This is not normal for me to post about my morning devotional time but I needed someplace to collect thoughts. James 1:5 says "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him." What caught my eye was "without reproach." In the original language it is a participle connected to God. NASB adds an "and" which is in the original. So the thought is connected to God who is a generous giver. The word reproach means to exploit a fault to belittle a person or it could mean to find a fault because the person did something wrong. The text warrants the first definition. One reason the exploiting a fault works best is because verse 5 is connected to verses 2-4 which talk about trials in life. The people are suffering therefore it makes the most sense to understand reproach as the first definition. This means that God is not using the trial to punish a person for not having wisdom. Notice it that God "gives generously to all without reproach." God does not belittle us when we lack wisdom but gives it joyfully. He does not require us to pay for the wisdom that we receive. So next time when you are in the middle of a trial, pray for wisdom and remember that God will not humiliate you because you lack it.
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