Wisdom and Faith

"Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask Him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do."
James 1:2-8 NLT

We all go through difficult times in our lives. Difficult and strenuous situations require that we put our faith in the Lord. I think that I do this; most of the time. One time I was facing a difficult situation. I would handle the challenge fine. I would lay my request before God and trust in His provision. Most of the time I even had a sense of peace about our circumstance. But sometimes I would melt down. I would melt into anxiety, anger, self pity, and self reliance. The situation was over whelming and I would let it overwhelm me.

One night during one of my melt downs, Peggy my wife, had to remind me that my God was bigger than our situation. The next morning the Lord led me to the above passage. He showed me that not only was I struggling with my faith, I lacked wisdom. The lack of wisdom about how to handle my situation, was tearing me up. On top of everything else, my faith was not in God alone, but in my ability to solve our problem. My "divided loyalty" was causing me to be tossed about spiritually, emotionally, and physically.

I discovered that I had elevated myself, and other potential solutions to our problem as idols. They became my hope, not Jesus, not fully. I decided to put my trust in Jesus alone. Like the song says, He is more than able to handle what concerns me today.

I can't tell you how it all worked out because I'm still in the situation. But I can tell you that it's all good because God is good, all the time, and all the time, God is good!