Choosing Generosity in Troubled Times

 “My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything. But if anyone is deficient in wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without reprimand, and it will be given to him.”

James 1:2-5, NET

How well do you give? I am afraid that I am a grudging giver when it comes to people. It is not out of arrogance but the opposite—a negative sort of humility whereby I think that if I get it everyone else ought to as well for which I lose patience. Patience in this area is not my forte because I tend to want (or should I say, demand) that everything goes my way. Faith requires belief in God rather than demanding that God fill my wants (slight trouble with the tenth commandment here and with who truly is lord). Ultimately, we must acknowledge God to know and be so much more than we can possibly imagine if we are ever to give him the scepter to our lives. Do I believe he will see me through whatever I face? He works out his will in our lives so I must ask how well am I relinquishing control of my life to him so I am working his will rather than my own. The trouble with trouble is that it tends to highlight my faults in a kind of Las Vegas blazing lights kind of way. Trouble makes me face my faults so that I deal with them and overcome them. The problem is that just when I think I have a handle on it all, new problems arise to show me just how wrong I was.

James calls for Christians to respond to trouble with endurance, prayer and a generous spirit. This is true whether the trouble comes from happenstance or temptation. Here is how faith works us through life’s trials: Endurance leads to perfection if for no other reason than we outlast the trouble and hurt we face. If we allow trouble to win, then our world will surely shrink. Picture it this way. If trouble stops us every time we face some difficulty, then it is as if we allow it to box us in until our world shrinks to nothing. We give up at every barrier or trouble spot and launch off in another direction until we face another, which means we go off into another direction. Eventually, trouble will hem us in, and we will find no room for joy in our lives. Endurance executes our faith in a practical fashion so faith endures through the trouble. This is the source of perfection. We may currently lack the skills, faith and wisdom to endure, but God gives generously.

The person who lacks nothing does not lack anything due to an absence of trouble but because he has endured to the end—enduring concludes in perfection. Please do not mistake modern notions of perfection with what James means by this term. James tells us that faith works or categorically produces endurance which leads to perfection—by perfection, he means a sense of completion and soundness (i.e., a vibrant, healthy spirit). Any deficiency we possess must taken to the One who gives wisdom graciously—without insulting or belittling those who require his wisdom so desperately. Wisdom is the application of knowledge to make possible skillful performance. A wise person becomes adept at accomplishing some purpose—an expert if you will. As we navigate life’s ocean, we must make course corrections, assess the weather, keep our eyes on the only fixed Star (Jesus Christ) and endure the journey to the end. Along the way we will learn to be more like Jesus. We will steer a course so that all our cargo remains in tack. Through it all we must learn to give to others as generously as God has given to us—without reprimand. Trouble teaches us to be more like God. We cannot control our lives so we may release our grip so his hand can slip into our own as we guides us to live for him. While so many seek to dominate their competition, God calls us to aid others on the high seas. This is how we learn to love and give as God does.

Steve Davis