Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
When you face a hard decision, what do you do?
Who do you turn to? And let's face it, the decisions
get more difficult when they impact your job,
your family, your future. If that's you, stay
with me. Let's discover how we can tackle the
toughest decisions that life throws at us. Stuck
in a failing marriage? Stuck in financial catastrophe?
Stuck in sadness as you watch your dreams evaporate?
If you're there right now, today's edition of
Living on the Edge is for you. Chip Ingram presents
a series called The Art of Survival in an Age
of Chaos. According to James chapter 1, there's
no shame in getting stuck. God isn't standing
over us with crossed arms, shaking his head in
disappointment. Instead, the Lord is near to
the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed
in spirit. And right after Chip's teaching today,
he'll describe an exciting match opportunity
that's active right now. Because of this match,
every dollar you give to support Living on the
Edge during December is automatically doubled
in size, having twice the impact. More details
later, but right now Chip opens to James 1, verse
5, to describe the supernatural resource that
will show you exactly what to do when you feel
frozen in fear. Here's what I want you to know.
Things are happening the way they are in our
life. You don't have a job. Maybe your marriage
wasn't going well, and now it's a train wreck.
It's a mess. Maybe your mental health, you are
depressed. You are discouraged. I don't know
where you're at, but I know many of you, you're
stuck. And you're saying, I want to consider
it all joy. I want to allow God to test me, and
I want this endurance to make me mature and complete,
but I'm stuck. I can't get there. I'm trying
hard, but am I just supposed to pretend that
I have joy? God understands, and He knows that
we get stuck. And in verses 5 through 8 of chapter
1, He's now going to shift. And early on, he
said, don't ask why, ask what. And he told us
that the key is first your attitude. Now he's
going to tell you that you need a resource. And
it's a resource more valuable than money. It's
a resource even more valuable than a friend,
as important as that is. There's a resource that
he wants to give you that when you get stuck,
when you don't know what to do in your circumstance,
he says, I have a resource. that will show you
exactly what to do. And I promise to give it
to you 100 % of the time. Follow along as I read.
Remember, let endurance have its perfect result.
You might be perfect and complete, lacking in
nothing. Look at verse 5. But if any of you lack
wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all men
generously and without reproach, and it will
be given to him. But let him ask in faith without
any doubting. For the one who doubts is like
the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the
wind. For let not that person or that man or
woman expect that they will receive anything
from the Lord, being double -minded, unstable
in all your ways. And in this little passage,
he's going to teach you and he's going to teach
me. What do you do when you're stuck in your
pain? What do you do when emotional, financial,
relational issues are flaring around and you
want to follow God and you literally don't know
how? Here's what I want you to know. Number one
is that God understands when we get stuck. God
wants to help you when you're stuck. God gives
you a condition that if you will fulfill this
condition, He promises He'll show you exactly
what to do. And now let's break this down to
understand God's offer of supernatural wisdom.
That's the resource. By the way, wisdom here
isn't being smart. It's not intellectual. This
is the Hebrew sense of wisdom. Hebrew wisdom
means the skill and the ability to know what
to do, when to do, and how to do it in the midst
of any situation or relationship. God's wisdom
literally from the Old Testament. And James is
writing as a Jew to these Jewish Christians.
He's saying, God has a design for life. And he
wants to bring about the best possible ends by
the best possible means for the most possible
people for the longest possible time. And there
is a way. There's a way to think. There's a way
to do decisions. There's a way to do relationships.
There's wisdom. There's this skill that God wants
to give to those who ask. And here's the promise.
He'll give it generously and without reproach.
You know, you serve a God who is kind and good
and loving and understanding. And I just want
to remind you, when we go through difficult times,
some of us blame other people. We can blame the
government. We can blame circumstances. But down
deep, many of us blame ourselves. And God would
want you to know that I want you to come. and
I want to help you. But did you notice there's
a condition here? He says, I want you to ask,
but let him ask in faith without any doubting.
There's two conditions. It assumes that you lack
wisdom because of the construction and the grammar
here. But then he says, we only receive God's
wisdom if we, one, ask in faith, and two, without
any doubting. So what's that mean? Let's figure
out what it means to ask in faith. What it means
to ask in faith is trusting and believing and
having confidence in God's character and his
word that you'll do whatever he shows you. Ask
in faith. In other words, it's not, oh Lord,
I would kind of like to know your opinion on
what I ought to do in this devastating situation.
