For many years, a popular television show on the national geographic channel was a show called Preppers. Within the show, film crews followed families who were preparing for worst-case scenario events like a hurricane, tornado, nuclear war, or some other disaster. The idea is simple; what will we do if something horrible happens? What can we do today to prepare ourselves for something which might happen at some point in the future? James uses this portion of the final chapter of his book to ask similar questions. What will you do if you are in trouble? What will you do if you are sick? What will you turn to when there is pain? What if you are happy and everything is going right? How will you react to blessing? What can you learn now and get deep into your heart so that you are ready when the trials and tribulations of life come?

When giving instructions for what a person should do if they are sick, notice that the first response to sickness was not to seek out physical healing, go to a doctor, take a pill...etc, but was spiritual in nature. James had come to learn over the course of his Christian journey that the spiritual condition of a person was always more important than their physical condition. This is also the mind we should have when we respond to sickness. Get mature Christians around you, anoint your head with oil (which was symbolic of the room being filled with the power of the Holy Spirit), and have those mature, faith-filled leaders pray over you. After these instructions, we read a curious statement about sin being forgiven. Once again, spiritual health was shown to be more important and a greater priority than physical health. Even when physical health would seem to be the greatest and most urgent concern, the most spiritually mature tend to the spiritual first. Many medical studies over the years have shown the ramifications of the internal impact of the mind, attitude, and spiritual position of a person in relation to their physical health. For example, if someone with stage 4 cancer mentally gives up and falls into despair, it is a good probability that their body will soon shut down as well. However, if they mentally keep fighting and maintain a proper outlook on the situation, there is a higher likelihood that their bodies will continue fighting as well.

We are also urged within today's passage to practice confessing our sins to one another. This practice of confession takes a very real burden off your shoulders. A weight that might not be seen but is very much felt. A weight on your mind could very well be affecting your physical health even as you read this. The good news is that scripture tells us that the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective, not just in the spiritual realm, but in the physical as well. Prayer is effective for change, effective for healing, and effective for freedom of the mind and body. If you are facing trouble, your first response should be prayer to the one who is able to do something about your situation. In the same way, if you are happy, fulfilled, and full of joy, then don't hold back from singing songs of praise. In every circumstance, there is a godly response of worship in one form or another. So often, we are stolen away from God; if we are in trouble we turned inward to dwell, to stew, to plot, to scheme, or worry. When everything is going well, we gloat, we revel in happiness, and raise our heads in arrogance. But in either case, God is often forgotten and cast aside. This is not what you were called to. Your response should always be to stay in communication with God, to cast either your care or your praise on him.