Hobbits, Hard Times and Hope
Wisdom from James 1:2-8
JRR Tolkien was a Christian Professor who taught the Anglo-Saxon Language at Oxford. He was also one of the people instrumental in the conversion of CS Lewis. But that is not what most people remember him for. His literary trilogy entitled, The Lord of The Rings, is regarded by many as some of the best of the 20th century. At the center of these stories is a quirky little people called Hobbits. The idea of Hobbits supposedly came to Tolkien one day while he was grading exams in his office at Oxford. It was a warm, lazy afternoon and Tolkien found himself drifting off and doodling in the margins of his student’s work. At one point, he looked down and discovered he had scribbled, “In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit.” He asked himself, “What’s a Hobbit?” and the result was a series of books with these diminutive heroes as their central characters. The essential nature of Hobbits is that they are homebodies. They like food, fellowship, and the easy life. They like things regular and predictable. The worst way a Hobbit can describe something is to call it “uncomfortable.” So, it is surprising that a particular Hobbit is selected to go on a series of adventures in which he discovers there is more to life and to hobbits than just being comfortable.
The Easy Life of Hobbits
The reason I bring this up is because we are all Hobbits in one shape or another. We enjoy the easy life, are quickly annoyed, and hate to be uncomfortable. So, when life gets hard we, like good little Hobbits, look for the path of least resistance. We retreat or surrender or blend in with the hopes of avoiding inconveniences or challenges.
That was the situation facing James’s readers. They were in difficult situations. They had probably fled their homelands looking for peace and were most likely finding it difficult to fit in where they had found themselves. Many of them were probably wondering what to do. Some were maybe even starting to doubt their faith because of the hardship or compromise their beliefs in order to make life easier for themselves.
We have all been there. We have all found ourselves saying things like “Why is this happening to me?” or “Wouldn’t it be easier if…?” We have wondered why some calamity great or small befell us. Sometimes we phrase the questions, “Why did God let this happen to me?” Sometimes we are so desperate that we will do anything to be out of the situation. We want it to be over; we want to be out if it. Such suffering can cause us to doubt God: doubt He cares about us; doubt He is in control. It can lead us to try to manage as best we can. It might even tempt us to do things we might not normally do.
The book of James has rich wisdom for those who find themselves in a trial. James doesn’t mince any words. He doesn’t beat around the bush or build up to his main point. He starts off with a direct challenge not to give up. His advice is to do something unexpected, something that goes against our “hobbit” natures.
A Commandment to Consider – James 1:2
- Consider it All Joy – We are called to be joyful, not necessarily happy. Joy is something different. It is the deep-down assurance that everything is okay no matter what the circumstances because God is in control and has a plan. At a funeral, before we or a friend goes in for surgery, when we have lost all our money, or are facing an uncertain future, we need not and even should not necessarily be giddy and happy. But we can choose to trust God and not our own fears or emotions.
- My Brothers – Sometimes the overlooked words contain important truth. There is something profound to the fact that James begins his letter by calling his readers, “my brothers.” Hopefully it goes without saying that James is addressing both men and women alike. It’s a term not just of friendship but of kinship and family devotion. James is saying hard things to his audience. It is important for him to show them that he isn’t cruel or unfeeling. He isn’t lecturing or condescending. He uses the language of family and the language of equality. He is talking to fellow children of God, to his brothers. He knows what he is saying is hard. It is probably hard for him as well. And he wants his readers to know that he is in the same boat.
- When You Encounter Various Trials – Trials here aren’t necessarily temptations to sin. Trials have the capacity to turn into temptations. James will deal with how this happens later in this chapter. The exact definition of “trials” can be hard to pin down. They are things that cause us to wonder if we are on the right path, doubt ourselves, worry that we are stuck and that only bad can come of this. More importantly, they are things that shake our faith in God. It might shake our faith in his power (maybe he can’t help), or his love (maybe he doesn’t want to help), or his existence (maybe he isn’t even there). Hard situations where things aren’t going as planned and we are wondering what to do next. Truth be told, it’s a word that is hard to write a definition for, but we all know what it means. We have been there far too often. James uses several words to illustrate the exact nature of trials to help us gain a biblical perspective on them.
