Expect an Answer

James 1:5-8

5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

This is the passage that helped kickstart my yearning to know God and His will for my life. It is the reason I started doing this devotional. I talked about this in the final thoughts post in my contradiction exploration. If we want to know more about God, why don’t we ask Him? If you want to know more about a person, any person, what is the purest source of information? Is it a book written about the person? Is it the person’s family and friends? All we get from those other sources are their own viewpoints and interpretations. If we seek God’s truth we should ask Him directly. But, the age old question remains: “how do we know it is from God?”

Verse 6 lays this out: because we expect Him to answer us in truth. Sometimes we don’t even have the faith needed to expect an answer in the first place. Ever think about asking for more faith? This is exemplified a few times throughout the bible and I’ve always tried to remember it.

In fact, in breaking this down a little further, we can understand that in the act of asking for faith, we reflect what little faith we do have. Remember the phrase “faith like a mustard seed”? That’s all it takes.

God doesn’t expect us to be perfect in our faith (or anything else for that matter) because He knows we aren’t. We don’t have to build up enough faith to ask for something we want, rather we turn to Him for EVERYTHING! If we lack faith, we can ask for more. He knows our hearts but wants us to surrender our weaknesses to Him by turning to Him and asking for help. This is what builds our faith and solidifies it.

As we ask God expectantly for His wisdom, He will give it to us. Keep in mind we must also accept His wisdom. In our worldly view, we want to reject it because it goes against our beliefs, our expectations, our plans, and our comfort level. What do we do when God challenges our “conventional” way of thinking?

The rest of the passage uses an analogy to explain the ponitlessness of asking God for answers but not expecting them. Have you ever called someone and asked them a question but hung up before they answered? How about as a child asking your parents why the sky is blue but covering your ears before you can hear the answer? Taking it one step further, what if you repeated that; how long would it take before your parents stopped trying to answer your question?

What questions have you asked God recently not expecting an answer? How many times have we ignored or rejected His answers and now are frustrated with Him for not answering the way we wanted Him to?

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