Be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. James 1:6b-8 NLT
The young woman stood with a wry smile that never reached her eyes, talking to her pastor. “I know it’s gonna happen again, “ she said. “I’m all fired up. I know what I need to do. But by two o’clock this afternoon I will have talked myself out of it again. It’s like I want two things equally.”
She isn’t alone. That’s so often the truth for us. It can show up in song lyrics like, “Torn between two lovers, feeling like a fool” (Peter Yarrow). It was the situation for the people of Israel when the prophet Elijah confronted them on Mt. Carmel. They were called God’s people, but they constantly mingled their lives and choices with the worship of Baal. Elijan mocked the prophets of Baal but first confronted the people of Israel. He said, “How long will you waver between two opinions! If the Lord is God, follow Him. If Baal is God, follow Him!” They were not sure if they wanted to walk with God or go after Baal. They were torn. They wavered. They doubted.
This is the person James describes. That person is wobbly, undependable, uncertain. They are as fickle as the waves in the sea – up and down, in and out, always changing and wavering. They are so unfocused and unsettled that they are undependable. No one can confidently expect anything from them, and their prayers are worthless too. They can’t expect to receive anything from God because their lack of focus and decision makes them unstable in all they do. They waver back and forth. The last voice they heard is the decision-maker in their mind until they hear the next voice. They don’t even really know what they want, so you will not get a clear answer either.
You know what that’s like – you want to trust God, but you also want control. You want help in hardship, but when things are fairly smooth you want to go your own way. You want to live purely, but you like the excitement of playing the edge. You want to obey, as long as it is comfortable. A doubleminded person is a person in a love triangle – torn between love for God and love for my own ways. I live in a state of constant tension, and the tension spreads instability in all of my life – my emotions, decisions, and relationships. Anxiety pervades my life, and I can’t pray it away. My doublemindedness – my inability or unwillingness to commit –prevents me from receiving what I need from God. There’s only room for one priority in my life focus: God and His plan.
- What does the tension and inconstancy in my life tell me about the state of my mind, my commitment, my focus? Ending the competition brings peace and purpose.