From Doubt to Devotion: How Our Trials Transform Us预览

My friend owned a beloved pickup truck. However, one day, I saw him driving a car instead. When I asked what happened to his truck, he sighed and said, "I got tired of spending every Saturday morning helping people move."

As soon as people needed to move furniture, they'd call him, not because they were close friends, but because he had a truck. Finally, he'd had enough. He sold the truck, and the phone calls stopped. "I just got tired of people asking me for help," he said.

That conversation stuck in my mind because it reminds me of how we think God responds to us. We imagine God rolling His eyes when we come to Him again with another problem to solve or another plea for help.

But James tells us something completely different: "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." (James 1:5 NIV)

When you call out to God for wisdom, He's not thinking, "Oh, that person again! When are they going to figure this out?!" No, God is ready with generosity and without grudge to pour out wisdom to you.

Eugene Peterson's translation of James 1:5-8 in The Message captures this beautifully: "If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open."

Think about how we pray. Sure, we pour our hearts out to God. Yet, like someone we're not sure we can count on, we make sure we have a backup plan. We keep all our options open. We pray, but we're not totally sure we'll get the answer we want from God, so we hedge our bets.

In James 1:8 NIV, James talks about the impact of this kind of prayer. "Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do."

God wants you to ask Him for wisdom about whatever you're facing. Even if it seems small or unimportant to you, it matters to God because you matter to God. God is more generous with His assistance than we expect and certainly more generous than we would be ourselves.

However, God wants us to ask with faith, not worry. He wants us to trust Him completely, not keep backup plans in case He doesn't come through.

Here's what James is really saying throughout the first few verses in his letter. You're going to face trials. You will face adversity. You're going to encounter struggles. But if you choose joy in the midst of trials, if you allow God to develop steadfastness in you, and if you ask Him boldly for wisdom, He will transform you.

On the other side of the adventure you're in today, you will be a different kind of person. That's the promise James offers because it's the transformation he experienced himself. He went from doubting his brother’s words to dying rather than denying the Resurrection of Jesus.

God's grace moved James from doubt to devotion. That same grace is working in your life right now, shaping you through every trial, every struggle, and every moment when you turn to Him for wisdom.

The adventure you're on today is preparing you for who you're becoming tomorrow.

Want more help with your current trials? I've created a complimentary resource called Overcoming Spiritual Resistance: 7 Biblical Strategies to Keep Moving Forward When You Feel Stuck. I’d love to continue encouraging you as you follow Jesus.