Whenever YOU fall into trials of various kinds, my brothers and sisters, consider it all joy ·knowing that the testing of YOUR faith is producing endurance. ·And let the endurance have its maturing effect so that YOU may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. ·If any of YOU is lacking wisdom let that one ask alongside the God who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting; for the one doubting is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. ·That person must not suppose he will receive anything alongside the Lord…·Blessed is the man who endures under trial, for having been tested he will receive the crown of life which God promises to those who love him. ·Let no one being tempted say, “I am being tempted by God,” for God is not tempted by evil and he tempts no one. ·But each one, by his own desire, is being tempted, lured away, then entrapped. ·After being conceived, the desire gives birth to sin, and sin when fully grown brings forth death. ·Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers and sisters. ·All good giving, and every mature gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the lights, alongside whom there is no digression or shadow of turning. ·By his own will, by the word of truth, he brought us forth as a kind of first fruits of all his creatures… ·Yet YOU do not have because YOU do not ask. ·YOU ask and do not receive because YOUR asking is evil—in order that YOU may consume (God's provision) in things that gratify yourselves. (James 1:2-7,12-18; 4:2b-3[i])

Who is wise and knowledgeable among YOU? Let him show his works out of good conduct in meekness of wisdom. ·But if YOU have bitter jealousy or factionalism in YOUR hearts, do not boast and misrepresent the truth. ·This is not the wisdom coming down from above, but of worldly, selfish, or demonic origin… ·But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and without hypocrisy. ·The fruit of righteous relationship is sown in peace by those who make peace… ·So be patient until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it until it receives the early and the latter rains. ·…Strengthen YOUR hearts… ·Take an example from the suffering and the patience of the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ·…YOU have heard of Job's endurance and have perceived the Lord's goal, how he is compassionate and merciful... ·Is anyone…suffering, let him pray… ·Anyone cheerful, let him sing psalms. ·Anyone feeble among YOU should call the elders of the church. Let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord, ·and the prayer of faith will save the tired one, for the Lord will raise him up. If he may have been committing sins, he will be forgiven. So confess these offenses to each other and pray over each other so that YOU may be made whole. A righteous person's prayer has great power as it is working. (Jas.3:13-15,17-18; 5:7,8b,10-11,13-16)

James, like Paul (Med.#85), sees the believers he is writing to as only the ‘first fruits’ of a greater harvest—one for which they need to exercise both the patience of a farmer, and the endurance of the prophets who endured suffering as they ‘spoke in the name of the Lord’. James is writing to Jewish believers living among other nations in the ‘diaspora’ (Med.#77), but his words are for all disciples of Jesus. One thing we can learn from James is that our witness to Jesus is less about how he makes our life more successful, than it is about how he and our Father remain alongside us in all circumstances. To grow in maturity we need a whole new way of thinking about our trials, and of dealing with them so they don't undermine our witness.

When various trials enter our lives, we are going to experience increased temptation to sin, mainly to doubt God's goodness—by believing the lie that he is causing the evil, and that he is responsible for the temptations that come with the trials. Yet when we are tempted, we will be better off if we examine our own desires. Is Satan using these to lure us into sin by getting us to focus on ourselves like Eve did (Gen.3:1-6)? While our desires may not be sinful in themselves, a self-centered response is, in which case we face a second challenge. Will we quickly confess our sin and be transparent with a fellow believer? If so, we will experience God's forgiveness and cleansing by the blood of Jesus, and we will ‘continue to walk in the light’ (Med.#52). If not, we can become ‘entrapped’ in a sinful pattern of behavior. And if we allow such a pattern to become ‘fully grown’ in our lives, it will ‘bring forth death’—especially if we give in to the third temptation that James speaks of, which is to give up. God has given us tools to deal with the challenges we face in our trials. But our ability to deal firmly with our own desires will depend on our faith in God's character.

