Lookahead:  In this context…in this moment….I believe that double-minded thinking originates from a belief that God would kick us around the block to teach us a lesson.  So, on one hand, we say that God is Good, and Love, and perfect.  And on the other hand, we say that He would slap us down (mercilessly) for our own good.  I was surprised to hear a person theorize in Bible Study one time that maybe the reason for a person’s death was so that I could receive the life-changing revelation that I had just shared about their passing.  Hmmmmm. In my view, the reason for this death was John 10:10. God is not in the killing business—or the business of killing one person in order to mature others spiritually.  Not necessary!  The Holy Spirit matures us by His Love and His Goodness and His Word/Godness/Appearing. 

But he must ask [for wisdom] in faith, without doubting [God’s willingness to help], for the one who doubts is like a billowing surge of the sea that is blown about and tossed by the wind. For such a person ought not to think or expect that he will receive anything [at all] from the Lord being a double-minded man, unstable and restless in all his ways [in everything he thinks, feels, or decides]. James 1:5-9 Amplified

This translation, and many others, seems to almost take a legalistic tone; in taking a more stringent tack, it could imply that we need to have faith of the right amount/brand and unpolluted by a shred of doubt—or don’t even think about God answering our prayer—for wisdom or for anything else, for that matter.  But I think, if we reduce it down to essentials, it actually could just be a simple statement of fact. 

First of all, why is faith a requirement to receive wisdom? And what does being “in faith” mean?  Being in faith is actually contrasted with being double-minded.  Maybe if we understand what being double-minded means, we can understand faith a little better.

Here’s what Bible Hub said about double-mindedness:

(HELPS Word-studies) dípsyxos (an adjective, derived from 1364 /dís, “two” and 5590 /psyxḗ, “soul”) – properly, “two souled”; (figuratively) “double-minded,” i.e. a person “split in half,” vacillating like a “spiritual schizophrenic.” This term may have been coined in the NT (R. Lenski, P. Davids).

Side Note:  Even if this term was coined/custom-defined in the New Testament, it is only used one other time in scripture—ironically in James 4:8,9:  Come close to God [with a contrite heart] and He will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; and purify your [unfaithful] hearts, you double-minded [people]. Be miserable and grieve and weep [over your sin]. Let your [foolish] laughter be turned to mourning and your [reckless] joy to gloom.  (Underline is mine.)

Whoaaa!  That’s pretty stringent too!  However, the cure for being double-minded appears to be “purifying your hearts.”  And in running this second scriptural reference to ground, I had a pleasant surprise. 

Purify your hearts:  In the Aramaic/Peshitta, purify (ܩܕܫ) in addition to sanctify, means consecrate and dedicate.  Sanctify sounds labor-intensive.  Dedicate is just surrendering to His Lordship—deciding to serve Him in the moment. 

Consequently in a sense, this second scriptural reference sheds some light on what being “out of faith” might mean in James 1:5.  It connotes someone who has not fully surrendered.  And there’s a reason for the lack of surrender.   In my web search, I happened across a reference that seemed to line up with my theory about why someone would not be fully surrendered in their quest for Godly wisdom: 

So, to pray for wisdom in faith and not be double-minded is to affirm one of the most basic of all biblical teachings: the goodness of God. We must not doubt the goodness of God as we seek wisdom from him in trying circumstances. Otherwise, we have no reason to believe that God will give us wisdom.

https://thirdmill.org/seminary/lesson.asp/vid/209

https://www.bible.com/en-GB/reading-plans/11353-the-epistle-of-james/day/2

This revelation was corroborated by recent Better Together episodes (see last post) during which one of the guests said that the LORD had impressed upon her that it wasn’t her faith, it was His faithfulness.  And another–it’s not how much faith you need.  It’s faith in a Good God.  Finally, one guest spoke about the LORD honing her gift of spiritual discernment in words that were applicable to God giving us wisdom (Mo Isom Aiken, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXjaBBDpp_8).  She discussed how she had been badly betrayed; but then she beautifully described the process of God protecting her from the pain of the betrayal and the fear of future betrayal…through a promise of growing her spiritual gifts:  “He’s full of knowledge and awareness of all.  Sometimes that can be hard to wrestle with (e.g.,) God why did you let this happen?  But the reality is that there will be seasons where He permits warfare in order to awaken the spirit of a warrior within us–a Kingdom Warrior.”

Regarding the gift of discernment specifically, this guest said, ” …we gain experiential victory because we run to Him and say, “(How was) I blind-sided?  What on earth?”  He allowed it in order to say, ‘Hey there’s a gift that I have for you that needs to be operating on all cylinders–that the enemy can’t steal, kill, or destroy…’ (Then I can say to Him) ‘I don’t have to fear moving forward.  You have sharpened my gift.  You have equipped me and clearly taught me.  I need to consult You first; and You have equipped me with a gift of discernment.  You tuned me into Your still, small voice, and now I won’t walk forward in fear.  I’m going to know You’re with me.'”  I believe that we could just as well substitute in “gift of wisdom” for “gift of discernment” in this context. 

What totally amazed me here is the expression, “You tuned me.”  Mo understands that the Holy Spirit is the One who tunes the dial or the filter to the optimal setting for our reception.  So beautiful.

In this context…in this moment…I believe that double-minded thinking originates from a belief that God would kick us around the block to teach us a lesson.  So, on one hand, we say that God is Good, and Love, and perfect.  And on the other hand, we say that He would slap us down (mercilessly) for our own good.  I was surprised to hear a person theorize in Bible Study one time that maybe the reason for a person’s death was so that I could receive the life-changing revelation that I had just shared about their passing.  Hmmmmm. In my view, the reason for this death was John 10:10. God is not in the killing business—or the business of killing one person in order to mature others spiritually.  Not necessary!  The Holy Spirit matures us by His Love and His Goodness and His Word/Godness/Appearing.  John 10:10 tells us where bad things come from.  And, with impeccable timing the LORD reminds me that, one of the reasons it became my favorite book, was that the Book of James gives us the flip side.  We’re not there yet, but in future posts will have the joy of exegeting: Every good gift and every perfect gift cometh down from the Father of Lights with Whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning. James 4:5 KJV  The LORD isn’t like some double-agent, flipping back and forth between giving us good gifts and bad gifts, and alternating between being light and darkness. Au contraire, scripture says, “What fellowship can light have with darkness?” 2 Corinthians 6:14

James 1:5-9  seems to have a legalistic tone.  But I think it might merely be an observation rooted in common sense.  If you’re looking to someone to impart the wisdom that you need, however, on a basic level, do not trust (have faith in) him—to the point of perceiving him as some kind of double-agent who’s telling you “Do as I say, not as I do”—you have just sabotaged the process…knowingly or unknowingly. 

So what initially appeared to be a legalistic enjoinment to do something to increase and perfect the correct brand of faith, now simply becomes a statement of fact.  If you’re not trusting in the Goodness of God, why would you (a) want His wisdom in the first place? and (b) be in receive mode for His wisdom, as it might not necessarily be good.  If we are not in “receive mode,” then it would be common sense that we would not receive anything. Therefore, we shouldn’t bother to expect it. 🙂