Read | James 1:1-8
The Bible warns against wavering faith. This is the attitude of someone who goes from feeling certain that God will answer a prayer to merely hoping that He might (or becoming convinced that He won’t). Of course, since we’re human, we all experience periods of doubt. But what Scripture warns against is a lifestyle of spiritual vacillation.
Wavering can have many causes. For instance, one might fail to see the Lord at work in a situation. Or he might worry that trusting Jesus in a particular predicament conflicts with human reasoning. Another believer, focusing on circumstances rather than on God, may allow feelings to overcome faith.
A person who is “driven and tossed by the wind” (James 1:6) may lose confidence in the Lord and find his spiritual growth stunted. Such a believer can become a “double-minded man” (v. 8) because even as he prays, he tends to jump ahead of the Lord’s timing to manipulate a situation for his own desired outcome. When a Christian pays attention to his doubts in this way, he will often make wrong decisions that prove costly. And then, after all the maneuvering, he will frequently end up dissatisfied with the results and bothered by his lack of peace. What’s even worse, his faith may diminish.
Wavering is dangerous, so believers must develop confidence in the Lord. In Mark 11:24, Jesus says, “All things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.” The closest we get to perfect faith while on earth is the ability to trust that what we ask in God’s will is as good as done.
