Please Be Patient

James is an extremely practical book. It takes the great truths of the Christian faith and then attaches a “so what?” afterward. We discover what these truths mean to us and how they affect our lives.

And in chapter 5, James shares important principles regarding what we should be doing as believers who are waiting for the Lord’s return.

He writes, “Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near” (verses 7–8 NLT).

James tells us that the farmers wait for the early and latter rains. They also look eagerly, or expectantly, for the harvest to ripen.

Farmers today use sophisticated technology. Not only do they have advanced irrigation systems, but they can take satellite photos of their property so they know which parts of their fields need more water and which parts have enough or maybe too much. They can harness this technology to harvest their crops.

However, ancient farmers didn’t have modern irrigation systems. They depended completely on the rain to sustain their crops.

They had to wait for the rain, and the early rains in Israel usually arrived in late October or early November. They softened the hard, baked soil for plowing. Then the latter rains came in late April and May. These were essential for the crops to mature.

But if a farmer grew impatient and tried to harvest the seed before it was ready, he could uproot the entire process. He had to wait.

No crop appears overnight, except a crop of weeds, of course. Isn’t it amazing how quickly weeds can grow? We will carefully nurture a little plant that we’re growing, and it might gain an inch or two over time. Meanwhile, the weeds have grown three feet high. They need no help whatsoever.

If we want a good spiritual harvest in our lives, it takes time. We must be patient. And if we’re waiting for the return of Christ, we must be patient as well. Yet that is difficult to do in our on-demand culture of today.

We don’t have to wait and save money to purchase something we want. We want it now. We feel that we deserve it, so we just charge it.

But as we wait for the Lord’s return, we need to remember that God is not bound by our schedules. He has His own. The Bible tells us, “But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children” (Galatians 4:4–5 NLT).

Jesus will come at the appointed time. And just as He came the first time at the appointed hour, He will come the second time in the same way.

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