The Consequences of Unbelief James 1:6-8

The Consequences of Unbelief

James 1:6-8

But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt...

When you see the word “but” in Scripture it almost always describes a change of direction or a comparison of some sort.  Here we see a change in direction as James describes the responsibility of the believer.  God has committed Himself to the responsibility of giving you wisdom in trials, but you have the responsibility of asking Him for it and you have the responsibility of believing He will give it to you.

There are two kinds of belief… 1) a head knowledge, or intellectual belief, and 2) a heart knowledge that penetrates the very soul and changes the way you live your life.  This heart felt belief affects your conduct, every day life decisions, and even your relationships with others.  Intellectual belief says that God exists, but a heart belief brings salvation and a personal relationship with God. Intellectual belief can make you a religious person, but a heart belief will make you a righteous person.  Intellectual belief can make you a Pharisee, but a heart belief will make you a child of God.  James 2:14-25 tells us this intellectual belief gives you dead faith, but a heart belief will create a living faith that demonstrates itself through a holy lifestyle. You must believe with all your heart that God will do what he promises and pour out wisdom, liberally, into your life.  The consequence of unbelief described in this text is not a form of punishment from God, but the result and natural consequences of our own sin. 

...because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

Unbelief attacks and destroys the relationship between God and the believer.  It is a barrier of doubt keeping us from experiencing the joy, peace and power of God in our lives.  Unbelief blocks prayer and shuts down the righteous deeds of the Christian.  Doubt is a powerful tool of Satan and he uses it all too well to bring your relationship and faith to a dead stop.

James uses word pictures to describe the person who is filled with doubt.  First he says the man who doubts “is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”  Have you ever been to the beach and watch the waves roll onto the seashore and then slide back again.  As kids my friends and I would try to withstand the push of the waves as the rolled in.  Most of the time the wave would push us back several steps, knocking us off balance. The idea here is that the water of the ocean is powerful and never at rest... it constantly moves back and forth, powerfully moving in and back out again.  The man who doubts is like the waves of the sea, never content, never stable, always moving into a relationship with God and then out again.  Thanking God one moment, angry with God the next.  Living for God one day, living for self the next.  Often, trials are at the heart of this wavering attitude.  

James uses the wind to describe the trials that enter our lives and push us off our feet.  Jesus used the same idea of wind (to describe trials) attacking our faith in His sermon on the mount.  Matthew 7:24-27 tell us, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Doubt and disbelief erode the very foundation of our faith and James says “that man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord”.  Again… this is not a punishment from God, it is the sin of the believer causing him to be a “double-minded man, unstable in all he does.”  The sin of disbelief causes you to literally have two minds.  One mind trusting in your own abilities while the other wants to trust God.  They are constantly in battle with each other, causing the man to be “blown and tossed” by every circumstance.  Another effect of being double minded is to be “unstable in all he does”.  Everything the doubting believer does or tries to accomplish is filled with instability.  He is inconsistent, indecisive, always questioning God, questioning every step, paralyzed by fear and doubt.

Look back at some of the trials you have gone through.  Did you pray for wisdom during those trials?  Did you pray at all?  Or, were you complaining about the trial?  I have failed many trials in my life and I can see a distinct difference between the times I prayed through the trial, asking for wisdom, and times I let the trial leave me doubting God.