James Week 8 - Walk it Out

We are experiencing a lot of sibling rivalry here lately. It is enough for me to want to pull my hair out! No one wants to be around arguing and fighting all the time. I keep telling my girls we must get to the heart of the matter. The problem resides in their hearts. This next chapter in James discusses this. He opens the book with this question, " What causes fights and quarrels among you?" (James 4:1a).

Hmmm. The question of all ages. Why are there wars? Why do family members stop speaking? How does this happen? What is the cause? Often we would like to say it is the other person right? However that is far from the truth. Then the Scripture goes on to state this, "Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures" (James 4:1b-3)

Our fighting and quarreling comes from the desires within ourselves. Our heart is deceptive. We desperately want things, things others have, things we are not allowed to have, things that are not good for us. We are jealous of others thinking their life is better than ours. Yet if we only trusted God. He is the one who gives good gifts. He is the one who allows whatever comes into our lives. He is in ultimate control. Yet often we still want our own way.

Quarreling and fighting is a sign of lack of trusting God with our hearts. If we could see it that way and learn to trust then we would be better off. Sometimes when we are in the valley of life it is hard to understand why. Yet God is still in control. He uses every bit of it to make us more like Him if we are trained by it. The solution to our dissatisfaction is to ask God. Sometimes He says no, sometimes He says yes. We just must trust.

The people of this time were a dispersed people. It would have been a hard time to trust God's plan. But James wanted to encourage them. Honestly we know when something like pride is welling up in our hearts if we just pay attention. You start by getting a feeling on the inside of you. It is a yucky feeling. If you stop and recognize that you can take it to God and humble yourself. It will help you see what is truly going on in your heart. Usually the argument you have is about a deeper thing.

A modern day example could be that I share irritated words with my husband because he left the towel on the floor. He does this everyday but this day he also left his shoes in the middle of the hallway causing me to trip. I am angry because I have been inconvenienced and feel unappreciated. This brings out unkind actions and words then an argument begins. No one wants to yield. As it goes on we forget what the argument was really even about. Yet pride keeps it going.

James 4:4-8 goes on to states, "You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.  Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you."

If we belong to God then we are in a covenant relationship with Him. It is a marriage. We become His and when we start running with things of the world we become His enemy. We are committing spiritual adultery because our hearts are divided. A serious thing! He lives in us and He is jealous for us. He wants us back. Yet He gives us scandalous grace we do not deserve. He is a lover who will never leave us or forsake us even in our horrible ways. He will continue to come after us because He loves us so. Yet He will hold the proud at a distance which in any relationship should be painful enough to cause the offender to return because they miss the one they love.

If you humble yourself before God He will give you grace. As you draw near Him He will draw near you. He will never force this. He waits for your move. Your return. He is faithful. Also, we have the power through His grace to resist the devil. When we do he will flee from us. So this should encourage us to be strong in the Lord and follow hard after Him the one who loves us perfectly.

Then verse 8-10 speak of how we will be filled with sorrow for departing from God. We will be convicted and repent. We are perfectly clean as we take this to the cross. As we are humbling ourselves God will lift us up. He always restores. A forgiving lover. His love is amazing. Run to Him He will never turn you away.

Then verses 11-12 talk about what to do with this strife we feel toward other people. How we handle it is to not speak evil of one another. When we are in right relationship with God we will rightly understand He is the only true judge. He is the one who will make things right. We have no right to judge our brother by taking the place of God or His law.

Finally James goes on to explain that it is arrogance to plan life without the guidance of God. Read verses 13-16.  The point is our life is a short. We don't even know how short it really is. We must seek the wisdom of God as we plan our our days and we must be okay with changes in our plans. God is in control and we must trust Him.  So instead of being arrogant we can say, "If the Lord wills then...."  This kind of boasting with out thinking of God, is evil. We must consider what the Lord would have for us to do.

Then this chapter ends in a convicting way. Just as it began. Verse 17 states, "To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin." Enduring Word Media Commentary states, "James knows that it is far easier to think about and talk about humility and dependence on God than it is to live it. Yet He makes the mind of God plain: as we know these things we are accountable to do them."

How has any of this challenged you this week?
How can we pray for one another in this? Humility is hard. Yet walking it out is as easy as trusting and submitting to God. Whatever He allows is for our good. We do not need to fight. We need to trust.