James 1:5-8 ESV
“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.”
Closed Doors
The Lord Jesus speaks to me sometimes through dreams, but if
the dreams are from God they will always align with the passage of Scripture I
am reading for that day. So, they serve more like parables to give practical
application to the passage of Scripture, much like a pastor might use a story
as a sermon illustration to make applicable a particular passage of Scripture
to our lives and to our world today.
So, the dreams are rarely ever to be taken literally but
more figuratively and symbolically, but I believe this dream today may have
both a literal and a figurative interpretation based on this passage of
Scripture today. And the gist of the dream is that I (not necessarily me
personally, for I am not in the habit of counseling pastors, since I am a woman)
am counseling a youth pastor regarding a trip he was supposed to go on, I think
with the youth.
A door had closed, and he was to accept that as a closed door,
and he was to not try to reopen it. I believe it had to do with the trip he was
supposed to go on, that he was not to go on the trip. But there was a chance
that things could change and that the door might reopen, or another door might
open, and that he might be tempted to then go with the original plans. But he
was to resist the temptation to reopen that door and he was to take the closed
door as a sign from God that this was not the direction that he should head.
Has anything like that ever happened to you? It has to me
before. Plans change and so we accept that as a closed door from God and then
things change and it looks like another door might open so that we can go ahead
with our original plans, but we had already accepted the closed door as an answer
from God, so then it is like we are second-guessing God if we reconsider our
decision based on a new opening before us.
And this is what this passage is talking about. We seek God
for wisdom, and we ask him if we should do this or that, and so he answers us
with a closed door, and we accept that as his answer. But then someone tells us
of a possible reopening of the door or of another door opening, and so then we
begin to doubt God and we begin to consider going through with our original
plans even though we believed God had already said, “No.”
So, the lesson to be learned here is that if we have asked
God for wisdom, and he has given us the wisdom we asked for, in this case
through a closed door, and if we have accepted that as God’s answer, then if
another door opens we should not then second-guess God and reconsider doing
what we believed he had already said “No” to. We should accept his answer and
stay the course and not be tempted to change our minds on this.
The One Doubting
Literally this should read something like this: “Let him ask
however in faith, nothing doubting, for the one doubting is…”
And I am going to explain here why I believe the “ing” on
the end of the word “doubt” is significant to the overall understanding of what
this is saying here. Generally words ending in “ing” are showing some type of
continuous action, like someone who makes a particular behavior his practice.
It suggests a behavior pattern which is ongoing and progressive and which is
repetitive, so habitual. So, why does that matter?
Well, it is a lot like the subject of sin. As we read in the
Scriptures, it is possible that, as believers in Christ, we might sin sometimes
(1 Jn 2:1-2), but if we read the context of the book of 1 John, in no way does
it suggest that if we habitually sin that Jesus is going to keep speaking to
God in our defense. Instead, it says that if sin is what we practice, and if
obedience to God is not our practice, that we will not inherit eternal life
with God.
So, from that I look at what the Scriptures teach regarding
sin. They teach that sin is to no longer have mastery over our lives. We are to
no longer, as Christians, live under sin’s control. And we should not walk in
sin, and sin should not be our practice, but righteousness and godliness are to
be our practice, instead. If righteousness and obedience to our Lord are what
we practice, we have eternal life. If sin is what we practice, we have death.
And I believe, when we look at this passage in James and the
severity of the consequences (or punishment) for the one doubting in comparison
to what the Scriptures teach regarding sin, this is not talking about someone
who once doubted God or his word, or even one who has more than once doubted
God, but this is talking about someone who habitually seeks God for wisdom and
then turns a deaf ear to what God is saying.
This is about someone who makes both seeking God’s wisdom
and then doubting God’s wisdom his practice. For there are people who will ask
God for wisdom but then they will wait to see what he says before they decide
if they like what he said and if they are going to listen and obey or if they
are going to still go their own way and disregard God’s wisdom. Or they will
make it their practice to second-guess God on his counsel and wisdom.
And this is why it says that this person is like a wave of the
sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. This is not about a one-time thing
in this person’s life. This is who this person is. It is what he does as a
matter of life course. He seeks God’s counsel but if he doesn’t like the
counsel then he just disregards it, as a matter of habit. He is the one who
looks in the mirror and then habitually walks away and deliberately forgets
what he looks like.
So, if you are that person who only accepts God’s counsel if
it fits in with your plans, and who asks God for wisdom only to reject it over
and over again, then you should not expect that you are going to receive
anything from the Lord. So, don’t stop at verse 5 and just assume God is always
going to give you wisdom just because you ask. Read through to verse 8. If you
are one who regularly is doubting God, the Lord regards you as a person who is
double-minded and unstable in all your ways.
So, seek the Lord, but seek him in truth. Don’t ask for
wisdom if you don’t intend to follow the wisdom you are given, or if you don’t
like the messenger who is delivering the wisdom. God may use someone in your
life to deliver his messages to you whom you regard as less or inferior, and
perhaps to humble you because of your pride. But if the Lord can use a donkey
to speak to a false prophet, he can use anyone as his instrument of wisdom.
Oh,
to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer
Lyrics
by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music
by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897
Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s
treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
Oh, to be like Thee! full of
compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the
fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.
O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.
O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy
love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.
Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy
fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg
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