This is, Lord, I'm believing you're the all -knowing,
all -powerful God. You're the sovereign God of
the universe. I can trust your word. I can trust
your character. I'm asking in faith. And then
notice without any doubting. This is not that
feeling that we all have at times like, God,
are you really there? Or do I doubt that you
might show up? Or are you really going to take
care of me? God knows we're human. He knows that
we'll have struggles at times and have some intellectual
doubts. This passage is not saying that. This
passage is talking about the kind of doubt that
has disloyalty. Because notice what he says,
he explains it later. He says, come to him without
any doubt, for the one who comes with doubt like
that is unstable in all his ways. In fact, is
double -minded. It's a picture of someone who
says, God, I really want to know what you want
me to do, but I'm not really committed to doing
it. I just want to know. what your will is so
I can evaluate whether I will obey or not obey.
And then notice he says, let not that person
expect that he'll get anything from the Lord.
So here's what I want you to get. I know some
of you are going through really, really difficult
times. And I know that God wants to work in us
before he works through us. And so come to God
and ask. And then here's what you need to do.
You need to come to God. Think of it as a contract
or a blank check. And what God wants you to do
is sign the bottom of the contract and say, Lord,
what should I do about where I should live? What
should I do about this problem relationship?
What should I do about the business that is lost?
What should I do to make it through today? And
God says, If you will come to me and ask in faith
and then say, Lord, whatever you show me before
I know what it is, I'll do it. He says, 100 %
of the time, I'll show you what to do. Let me
picture this for you because these are great
concepts. Let me personalize. Early in our marriage,
I married my wife. We shortly went away to prepare
for ministry, and my father was an alcoholic,
and her father was an alcoholic. We came from
very dysfunctional families, but we loved Jesus,
and we loved each other, and we thought everything
will be great. Within six months of being married,
while I'm preparing in seminary to be a pastor,
our marriage is not working at all. I mean, we
can't resolve conflict. We have anger. The person
I love makes me crazy. I'm making her crazy.
You all understand what that's like. And I'm
feeling this guilt because I'm preparing for
ministry and my marriage is not working at all.
And I'm trying hard, trying to be good. No matter
what I do, it doesn't work. And I came to this
passage and I said, Lord, will you show me what
to do? I can't fix this. Bowed my head, lifted
my hands, and I heard the Spirit say, Chip. go
to a good Christian counselor. And I thought,
oh no. No, no, that's for people with real needs.
And if I walk into one of those counselor's offices,
it'll be embarrassing and people will know we
have a problem. And I heard the Holy Spirit whisper,
so what's the problem? Is it your pride? And
I realized it was. See, sometimes... When you
say, Lord, show me your wisdom, we unconsciously
have a box that says, as long as it fits inside
of this. In another time, I needed God's wisdom,
and he said, I want you to relocate from this
side of the United States to that side of the
United States. And then it was, oh, Lord, no,
my wife doesn't want to go. This won't work.
It's going to cost a lot of money. I had all
these reasons. But when you want God's wisdom,
he says, come. And you sign up and say, I will
do, Lord, whatever you want me to do. And here's
what he promises. He will do it 100 % of the
time. I can't tell you how many times, whether
it was a big decision, a financial decision,
there was a time we literally, and some of you
are there, we had no food. I had worked. Our
money was taken away. We had no food and we sat
in the middle of the living room and we prayed
and we asked God, we need food. We ate fruits
and vegetables that we got for just five US dollars.
And we combined with some other couples and we
could eat fruits and vegetables for a week. And
I never forget asking God for wisdom. I told
him I would do whatever he wanted me to do. And
I was working, unloading trucks and doing odd
jobs. wondered how we're ever going to make enough
money. And I'll never forget the day my wife
had dropped our children off to school and she
came back and there were five bags of groceries
on our front porch filled with meat and cheese
and a type of flour to make bread. We never told
one person, not one person, that we had any needs.
We had $10, $10 U .S. dollars. That's how much
money we had. And as she opened those bags, it
was... the kind of flour she used to make bread
for our family every day. We had not eaten meat
in about 15 or 20 days, and it was filled with
meat and cheese and things that we longed for.
And my only explanation is, when we're really
desperate, God shows up in supernatural ways.
