James 1:2-8

That is what we are dealing with here. James, in writing this, had a trial of some length in mind, the kind that we must persevere through. What he is saying is in order to persevere through it, in order to get to the end, we have to exercise patience. And he said in addition to that we better be asking God for wisdom to get through this trial. It is not just a matter of setting our will. It is a matter of going through it with the greatest amount of wisdom so that we learn as much as possible on the way through, because a person of faith understands that God has decreed that we wait. God in His wisdom has set up the answer in such a way that He is making us wait. He has made a test of our faith out of this. Therefore He wants other things to be accomplished while we are waiting for the answers. That is why the need for wisdom. As you are going through the trial James said you better ask for wisdom in going through this.

Wisdom here is not some kind of philosophical system, but rather it is the kind of wisdom that appears in the book of Proverbs, practical common sense on how to make the most and the best out of this thing that we are going through. What he is saying is, "Ask God for insight on how to manage the trial that you are going through so that you understand as much as you possibly can of the direction that God is taking this in so that you can cooperate to the fullest extent." I will tell you, when you do that, the pressure of waiting is going to dissolve because you are going to be concentrating on making the most out of the present. There is so much wisdom in this.