What can cause us to loose our perseverance/steadfastness?

Jas 1:2-8 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. Doubt is unbelief. It makes you wishy-washy. Certainty of faith makes you steadfast – completely unshakable and stubborn for the Lord.

When I am certain of something, I’m very steadfast about it. Or, as my lovely wife will attest, I am stubborn. When I doubt I am more easily tripped up. Both Paul (Ro 9:33) and Peter (1 Pe 2:6-8) reference Is 8:14 as speaking of Jesus as the stone which causes stumbling of the unbelieving, yet also a cornerstone to those who do believe. The opposite of belief (and the killer of belief) is doubt. James explains very clearly and eloquently in 1:6-8 what the doubter faces. Just like Paul and Peter, James explains in his own words the critical importance of having faith that is deep, sure, and true. It must be based on the Rock, Jesus Christ, and it must be empty of doubt. If your faith is solid and you are sure of what you believe in, you will be very stubborn indeed about it and you will not fall when you are pushed by the world.

This post is an excerpt (Question 4.3) from my book Ask James one.