URC Daily Devotion 21 October 2024

To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:

My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy,  because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance;  and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

Reflection
What a way to start a letter! Right after he greets his reader, James tells them that, as Christians, they will endure all sorts of challenges and trials.  When they do so, they should embrace them with joy. What sorts of trials might these be, and why should anyone undergoing them respond in such a way when most sensible people avoid such testing and difficulty as much as possible? 
 
James writes to people who already have a faith in Christ, possibly of Jewish heritage, and who understand the fundamentals of Christianity.  But they are having problems putting it into practice. James spends little time on things like Christology or ecclesiology or polices and processes. Rather, this is a letter about putting faith into action. It speaks to what Christian living looks like in practice. It’s about owning our faith and making it a part of who we are.  
 
These challenges are precisely because of the faith which the Diaspora profess, in this case most likely persecution. The Jews had a tradition in times of difficulty of looking to those who had tested and who had either endured successfully, like Abraham or Job, or failed dreadfully like the Israelites in the wilderness. Their stories of endurance tell how strong their faith really was who have the strength to endure what is still to come. 
 
As Christians we must allow this endurance to perfect its work in us. One way to do this is to ask God for wisdom with confidence because lacking wisdom is a serious matter. Wisdom is a gift from God and those who lack wisdom, lack the ability to conduct their lives in the way God requires, to walk in the way we are now being shown through Christ. So, ask and you shall receive.  Don’t doubt. Be complete. Let your persistence have its full effect, that you might become perfect and grow in full Christian maturity.
 
Prayer
O God 
May your grace sustain me, 
and your power support me. 
May I persist in the hope
that I may grow to full maturity in Christ.
Amen.