James 4:1–6 ¹ What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? ² You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. ³ When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. ⁴ You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? ⁶ But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

While reading through James, I have been going back at looking at sermons that I preached over the years on this book. I found one from 1997. That was back when all of our daughters were still living at home, before any of them had a driver’s license, and Cheryl was still teaching at our Church Preschool, and when I had a part-time volunteer secretary. I shared a story to illustrate “the desires that battle within” that we face everyday. What follows is from that sermon.

The battles that rage within us are the ongoing struggle between the old man and the new, the sinner and the saint. It doesn’t matter where you are on your spiritual journey, the battles will be there. Let me give you a personal example. I had an incredibly hard time getting my sermon prepared this week. With three different meetings and four different classes to teach, before I knew it Friday was here. Thursday night I was out until 11:30 p.m. waiting for Bethany to return from a volleyball game in Wylie. Friday morning, I arose early to prepare breakfast for the family, left to drop off two of the girls for school, both of whom informed me on the way that they had not only failed to bring their lunch money, but that each of them had left at home something that they absolutely had to have with them that day. I had several errands to run, met at church for staff devotions with the preschool, after which I had to run and drop off our suburban for Air Conditioner work, and arrived back at the office around 8:45 a.m. The phone proceeded to ring constantly all morning. Everything from a daughter who was sick and in the nurse’s office, to salesmen, to the daughter was feeling better and back in class, to people wanting to offer assistance. Others were stopping in asking for food, needing information, wanting to chat. I tried to respond to each and see to their needs. All of a sudden it was noon thirty and I was just settling in at my desk to start my sermon. I had just started when Cheryl came in and began asking me several questions that normally would have no impact on me: “Do we have any green paper? Where is the Lutheran annual? Is this the latest edition? What church is Bonnie at? Have you heard anything about the Suburban yet?” Then she looked at me and realized it was not a very good time to ask me any questions. It was not even a good time to be anywhere around me. “The desires that battle within” were taking over, keeping me from focusing, keeping me from looking at the cross, asking and answering how I could hold it before you this week.

Before I go any further, let me assure all of you who called or came by on Friday: this wasn’t your fault. I am in no way saying you should not call or stop by whenever you want. I want you all to feel free to do so anytime I am here. This just happened to be a day when it all piled up at once, I let my fears and anxieties do battle, and Satan was having his way with me for awhile.

All of you can relate to what I’m saying because you have done the same. The battle was raging within. I prayed “God, open a door so that I may proclaim the mystery of Christ.”

And He did. God hears that prayer when it is offered. When I realized what was happening, God reminded me of a few things. Just the night before, waiting for the bus bringing the players back from their game, I had taken out my flashlight and my Bible and been reading 1 Samuel. As I went through the adventures of King Saul and soon to be King David once again, I came across the familiar story of David and Goliath in chapter 17, and those words of confidence David spoke in the face of his giant adversary: The battle is the Lord’s, and he will give … you into our hands. (1 S 17:47) That reminded me of an Easter Hymn that I dearly love, “The strife is o’er, the battle won!” That hymn is a proclamation that Jesus has won the victory over sin, death and the devil for all people. Everyone who puts his or her faith in Jesus receives pardon and life everlasting. He has won that battle for us. And that same Jesus will help us in the battles that we face every day.

Back to the present: those words are a good reminder for us as we have desires battle within us.  Lord, help me to keep my focus on you and all you have done for me.