I've not met a lot of angels personally, but
the only explanation, because we told no one,
and no one in the world knew how she baked what
we had. I mean, we whispered to no one, and God
provided. We'll hear more from Chip Ingram's
message in just a moment. First, we're inviting
you to multiply your year -end donation through
an exciting match that's active right now. You
know, when you give to Living on the Edge, you're
not just supporting one ministry. you're creating
a ripple effect. You begin to mobilize people
who help other people who help other people,
and that makes a huge difference. Your gift to
the match will make an impact. Picture these
scenes. A single listener in Iowa shares our
teaching with a small group Bible study. A grandparent
in Texas sends our resources to a son in Oklahoma
that pastors a local church. Yes, the ripple
effect of giving to Living on the Edge. For 30
years, Living on the Edge has been God's vehicle
to not only help pastors, but to teach God's
Word. And right now, we're on the threshold.
We're at a season where God is using Living on
the Edge like never before. Double the impact
of your gift at livingontheedge .org. Don't let
this opportunity slip by to double your gift,
and even more importantly, to double your impact.
Today, let's multiply God's ministry through
Living on the Edge while there's still time.
Go to livingontheedge .org. From a series called
The Art of Survival in an Age of Chaos, Chip
Ingram is teaching from James chapter 1. On another
occasion, like many of you, we were completely
out of money. And, Lord, we can't pay our rent.
I went to the mailbox and there was a check.
A check from a man I met six or seven years earlier
who later played sports in college, later on
a professional team. And God woke him up in the
middle of the night with my name on it. I taught
him when he was in high school one time for one
hour. And he sent me a check. He was a quarterback
in the NFL for $1 ,000. I can tell you story
after story after story after story after story
of God's miraculous provision. And it's not for
special people. It's for needy, desperate people.
I'm telling you. Come to God. If he says relocate,
relocate. If he says forgive your enemy, forgive
your enemy. If he says apologize to your wife,
apologize to your wife. If he says this is your
job, but your new job needs to be this, you come
to God with no expectation other than, Lord,
whatever you show me, I will do. He may show
you through a book, through his spirit, through
his word, through counsel, through a friend,
through a prompting of the Holy Spirit, but here's
what you need to know. If you're 100 % willing
to get God's wisdom, He will show you what to
do. Will it be easy? Probably not. Will you be
comfortable? Probably not. God directs our steps,
directs our paths, and reveals His power when
we're at the very end of our rope, when we have
nothing. We're at the bottom. We're in absolute
desperation. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
and he saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Psalm 34. God's for you. He loves you. If you're
stuck and you don't know what to do, here's his
invitation. I will give you supernatural wisdom.
I will show you exactly what to do, how to do
it, when to do it, with whom. If you will come
to me, with open -handedness, and commit to do
whatever I show you. These are the times where
God's people see great power, where there's great
testimony. I look back now with my older children,
and they remember sitting around in the circle,
a circle at a time when we didn't have a car
that would fit our family, and we prayed, and
God delivered. A time when we didn't have food,
and we prayed. A time when we didn't know what
to do and we were asked to relocate. Most of
the things that were difficult to do, what I
can now look back on and realize, it was the
good hand and the kindness of God. Some of you
will never change. Some of you will never get
on the path that has your highest and your best
and God's greatest favor. Apart from a crisis
like this that caused you to re -examine your
life, your role, your relationships. And that
God redirects us through times like this. You
know, the early church was doing very, very well.
I mean, just read Acts chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7. Thousands of people. There's favor. There's
miracles happening. I mean, they're exploding.
Acts chapter 8. And then a great persecution
came upon the church. Well, Jesus told the church
to go into all the world to make disciples, right?
Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the uttermost parts
of the world. Well, for about the first 15 years,
they didn't go anywhere. And God allowed a persecution.
And now James is writing to them, and as they
are going all across the world, God uses this
crisis to take the gospel to the ends of the
earth. God, in his wisdom, who knows what's happening,
is going to show you and show me and every single
person exactly what to do, when to do it, and
how to do it in the midst of all the special
details. It will be different for you than for
me. That's why this is the art of survival. It
creates a dependency like never before. It creates
a desire and a thirst for his word like never
before. It means we have to depend on each other,
forgive one another, look through new eyes at
our circumstance and say, Lord, show me what
to do. I need your wisdom. And he says, I'd love
to give it to you. Just ask and no double -mindedness.
Ask without any doubting. Let me fill in the
top of the check. Let me fill in the top of the
contract. Let me say, this is what to do. This
is where to go. This is how. You just sign your
name on the bottom that says, I am willing. You
know, it reminds me of our Savior and the greatest
moment that occurred in His life and ours. Yes,
Jesus was fully God, but He was fully human.
