Let him [who lacks wisdom] ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 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.” James 1:6– 8.
It is important that we become stable Christians. Our experience really is not a Christian experience, if we are being tossed to and fro, being controlled by the circumstances around us, or conforming ourselves to fit whatever situation in which we are found. A person who seeks to follow his own will, while professing to follow the will of God, is a double-minded man. A double-minded person knows the claims and the promises of God, yet fails to do them. He knows what God says, but he refuses to do it. James says such a person is unstable in all of his ways, and he is not going to receive anything from the Lord. James says, “let him ask in faith.” Faith is the necessary element we need to keep ourselves stable. In this article, we will look at a couple of other things that will also help us keep stable.
“For ye have need of patience [endurance], that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” Hebrews 10:36. Are you going to receive the promise if you refuse to do the will of God? No! “The just shall live by faith: but if [any man] draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.” Verse 38. We need to be stable. We must become stable Christians, so no matter what situation we are in, we will act like a Christian. As I was thinking about this, I realized an example in my daily life. I battle with allergies. Like Paul’s thorn in the flesh (11 Corinthians 12:7), I feel like allergies are a thorn in my flesh. Sometimes they get so bad that I have to lie down with a cool washcloth on my face. But that is no excuse for me to not have a smile on my face. Nothing should keep us from having a smile on our face; we should not be gloomy Christians at any time. There are some times to be solemn, but not when we are under the infirmities of our bodies.
Conforming
If I were to take a pitcher of water and pour some of it into a round glass and pour the remaining into a square container, what would happen to that water? It would be conformed to the shape of the container. Remember what James said. A man who is unstable in all of his ways is like a wave of the sea— tossed to and fro. In its liquid form, water is unstable. Jacob told his son, Reuben, “Thou [art] my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel.” Genesis 49:3, 4.
Do you ever find yourself being conformed to the circumstances in which you find yourself? If someone gets angry with you, do you immediately want to lash out at them? If some of your friends are telling jokes around you, will you soon be doing the same thing? We become unstable as water, conforming, just like water, to the shape that is around us. We become like the people with whom we associate. God does not want us to remain in that condition. He wants us to be stable in every circumstance. In every way He wants us to show forth that we are Christians, not in profession only, but in living faith in Christ.
God tells us what His ideal is for each one of us: that “we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: That we [henceforth] be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, [and] cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.” Ephesians 4:13, 14. God’s will for us is to be the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. When we obtain that goal, we will be like Christ in character. Jesus never once compromised in difficult situations while He was here on this earth. Even when He knew that the people were going to try to kill Him, to stone Him, He did not compromise His principles. ( John 10:31–39.) Never once! He never conformed to the situation around Him; He was stable; He was solid as a rock in every situation, and friends, that is the way you and I have to be. That is what the Lord wants to make of us, if we are willing to be made willing. Never once did Jesus compromise one principle in a given situation, even though it cost Him His life.
Broaden the Path
Notice what the Lord is going to provide for us, so we can be stable: “Thou hast broadened my path beneath me; so that my feet do not slip.” 11 Samuel 22:37 (Hebrew text). If I were to walk on top of the back of a church pew, how stable would I be? How about if I step down and walk on the pew seat, which is going to be more stable? God said He was going to broaden the path beneath our feet that our feet do not slip. We want to find out how the Lord is going to do that.
When hiking in the Grand Canyon in Arizona, I discovered that you sometimes must walk along sheer cliffs, and sometimes the path gets very narrow. At those times, you find yourself being more careful about where you put your feet. You slow your pace down. As the path broadens, you pick up your pace again. This is what the Lord wants to do for us.
God wants us to have stability; He wants us to be stable Christians. He wants to enlarge the path beneath us, so we are on solid ground—not on shaky ground, not on narrow ground, but on solid ground. “Hold up my goings in thy paths, [that] my footsteps slip not.” Psalm 17:5. Do you want to have an experience where you never slip in your personal experience? That is what God has promised us in Jude 24. He is able to keep us faultless and present us blameless before the throne of God. That is what He is able to do for us, if we are willing to be made willing. He will broaden our path beneath us, so we are on solid ground, not wavering, not tossed to and fro, not conformed into whatever situation we are in, and not compromising, and no matter what our situation, we will be faithful Christians just as Jesus was.
“It is a perilous thing to allow an unchristian trait to live in the heart. One cherished sin will, little by little, debase the character, bringing all its nobler powers into subjection to the evil desire.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 452. That is powerful. Just one sin cherished will debase the entire character. Friends, we have to be searching our hearts. Is there one sin that we are refusing to give up, one defect of character that we refuse to change? If we continue to refuse to surrender these things to the Lord, we will become unstable and our whole character will be debased. “The removal of one safeguard from the conscience, the indulgence of one evil habit, one neglect of the high claims of duty, breaks down the defenses of the soul and opens the way for Satan to come in and lead us astray.” Ibid. All of a sudden we are going to find ourselves on shaky ground, on a narrow path, becoming as unstable as water. There is a safeguard, a way for the Lord to enlarge our path: “The only safe course is to let our prayers go forth daily from a sincere heart, as did David.” Ibid. Prayer is going to broaden the path beneath us; it is going to give us stability, and it is going to give us solid ground upon which to walk.
