Suffering and Your Relationship with God

1 This letter is from James, a slave (bondservant) of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.... 2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles (trials) come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance (strength, patience) has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. 5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous (giving) God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. 6 But when you ask Him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver (doubt), for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Their loyalty (allegiance) is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. James 1:1-8 (NLT)

Difficulty and suffering test our faith. This testing produces perseverance and strength leading to maturity or perfection. But in order to mature properly through hardship, you need wisdom. God generously gives us wisdom to help us work through our difficulty and grow towards maturity. James says that when we ask God for wisdom, we must ask God "without doubting." Remember that the God of wisdom "does not find fault" with you!  Also remember that suffering and hardship does not produce wisdom! Rather, God gives us wisdom to help us grow and mature in the bad times and trials. 

The book of James teaches us to turn our hardships into times of learning and growth. Tough times teaches us perseverance, patience, and persistence (see also Romans 2:7; Romans 5:3-5; Romans 8:24-25; 2 Corinthians 6:3-7; 2 Peter 1:2-9). God promises to be with us in rough times. We must ask God to help us solve our problems and give us the strength to endure.  God promises to never leave you alone with our problems; He will stay close and help you grow (Hebrews 13:5-6). 

God’s wisdom gives us the ability to make wise decisions during difficult circumstances (James 1:17; James 3:17). Whenever we need wisdom, we can pray to God. God will generously supply His wisdom to guide our choices (see 1 Corinthians 2:6-16). Wisdom means good judgment. It begins with respect and trust in God that leads to right living (see the book of Proverbs).  

When you trust God, testing works for you and not against you. James’s call for joy in the face of trials may seem shocking or even insensitive. However, a close reading of James reveal that James finds joy in the RESULTS of trials, not in the trials themselves. Even difficult times producing good qualities of strength, patience, maturity, perfection, and perseverance. But, be sure your heart is WHOLLY committed to God. If your heart and mind are divided, trials can tear you apart.

The book of James is practical rather than theoretical. This book is the Proverbs of the New Testament, and the most Jewish of all New Testament books, containing little that is distinctively Christian. Even basic doctrines as redemption through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are absent. Yet, the book of James seems like an interpretation on the teachings of Jesus Christ.  The book of James unites many ideas and phrases from Jesus Christ’s Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 – 7) (e.g., James 1:2—Matthew 5:10-12; James 1:4—Matthew 5:48; James 1:5—Matthew 7:7-12; James 1:22—Matthew 7:21-27; James 4:11-12—Matthew 7:1-5; James 5:1-3—Matthew 6:19-21). Even James’s frequent teaching examples from nature parallel Jesus Christ’s parabolic teaching (parables). Though quite similar to the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament, James is not simply a gathering of loose and unrelated moral teachings. Instead, the book of James reads very much like a number of sermon summaries. 

James was the half-brother of Jesus (Matthew 13:55-56 and Mark 6:3). Joseph was not Jesus’ father since He was conceived by the Holy Spirit of God (Matthew 1:18). Like his other brothers and sisters, James did not believe in Jesus during His earthly ministry (Mark 3:31-35; John 7:1-5). But after the resurrection, James received a special, post-resurrection appearance of Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:7), experienced Pentecost (Acts 1:14), and was a leader of the early Jerusalem church (see Acts 15:13; Acts 21:18). We see James in the Upper Room praying with Jesus’ disciples (Acts 1:14). These special revelations revealed to James that Jesus was indeed Lord. 

While James could have called himself as Jesus’ brother or even as a leader of the prestigious Jerusalem church, he humbly called himself a “bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” (James 1:1). Bondservants were slaves. Likewise, James gladly offered his life in slavery and pledged allegiance to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (see also 1 Corinthians 12:3; Romans 10:9). Again, be sure your heart is WHOLLY committed to God and the Jesus Christ as Lord. If your heart and mind are divided, trials and other testing can tear you apart.

5 . . . . For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” 6 So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my Helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?” Hebrews 13:5-6 (NLT).