And there was a moment where He said, Lord, If
there's any other way, let this cup pass from
me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours. And
he endured excruciating suffering and pain. And
he actually took on your sin and my sin. And
in that cataclysmic moment, the father would
turn away. My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me? And your sin and my sin were placed on Jesus
for our forgiveness. Because he said to the Father,
not my will, not my way. And that's how you get
God's wisdom. It's in these moments of absolute
surrender. It's at a level like never before
because of what's happening in the world where
we say, Lord, I offer my body as a living sacrifice,
holy and acceptable to you. This is my spiritual
service. I will do whatever you want. I will
go wherever you want. The money in my bank account,
little or much, is yours. My future is yours.
My family is yours. Show me what to do. And I
want you to know, Holy Father, I will do it.
That's how you survive a crisis. That's the greatest,
most important resource in all the world. It's
the wisdom of God. Lord, I pray for my brothers
and sisters because it is a journey. to come
to the point where we can fully, completely surrender
and be willing to do whatever you want us to
do. But Lord, you have told us very clearly the
condition to get this kind of supernatural wisdom
is our absolute and complete willingness to do
whatever you show us. And so I pray for a movement
in people's hearts. I pray that they could believe
how good, how kind, how all -knowing. that you
want to give us the best, even when some of the
first steps are very, very difficult. That's
our prayer, Lord. Now lead us. Give us your wisdom.
In Jesus' name, amen. This is Living on the Edge
with Chip Ingram. He's teaching from the New
Testament book of James. He titled his series,
The Art of Survival in an Age of Chaos. And to
access all the messages in this series and the
companion resources for digging into James on
your own, go to livingontheedge .org. Please
stay with us. We're going to hear an important
closing comment from Chip in just a moment. First,
I'm excited to share that Living on the Edge
has just activated one of the largest match opportunities
in our 30 -year history. So now's the time to
leverage your December year -end giving. Whatever
amount God places on your heart to give will
be doubled in size, yielding twice the impact.
And the deadline for receiving your gift is December
31st. But here's the best part. Your generous
gift will be applied toward coming alongside
pastors and church leaders to make sure they
don't feel alone in their journey. Chip? As we
meet together for just a minute, I want to ask
you to picture something. The congregation has
gone home. The Sunday service is over. It's Monday
morning, and your pastor is sitting in his office.
And he's looking at his calendar, looking at...
marriages to counsel. He's got people to visit
in the hospital. He's got to prepare next week's
message. He's drained emotionally. He's got,
I mean, big budget issues and financial things
staring him in the face. And he's got to lead
through the cultural chaos that we're living
in. What does he say? What does he address? What
does he not say? I want you to know that is a
lonely, difficult place to be. I've lived there
for over 35 years. And here's what I want you
to know. That lonely day of your pastor's life
is when living on the edge becomes one of his
closest companions. I hear it all the time. Chip,
thanks so much. Sit in my office. I listen to
Living on the Edge. I get recharged. I hear God
speak to me through your voice. Here's what I
want you to know. When you support this active
match, you're strengthening the shepherd who's
caring for the sheep. Did you realize that living
on the edge, think of this, has impacted over
500 ,000 pastors in the last few years? But here's
the best part. We are positioned to reach even
more because of this match. Look, it's very simple.
Anemic pastors make weak sheep. Healthy pastors
make healthy sheep. We cannot allow pastors to
become defeated and malnourished. Please, while
there's still time, take advantage of this opportunity
to double your gift. And you have several ways
to respond to Chip Ingram. You can call right
now, 888 -333 -6003, or go to livingontheedge
.org. And when you give to the match today, you'll
enjoy the personal satisfaction of knowing that
you're encouraging pastors, not only here in
North America, but beyond our borders where churches
are expanding at a pace that is really stretching
pastors and church leaders. Living on the Edge
is celebrating 30 years of God's faithfulness.
What started three decades ago as a fledgling
radio ministry has become a movement of God to
disciple Christians and encourage pastors. And
it's because people like you have locked arms
with us to make an impact for God's kingdom.
To send your donation in the mail, address your
envelope to Living on the Edge, P .O. Box 3007,
Atlanta, Georgia, 30024. You can also call 888
-333 -6003 or give online at livingontheedge
.org. How do we rise up from a period of deep
discouragement? I'm Dave Drewy, inviting you
to hear Chip Ingram's biblical answer Friday
on Living on the Edge.