James Chapter 5: Verses 7-11 (NIV)
Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!
Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
I admit that I find it hard to wait for something that’s been promised. Sometimes it’s true that there is pleasure in anticipating the promise to come, like a holiday for example. However, I find the nearer the time comes, the more impatient I get. God has given a promise that Jesus will come again in power, and when we look at the state of the world, we can get impatient for that return to be soon. But God will have made other promises to us that may be personal to us, which we are still waiting to see fulfilled.
James gives the example of the farmer who plants crops, and the same is true of any gardener. The crops and plants will come up in their time, and not before. We can only do what is necessary to make sure they have the right conditions in which to grow, and then we simply wait. And that’s the same with God’s promises. We must hold on to them, nurture them in prayer, and wait. And the time that is most difficult to do that, as James says, is when we are going through a period of hardship or suffering. We want to come out of that as soon as possible, don’t we? Yet even in that, we are reminded of the perseverance of Job.
And the worst thing we can do is give up. The farmer or gardener is not going to abandon what they have planted; they know in the fulness of time they will be rewarded by a crop. Imagine if we gave up on God’s promise just before He fulfilled it. The Old Testament writers were promised a Messiah would come. Some of them died before Jesus was born. But they still trusted God, and at the right time in God’s plan, Jesus was born. So therefore, at the right time, in God’s plan for us, His promises will be fulfilled. In the meantime, we must learn to be patient and look forward with anticipation.
Dear Lord,
I ask for the grace to be patient and the joy of anticipating the fulfilment of Your promises, which I know can be trusted. I ask in Jesus’ Name. Amen.