Be Patient

James 5:7-11

7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains.

8 You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.

9 Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door.

10 As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

11 We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and {is} merciful.(NAU)

James has just told us in the previous verses what is the outcome of those who hope in material riches and goods and store these up for themselves with no concern for the needs of others, and now he is addressing the brothers in Christ who are not so financially well off. Look at what he is telling them. Brothers, James is saying, be patient while you wait for your reward which will come with the coming of the Lord. The farmer has to wait, so do you. But the harvest will come. And before the harvest comes there must first come the first early rain, then the late, the latter rain. Then the results take place.

Then James says "Strengthen your hearts." Why? Jesus is coming soon. So I say to you all who find yourselves struggling, who find yourselves sometimes doing without because of your circumstances, who find yourselves doing without for even a long time, follow James’ advice and strengthen yourselves in the Lord. How? The key means as far as I understand it is concentrating your focus on the will of God, not on what you have or don’t have. Paul stated

Phil 4:11-13

11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.(KJV)

Really, the solution is where your focus should be-on God and His will. If your focus is wrong, you won’t be content. Paul learned to focus on God and His will. And remember what Jesus said,

Matt 6:25, 26, 28

25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?(KJV)

26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?(KJV)

Matt 6:28

28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:(KJV)

And the writer to the Hebrews brings up the subject too-

Heb 13:5

5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."(NKJ)

So going back to James, he is not only telling people to be patient but also to be content with what they have, because the coming of the Lord is soon and one must keep oneself having the right focus.

James also addresses the issue of holding a grudge toward one’s neighbor. And I am inclined to believe he is referring to having a grudge against a neighbor that has more goods than him. I could be wrong, but since James is talking first about people with money, then he is talking about being patient and waiting for the reward, it seems to me he is still referring to financial or material concerns of the brethren. So, it seems to me that the grudging here is a grudging of jealousy. Course there are other reasons people hold grudges and James has already addressed some of those issues earlier in his letter.

James gives another reason-all based on scripture and knowledge of God-for not holding a grudge against one’s neighbor-and that is because what you judge will be judged back to you.

The next thing James does is gives examples to follow-the examples of the prophets and Job.

James 5:11

11 We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and {is} merciful.(NAU)

Do you want to follow God? Be willing then to follow the examples of the prophets and Job should God ask that of you. What does that mean for your life? Well it may mean changing the whole direction and focus of your life. It may also mean being willing to suffer persecution unjustly, and all the while praising the Lord for that. Take a look at what Peter said about that

1 Pet 3:14

14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;(KJV)

1 Pet 3:17

17 For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.(KJV)

1 Pet 4:19

19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.(KJV)

You can see both James and Peter had the same idea toward living with suffering. You know why of course. It was because they had the same teacher. May all of us learn as well as James and the other apostles the meaning of following the Lord wholeheartedly.

I am looking for feed back from all of you again. This time I wish to find out if you wish for me to do another study of a book for the devotionals or if you wish me to just choose subjects God puts in mind for me to discuss. In the next 2 weeks we should be finished with the book of James and I am interested in your input regarding the devotionals. Please be sure to email me on the subject. Many thanks.

Have a great weekend. The Good News Lady