing, but I experienced God in it.

I have had countless trials, in business over the years where the Lord has given wisdom to know what to do about construction problems.

I remember being lost in New Jersey on a toll road, asking God for wisdom, and he took me right by the hotel we were staying at.

In preparing to teach on Sundays, I cry out for wisdom, for what to say, or how to teach a passage: Lord, I need thoughts, words, examples. And God supplies.

I ask God for wisdom on the church all the time. Most often the answer I believe I receive is to persevere and leave the results with God.

With some painful thing in our family the wisdom God has given me, is to know that the outcome of the Lord's dealings are always good. God writes and finishes the stories, and all the Lord's story's have a glorious ending.

Sometimes you ask for wisdom and the answer is that you are shown exactly what to do. Other times the answer is just to wait upon God, “The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent”. Sometimes the answer is to accept the humiliation, the reproach, or accept the financial loss, don't defend yourself, just trust yourself to God. But if you have wisdom from God, you have peace and all is well in your soul. If you hold on to that and don't doubt, you will be at rest and have joy.

*Next James moves on to how important it is to ask God with faith.

**Vs 6 “He must ask in faith without any doubting”. Faith is coming to God in complete confidence that he will supply your need, whatever it is. Doubt says God will not will probably not supply what I need. James says you must get off the fence!

If you pray for wisdom, you can either get up from that prayer with confidence that God will give you wisdom, OR you can pray and immediately begin to talk about how terrible and hopeless your trial is, and how you just don't know what you are going to do, or how you can go on. That is doubt!! And James says that is a problem.

I don't think this means that if you have one thought of doubt your faith is ruined. Doubting is when you let those thoughts make a home in your heart, when you believe you doubts, when you accept your doubts. Satan attacks all of us with doubts. And we have probably all struggled with doubts at times. When thoughts of despair and doubt come into your mind, that does not mean you are a double-minded person..... unless you give yourself over to those doubts, unless you put your faith in those doubts.

Now having said that, doubt is a big problem in the Christian Life. James does not sugar coat this warning. He does not say this to condemn you but to make you see how terrible doubt is and to move you to repudiate it. James wants you to understand the inner dynamics that lead you to answered prayer. And he says that is single-minded faith. Trust with ALL your heart that God will answer.... and repudiate all unbelief. .

Vs 6 says, “The one who doubts is like the waves of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind....vs 8 “Such a person is double minded and unstable in all his ways”. Nothing brings turmoil to your soul like living in belief and unbelief, trusting God then not trusting God. James says this kind of person's life is just like the waves of the sea. He says is makes you “unstable in all your ways”. There is no steady peace, no inner quietness, no calm strength, just restlessness, and endlessly going up and down.. Confident in God one moment, then throwing away your faith and sinking into the despair of unbelief.

J. Vernon McGee said he would sure have had a lot more fun when he was in college if he had not doubted. But every year he doubted that he would have enough money to make it back the next year. I could identify with that!

Vs 7 adds this somber note of warning, “That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord”. Now we would never say anything like that in our positive only Christianity. But James wants us to know how serious doubt is. Doubting will result in God's with-holding his answers and gifts. Don't play with doubt.

James MacDonald said this about doubt: You are not at the mercy of every doubt that comes to your mind. Like the waves of the sea, doubts will come. However, you do not have to let them undermine your faith. Doubts can actually drive you back to God’s promises, rather than cause you to back away from Him. IE when a doubt comes, you can resist it and reaffirm your confidence in what God has said.

Often we will hear two voices. Side with the voice of faith. Turn down the volume on worry, fear and doubt and turn up the volume on faith. Instead of trusting in your doubts , push them aside and reaffirm your total faith in God. As JVM said, its a lot more fun.  So ask for wisdom you need to know what to do, what to say, how to view life and ask with complete confidence that God will give it! And don't doubt it. A great way to live!

That is living as a whole person, a complete person.

More in James - A Portrait of Living Faith

July 17, 2016

The Important Work of Turning a Wandering Brother Back to God

July 3, 2016

God's Pathway to Healing

June 26, 2016

Healing and the Heart of God

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