Sayeth What?!

Deep Dives into KJV Bible Chapters

James Chapter 1 – Verses 2-18

Trials Make Patience – and some hair pulling.

The vibe: James (psst, did you know he was Jesus’ brother?) starts his book off with a hard-to-swallow fact: we will go through some things in this life. Some things will be difficult but manageable: others will be so heavy, it feels like an elephant sitting on your chest. All. Day. Long. The kicker to going through these trials: we should actually be glad about them. Yes, happy to go through times in our lives where we don’t know if we should stop, go, or breakdown in hysterical cries (we’ve all been there, it’s ok). James outlines for us in these verses the “why” behind treating trials as a blessing, and leaning into what matters most in those moments: God.

Verse 2: “My brethren, count it all JOY when ye fall into divers temptations;”

Ye – old English for “you”

Divers – various, different kinds of/types of

Temptations – trials

Verse 3 – 4: “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience; But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing”

Worketh – the old English way of saying “works” or “working”

Right off the bat, James hits us with that hard-to-swallow fact I mentioned: we need to find joy in going through things and experiencing difficult times. Why? It is in those moments that our faith and spiritual character are given the opportunity to grow. Oof.

Verse 5: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”

Liberally: freely or generously

Upbraideth: to scold or criticize

I think we miss this point a lot during our difficult times. Don’t know how to get through something? Ask God. This verse tells us that God gives to those who ask, freely and without any criticism that you need help. He wants us to lean on Him. God won’t always take the trial away, because remember there is purpose to each trial we go through. So strap in, but know you’re not going at it alone.

Verse 6: “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that waverth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.”

Wavering/wavereth: to show uncertainty or indecision

Don’t you love how the Bible gives us descriptive metaphors to help us out? Imagine the ocean, full of choppy waves being dictated by gusts of wind. Sometimes they go one way, then another, then grow massive, intimidating towers of water, or shrink to little blips on the surface you can easily traverse. That’s the idea here: you need to be steadfast in your FAITH, completely believing that God has got you through this. If not, then you’ll be exactly as those waves, going back and forth and every which way, not having any direction or easy flow.   

Verse 7-8: “For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”

No sugarcoating or delicate wording here. Point blank: no faith = no help from God. You want to go back and forth on having faith one day and not the next, thinking you can get through this on your own or using worldly methods. Let me tell you something: you can’t. You will be in constant conflict, splitting your life between God and the world. Faith in God is your key to not getting beat up by your trials; at least not as badly as you would without Him.

Now, James shifts gears a little here:

Verse 9-10: “Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.”

Low degree: low status, not wealthy

Exalted: elevated in rank or character

Hold on a minute; that’s a contradiction? Well, yes. Someone of little to no wealth (now it doesn’t say starving or lacking, bear that in mind) is of an elevated rank. But not here, not on Earth. What James is saying is that those who focus on God and are thankful for the provisions they’ve been given, their needs, will be ranked high in heaven. Status in the world doesn’t matter. Let me say that again: status in the world, where you are now, DOES NOT MATTER.

Let’s be honest with ourselves: who wouldn’t want an endless supply of funds for vacations, cars, clothing, the latest technology, etc. I know there have been times I’ve wished I could just grab bags and take my family to the Caribbean for an all-inclusive trip. But where does that put your focus, your energy, and your time? Into the world, into material things, and into possessions. This goes not only for material things, but status as well. Have you ever spent ages getting the right angles and lighting, posted that on social media and refreshed your page repeatedly, just to see how many likes it got? Where is your focus then? On yourself, right? The need to feel accepted by others that you don’t even know and will scroll past you onto the next thing.

If you focus on wealth and wordly possessions and not on God, then when trials come, which they will, you will fail to get through them. Look:

Verse 11: “For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich made fade away in his ways.”

Withereth: fade, dry up or lose vitality

Grace of the fashion: the elegance and beauty in how one presents themselves through clothing and style

Perisheth: to die, be destroyed, or cease to exist

Here’s another juicy metaphor, and again, no sugarcoating here. I look at it this way: the sun in this verse is referring to a trial (burning heat = difficult to bear). James describes the rich man as a “flower of the grass” in verse 10, and here he says that under such a hot sun, that grass and flower will essentially die. All its beauty and elegance, essentially all the outward appearances of the flower will simply be destroyed. He equates that to the rich man and his ways; someone who won’t get through trials without facing destruction.

Verse 12: “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”

Endureth temptation: the ability to withstand trials and challenges without giving into sin or negative influences

Hath: old English way of saying ‘had’

Verse 13-14: “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, netiher tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.”

Tempted/tempteth: to entice or persuade someone to do something wrong or to test someone’s resolve

Enticed: to attract or draw someone in by offering something appealing or desirable

God will allow trials to happen in our life; He won’t be the cause of them. That’s the devil. It tells us in the Bible that the world where we live is essentially the devil’s to master. So while we are here in this world, we’re going to get hit with the temptation to sin, and that temptation is strongest during a trial.

Verse 15-16: “Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren.”

Lust hath conceived: the idea that when a desire or temptation (lust) is allowed to grow and develop, it leads to sinful actions

Err: to make a mistake or to do something wrong

In these two verses, as in many in the Bible, we are clearly instructed to not make the mistake of letting temptations lead to sin. This is especially difficult to do when you’re going through something. Your heightened emotions, feelings of stress, general overwhelm can all lead to exhaustion. In that exhaustion, we don’t make the greatest decisions. Frustration in the moment might make us cuss. Disappointment in an outcome might make us lose hope. Pressure might lead us to alcohol, just to escape it for awhile. All these things cause separation from God, and during a trial is when we need to be calling on Him loudly.

Verse 17-18: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”

No variableness: the quality of being unchanging or constant

Shadow of turning: the idea that shadows change as the position of a light source

Begat: to father or bring forth

Firstfruits: refers to the earliest portion of a harvest that is dedicated or sanctified. In biblical contexts, it represents the initial and choice offering set apart for God

The most beautiful thing about God and the words in the Bible is that they never change. Without a doubt we can rely on the promises that God made to us. One of those promises was a savior that would save us from the shackles of sin and be our way, the only way, to heaven; Jesus Christ. When we become believers, we are reborn, a new creature. We are now set apart from all others in the world because we are of God. We can never loose that, as the Bible promises, no matter how much we mess up. I’m sure all of us can be grateful for that at times. We are only human after all, and as humans we make mistakes. To know God will stick around, stick with us through every situation, is the true comfort of a father’s love.

In conclusion (oof that sounds like a college paper), the first set of verses of James Chapter 1 highlight our need to be happy, or at the very least content, while we go through trials. God places these obstacles and situations in front of us to build on our character and our faith, not to drive us away. When going through something you feel you can’t take anymore, lean into God; pray, surrender it all, and be still. I know it’s easier said than done, my friend, but look at it as an opportunity personally given to you from our Father in heaven, a secret mission only you can be tasked with and only you can accomplish. You’ve got this, friend.

I hope this study has helped you walk through the first set of verses of James Chapter 1. Any comments, questions, queries, conundrums are always welcome in the comments section.

Until the next “thee” and “thou,”

Verity James.