Power of Prayer
How many of us have learned how to pray? The disciples had been with Jesus for almost three years when they came to Him and asked Him to teach them to pray. How many of us spend time in prayer—not just in formal, five minute prayers, but down on our knees agonizing with God? The Bible tells us we are supposed to pray without ceasing. (See Luke 18.) If our heart is not lifted up in an attitude of prayer all day long, the devil is going to find an entrance into our heart. Friends, how many of us have learned, in our closets, in that secret place where we go to meet with the Lord every morning, how to overcome sin?
Jesus gave us an example of prayer. After the disciples asked Him to teach them to pray (see Luke 11) He gave an example of a man who kept coming to his neighbor’s door asking for food for some people he needed to feed. Did that man go away after the first time? No, it says that he kept coming back again and again. He was persistent. How many of us pray and agonize for the Holy Spirit every day? Without the Holy Spirit, we are not going to be saved. How many of us do not get off our knees until we have the strength that we desire of the Lord? As Christians, I think that we get off our knees too soon. We go through our normal routine, praying for people and situations, which is good, but how many of us stop and ask ourselves, Am I strengthened by this prayer? Do I have His Spirit living within my heart? Do you stay on your knees until that happens? Most of us do not, and we are not strengthened by the Lord; we do not have the blessing that we desire. Jacob did not give up. He said, I will not give up until I receive your blessing. (See Genesis 32.) We need to keep agonizing and agonizing until the break of day, until that light shines into our hearts just as it did for Jacob.
Sin is not to have dominion over us, friends. The only way that we are going to keep from sin is to have our minds lifted up to the Lord in prayer. That will broaden our path and give us stability, because God will continually guide us.
In the Bible, we are given the example of Christ spending all night in prayer. (See Luke 6:12.) The reason He was braced for conflict and did not become unstable or compromise His principles is because He often spent whole nights in prayer. He was not going to get off His knees until He had the desired strength to meet the conflicts for the next day. That was Christ’s strength, and since He is our example in all things, we should pray more than we do. I am not suggesting that we spend every night in prayer, for I know that we have to sleep, but if there is a crisis in our lives or some sin in our lives “The only safe course is to let our prayers go forth daily from a sincere heart . . .” that we need to get rid of in order to be ready for heaven, it might be a needful thing to do. “The strength of Christ was in prayer. . . . As Christ is our example in all things, if we imitate His example in earnest, importunate prayer to God that we may have strength in His name who never yielded to the temptations of Satan to resist the devices of the wily foe, we shall not be overcome by him.” Sons and Daughters of God, 136. How is it going to be? We need to learn to spend time in importunate prayer, agonizing with the Lord, pleading, Lord give me Your blessings; give me the strength that I need so I can meet the temptations of the day. When the disciples came to Jesus asking Him to teach them to pray, they had been watching the Pharisees pray for years and years. What was the difference between Jesus’ prayer and the Pharisees’ prayers? When Jesus prayed, things happened! They saw how He reacted in certain situations, and it was His prayer life that made Him stable and kept Him from being tossed to and fro. God’s Word What else does the Lord give us to keep us stable? “Order [or direct] my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.” Psalm 119:133. How does it say that we are to be directed?
By God’s Word
David said, Lord, direct me by Your Word so that sin will not have dominion over me. How many of us are spending time in study? Someone once told me that they spent an hour a day in study, not counting their prayer time, so I decided that I was going to do that. My resolve was strengthened by the following statement: “Your success as a minister depends upon your keeping your own heart. You will receive more strength by spending one hour each day in meditation, and in mourning over your failings and heart corruptions and pleading for God’s pardoning love and the assurance of sins forgiven, than you would by spending many hours and days in studying the most able authors, and making yourself acquainted with every objection to our faith, and with the most powerful evidences in its favor.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 433, 434.
We do not know for ourselves what the Bible says. As a result, our minister can tell us anything he wants; he can lead us in the path of destruction, and we will never know it. Why? Because we are not spending time in Bible study. I always tell my congregations, Do not take my word for anything. You go home and check it out for yourself. I do not want anyone taking my word, because I am fallible, just like everyone else. But I could hoodwink every one of you, if you are not spending time in study. The devil is a wily foe, cunning, crafty. He knows just the deception for each one of us, but God’s Word exposes the deception. The reason that we are deceived and tricked into sin is because we are not studying God’s Word as we should.