Right after James uses this human development metaphor—of conception, birth, and being ‘brought forth’—he applies this third ‘grown up’ stage to what our Father has done for us in Jesus. After first choosing us, our Father then ‘brought us forth’ by the Word of truth to be his adult ‘sons and daughters of light’ (Med.#66 & Med.#8), so that like Jesus we would be ‘the light of the world’ (Med.#63 & Med.#11). In describing God as ‘the Father of the lights’, James is not talking about how God is somehow ‘father’ to the sun, moon and stars as their creator. Rather he is saying that we have a Father who is ‘light’ himself (Med.#53), and that we should endure in our trials by maintaining our orientation to him, even as the heavenly lights do—by neither digressing nor turning off into the shadows of selfish desires and sinful actions. For our Father is committed to walking alongside us in all circumstances; and all his giving is good, including ‘every mature gift’ of the Holy Spirit (Med.#14, Med.#7, & Med.#50), who is himself the ‘gift of God’ (Med.#3). But as adult sons and daughters we have a responsibility to ask our Father for what we need—with our focus being on our material needs (Med.#14) and on resources we need for advancing his kingdom, not on gratifying our own desires (Med.#15).

One of the tools that our Father has given us for times of suffering is prayer. And the most mature gift we can ask for is ‘wisdom from above’. Our Father's wisdom helps us see better what he is doing in the midst of our trial (Med.#26). It also enables our witness to be characterized by: meekness, purity and peace in our actions; the ability to be gentle, impartial, transparent, merciful and good listeners with others, as well as peacemakers in conflict situations. If we don't ask for this wisdom, our witness can become tainted by worldly boasting, demonic factionalism, or by jealousy towards brothers and sisters, or others, who have the things we desire. Another tool he has given to help us is worship, using psalms and hymns which enable us to ‘sing’ the truths of his Word during our trials (Med.#81).

But one of the most important resources we are given is ‘elders’, especially when we hit the lowest moments in our trials. When we are so ‘feeble’ [Gr. astheneo], like from illness, or so ‘tired’ [Gr. kamno] from our suffering,[ii] we often find it difficult to pray in faith and we are tempted to give up. The elders that James is talking about, however, are not older men or those with leadership positions in the Church, but rather about elder believers—men or women—who have a ‘righteous’ walk of faith, in the Father's presence. It is the prayers in faith of such people that can help us towards ‘wholeness’, so we can get back on our feet again—either literally or figuratively. Sometimes this ‘wholeness’ will mean immediate physical healing, but sometimes it just means strength to endure (Med.#39 & Med.#34). Yet the prayer of faith always starts the working of God's power towards wholeness, even if we have to live with some level of infirmity until we receive the ‘crown’ of life when Christ returns. His power restores a level of ‘wholeness’ and royal life in us, so we can choose joy ‘alongside’ our Father in any trial.

Part of the ‘wholeness’ our Father wants to minister to us in our feebleness is forgiveness—for any sinful actions we may have chosen, by focusing on our own desires instead of on asking our Father for what we needed. The prayers of men and women of faith can help us experience this, sometimes even before we confess our sins—like what happened with the paralytic when his friends brought him to Jesus (Lk.5:18-20). How much more then should we take the initiative to confess our sins to a trusted brother or sister. We have a Father who is committed to our growth in maturity as we partner with him in witness to the world. This lesson from James has been a help to me personally, while writing this meditation.

Father, I ask for your good gifts, especially wisdom in this present trial. Thank you for the righteous elders you put in my life, for help in confession and in prayers of faith. (Jas 1:17,55:14-16)

Father in heaven, lead me…not into temptation but deliver me from the evil one. I will rejoice in my weakness, for you are always with me, as you were with Jesus. (Mat.6:9,13; Jas.1:2; 2 Cor.12:10; Jn.16:29)

[i] As with my ‘harmonies’ of the gospels (GH) and of Paul (PH), I have made my own translation based on the Greek text and the KJV

[ii] Though the Greek word astheneo (5:14) sometimes refers to being physically ill (Mat.10:8, Jn.11:1, etc.), it also is used for someone who is very weak (Act.20:35; Rom.15:1; 2 Cor.11:29; 12:10, etc.). Kamno indicates a person who is extremely worn out (5:15, Heb.12:3; Rev.2:3).