1What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? 2You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. 3You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”? 6But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.” 7Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. James 4:1-10

The Bible tells us that the faithful will be raised up above all others and never bow down to anyone. All that we do will be a success in this world. It is also written that all we need to do is seek, and we will find – that we will always be heads above, not tails, and that all we touch will be blessed in the world where we live. Then why are our lives full of difficulty, quarrels, and failure, though we try to be faithful? Why do others succeed but not me? Am I not worth anything to God? We look around us and see those who are faithful and also seem to be blessed from a worldly perspective. Why not me? 

It is easy to become resentful with these thoughts, but we must honestly evaluate ourselves and recognize that our motivations may be based on worldly hopes. Our value system defines happiness and success by worldly motivations. We must admit to ourselves that our real objectives may be rotten and our faith hypocritical. Are we serving God to realize our own purpose? Are our motives genuinely aligned with God’s direction? Do we understand that even suffering is a blessing because it brings us opportunities to grow in our faith? When we live according to God’s purpose, wealth and being poor both become blessings to us. 

We also fail in our endeavors because we try to succeed on our own abilities rather than put our hope in the Lord. When push comes to shove, we choose our desires over the Lord’s. When it is a choice between our livelihood and our faith, we often act to protect our livelihoods. We act to address them on our own, ignoring God. Do not be deceived and think we can control all that happens in our lives. Do not mistakenly think that we have the power to succeed all on our own. Even if we succeed in that given instance without God, it is not real and will lead to further suffering. It is a bundle of sin and destruction. We must overcome through the Lord’s care, seeking Him and obeying His laws to receive His blessings. Put our hope in the Lord. If we break his law, how can we expect God to bless us? If God decides not to bless us, where can we receive any real blessings? After Peter caught fish following Jesus’ direction, he threw aside his nets and followed Jesus and put all his hope in him. Put all our hope in God and know we only can receive through His grace if we obey God’s laws.

When we feel we are keeping his commandments but our prayers are not being answered, what is happening? We see in verse 3 the answer: “You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives.” God withholds from us because Our heavenly Father knows that granting our wishes will cause us to betray our faith, fall under its temptation, and sin. When He sends his blessing to us, God sends them to help us grow in our faith. God does not want to derail our faith, which is why there are times when we do not receive what we seek from Him. When this happens, we must pray and look honestly within ourselves to seek understanding of God’s will. When we understand His will, we must be thankful, admit our mistaken thinking, and adjust our prayers. We must seek only to sow the seeds for what will never become rotten, which glorify God, and have eternal value. We must seek what we can use to help build others salvation. We must pray with tears to repent our mistaken motives, which cause us stress and resentment. We must grab this opportunity to build eternal value. 

The difficulties we face in our lives are essential to building our eternal self through perseverance and endurance. This is bearing the cross. When suffering comes, be thankful to be given the chance to build a faith more perfect and whole. This is how we connect with the Lord and are able to enter eternal life in heaven. What a blessing! When we persevere and overcome the difficulties we face – whatever comes our way, we gain a peace and joy which the world can never take away. This is what Jesus meant when the pain of the mother in childbirth is forgotten as soon as she sees her newborn baby. When we bear the cross and persevere, Jesus comes to us – God comes to us. While our worldly laughter and happiness turn into tears and sadness, it is replaced by eternal joy and peace. When this happens, all the world helps us, is on our side, and raises us up. Let go of all your possessions of this world and seek what is eternal.

This passage in James 4:1-10 shows us what we must do. Look honestly within and correct your motivations and value system. Put your hope in the Lord, not the world or yourselves. Seek with righteous motives. Know that the difficulties we face build our faith. We must first turn our laughter to tears before we can find our way to the right path of the true believer – not a hypocritical, superficial believer.  The happiness of a true believer’s salvation cannot be tainted by the world. 

Please click for Korean sermon https://soundcloud.com/yhpaik/1981-7-12-long-mixdown-1