Make a commitment today to spend at least one hour each day studying God’s Word. It would be well worth it, and I guarantee you will receive a blessing. David says, Direct my steps by Thy Word— not by the minister, not by the deacon, or the Sabbath School teacher—but by Your Word! We need to know what God’s Word says. Before we read anyone else’s material we better be spending time in God’s Word first. We can read the different ministries’ magazines, and we can say, Praise God, that was an inspiring article, but by spending time in God’s Word, the light of God’s truth will continually get broader and broader. It will never cease. Do not ever think that you have everything figured out in God’s Word. You may have the 27 fundamental doctrines all stored up in your mind, but friends, we have not even scratched the surface. We should be digging through God’s Word as for treasure hidden in a mine, comparing Scripture with Scripture, studying out things. We cannot allow study and prayer to be neglected. It is not something to do occasionally when we have a spare moment. This is something that we must plan for every day, something that we schedule into our day. We may have to bump some other activity off the schedule, but we better not be neglecting God’s Word, and we better not be neglecting prayer. It is better to deny ourselves of the other responsibilities, while we spend time in God’s Word. We are weak because we have not spent this time, and we have allowed our ministers to do our studying for us.
“The Bible is our guide in the safe paths that lead to eternal life. . . . The minds of all who make the Word of God their study will enlarge.” Mind, Character and Personality, vol. 1, 98. God promises He will enlarge our paths beneath us; He is going to give us stability of mind so we will not be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. There are so many winds of doctrine, but Ellen White tells us, “Those who are close students of the Word, following Christ in humility of soul, will not go to extremes.” Gospel Workers, 317. Never! Whether it is in diet, dress, or theological issues, never will we go to extremes if we are close students of God’s Word. We must follow Jesus in humility of soul.
Memorize Scripture
When I open up God’s Word, I am stepping into the audience chamber of God. His Word should be opened prayerfully. We should not just flip it open and begin reading. We need to have a plan when we study God’s Word. What are we going to study? If we are trying to overcome a habit or some defect in our character, we should stop and pray for victory over that defect and then continue studying God’s Word until we have the victory. If we are continuing to cherish some sin in our life, Psalm 66:18 tells us, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear [me].” We need to battle with the Lord. We need to ask Him for all the strength that we need so that we can overcome.
“Thy word [is] a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Psalm 119:105. As we approach the Second Coming of Jesus, that light will become brighter and brighter. Think with me for a second. If you are up in the woods and it is completely dark and you are trying to follow a trail with the help of a little candle, how good of a job will you be able to do? But what if that candle is a flashlight? How about a spotlight? You would then be able to see everything around you, and that is what God’s Word is going to do. If we are continuing to follow Jesus in humility of soul, continuing to follow His Word, accepting the light as it comes to us, conforming our lives to the Word, our path will get broader and broader and broader, and we will have a safe path on which to walk.
“When thou goest [or when you walk] thy steps [or your Christian experience] shall not be straitened [hindered]; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.” Proverbs 4:12. Why? Because you have a broad path beneath your feet and a bright light will help you see the pitfalls of Satan; you will see his temptations coming, and you will know how to resist him.
How did Jesus resist temptation? By the Word of God. Remember when the devil came to Jesus in the wilderness after He had fasted for 40 days? Put yourself in Jesus’ place—you have fasted; you have had nothing to eat for six weeks. How do you think you would feel? How do you think your mind would be? You would not be in good shape. But Jesus had ingrained God’s Words in His mind. The Bible says, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” Psalm 119:11. Jesus hid those words so deep in His heart that no matter what the situation, He had a “Thus saith the Lord” to say to the devil. We must be spending time in prayer, Bible study, and memorizing Scripture. We must do this, if we are going to be stable Christians.
Light of the World
Jesus says, “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt has lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:13–16. Christ has not bid His followers, strive to shine. Does any one of us have anything within us that can shine out? No, we have nothing. All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, or as a leaf that fades away. (Isaiah 64:6.) He says, Let your light shine. If we have received the grace of God, the light is in us. God’s grace transforms our character; it transforms our thoughts, our affections, our pursuits, and our aims. It transforms the entire being, and when that is operating in our lives, the only thing we can do is to let the light shine.
Here are a few ways that we can let our light shine:
“Let your light shine forth in pleasant words, in soothing tones of voice.” Child Guidance, 240.
Are you letting your light shine, or are you hiding it under a bushel?
“In no better way can you let your light shine to others than in your simplicity of dress and deportment.” Ibid., 417.
“Wherever you are, let your light shine forth. Hand out papers and pamphlets to those with whom you associate.” Counsels on Health, 435.
We know that without the grace of God there is nothing within us to shine, but we need to ask for the grace of God to operate in our lives so that we are able to shine. It becomes something that we want to do, rather than something that we have to do.
“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present [you] faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.” Jude 24. Do you want to have that experience? Do you want the Lord to present you faultless before His throne? God wants to give us a path to walk upon so that we are not just wobbling around in our Christian experience, so that we are not compromising, even in difficult situations. When we are being pressed, He wants us to be stable. God has given us prayer; He has given us Bible study; we can memorize His Word, and as that light shines brighter and brighter, our path is going to grow wider and wider. If we daily participate in these activities, we soon will have that experience where Jesus presents us faultless, without one defect, without one spot or wrinkle. How exceedingly joyful we will be then.
Mike Bauler pastors the Historic Message Church in Portland, Oregon. He may be contacted by e-mail at mbauler@molalla.net.