Unstable in Trial

James tells us that a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways (Jas. 1:8). The word for unstable is akatastatos, and in this context it refers to a man who cannot thank God for trials. A few verses before this, James has famously stated that if a man lacks wisdom, he should ask God for it. But this is not, as so many assume, asking for wisdom in taking this or that course of action. The place where we need wisdom is in the counting it all joy when trials come over us — we need to ask for wisdom in that circumstance, and we need to do it without wavering. If we do not, then we are double-minded, and if we are double-minded, then we are unstable in the midst of our trial, which is the last place we should be unstable.