A Reason to Rejoice – James:1 3-4
- Testing Produces Endurance v3 – Like a coach uses training, God uses trials to develop us into the types of people God has created us to be. God didn’t create us to be spiritual couch potatoes, so He won’t allow us to remain spiritually weak, lazy, sluggish people. He is developing in us characteristics He knows what we need for the race He has set for us to run. God has a plan for our lives. It’s a plan for His glory and for our good but it requires some spiritual muscle. God uses trials in our life to strengthen us. This is why we rejoice not in the trials but in the reason God sends them.
- The Goal is Perfection v4 –A boot camp drill instructor might seem mean, harsh, demanding or cruel, but everything he does is out of a desire to make sure his people have everything they need to survive the war they are about to be sent into. In the same way, God is using trials to develop endurance/perseverance in us so that we will be ready for the assignments He has for us. The words James uses are “perfect” and “complete.” Though the words perfect and complete sound redundant, James uses both intentionally.
- Complete – that we may possess all the things we need.
- Perfect – that we may possess them in the best possible form they can exist in us.
The Hope of Help – James 1:5-6
- The Need: “If any of you lacks wisdom” – I went to a life-sized maze at an amusement park. It was the size of two football fields and had walls 8 feet high. Some people could zip right through the maze, others took a while. Sometimes, after taking several wrong turns, people would become disoriented. The maze builders equipped the maze with two things to assist discourage lost participants: escape doors (so that people who were panicking could easily leave the maze whenever they wanted), and lookout posts (so that people could rise above the maze, get their bearings, and gain some perspective before diving back in). That maze is a lot like life. We easily get lost and confused. When we turn to God, we often ask him to provide us an escape door. Rarely does God give this. The trial is here because he knows it will help turn us into who He created us to be. But God does give us lookout posts. He gives us moments when we can rise above the situation and see things from His perspective. The biblical word for that is “wisdom.” We seek a way out, what we really need is wisdom to see the way forward.
- The Source: “Let Him ask of God” – This verse is often taken out of context to imply God can at random gives us the ability to be like Solomon. He may very well do so, but that is not the purpose of this verse. This verse relates to those that preceded it. The wisdom being offered is insight into God’s plan and vision from God’s perspective. James is saying, “Consider it all joy when you are under trials. But if you are unable to see that God is using trials to make you into the person He created you to be, ask God to give you the ability to see things from His perspective.” James goes on tells us two things that are important about God and His wisdom.
- God Gives Generously – God isn’t a miser sitting on His store of wisdom, begrudgingly giving out to people who beg hard enough or long enough. He gives generously, which means He is eager to give it out, and promises to give it in abundance.
- God Gives Without Reproach – Reproach is to blame or shame a person. Have you ever asked for money from someone, but when they gave it to you, they made you feel like garbage for asking? Maybe they gave you a lecture about working harder or being a better money manager. The good news is God doesn’t act that way with His wisdom. He isn’t frustrated that you are asking AGAIN. He isn’t tired of always giving it to you. He doesn’t wish you could get by on your own. He wants to give you the ability to see things from His perspective.
- The Requirement: “Let him ask in faith without any doubting” James 1: 6-8 – Only one stipulation is placed on whether God will give you His wisdom: You have to really want it. When James uses the phrase “let him ask in faith,” he is talking about a specific kind of doubt – doubt whether you really want God to give you the wisdom. Remember, most of us in the midst of trials don’t want wisdom, we want a way out. James is saying that God doesn’t give his wisdom as an option to be considered. He gives it out to people who are committed to his plan.
A person who doubts is wavering between the escape hatch and the lookout post. Such a person doesn’t know if he really believes that God knows what He is doing, and isn’t sure that God can be trusted in hard times. James describes the doubting man as “surf of the sea, “double-minded” (literally “Two-souled”) and unstable in all his ways. He does so not to shame or humiliate us. But to further expose our need. Before you can trust God to give you wisdom, you have to trust God. All of us at one time or another match James’s description of the doubting man. We aren’t supposed to shrug our shoulders, turn around, and leave empty-handed. We are supposed to realize that we are drifting, recognize our need of an anchor for our soul, and renew our trust in the one who offers it to us. He is our hope in hard times.
