James 1:2-8 – Holding On to Trust
"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."
James 1:5-8 (ESV)
Faith in God requires trust in God – and that requires us to shift our focus from our pain and judgement.
I included the word trust intentionally, instead of the word faith. I want to dissect the concept of faith a bit more, as it pertains to someone's relationship with the Lord. See, we all try hard to have faith that Jesus died for our sins, and that we've been saved from the consequences of them. That's step one, as far as being a Christian goes. But our faith in the Lord should go even deeper than that – we should have faith in who God is, which goes hand-in-hand with our faith in what He did for us, because it's evidence of the God that he is.
That's why I want to emphasis the meaning of word trust in that context: truly knowing that God is who He says he is – and furthermore, that He'll take care of us. Living a life believing that Jesus died for our sins is technically enough for us to be saved. But living a life that's honoring to Him means extending our faith to trust not just what He has done, but will do. When we live in accordance with God's will, it comes with the ability to ask Him for wisdom while He carries it out.
Trust is the most difficult thing we can put in someone. You have to be willing to put aside your own feelings and judgement, and invest into the will and judgement of someone else. Even when we're giving into the will of a God with perfect and divine judgment, pain and pride are nasty motivators. I'd like to think I'm a pretty trusting person myself, but I think I feel my emotions deeply, and I have a difficult time looking past my own pride – as much as I hate to admit it. Trusting God's plan, especially as difficult parts of it are ongoing, it demands us to be almost completely unfocused on our emotions. We're so conditioned to following our emotions and judgement – it's like social instinct – so that's really difficult for most people.
So when brought face-to-face with grief, it's important to recenter ourselves by asking: do I trust God with this?
It's okay if the answer is no – while that's clearly something we need to try our best to fix, we're still human and still sinful. Our flesh and our sin pulls us in one direction – to be motivated by our pain, in the name of validating it (possibly out of bitterness and arrogance). But just because our pain is valid, doesn't mean it is pointing us in the direction we need to go. The same goes for our anxiety, anger, and sadness. There is a place for all of these things, but we should always question whether they're pointing us in the same direction as God.
"Give me the wisdom to turn from my emotions and judgement, and lean into an unwavering trust in You."