"Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth and hath long patience for it until he receive the early and latter rain" (James 5:7).
James 5:7-11
In our passage over the next few days, the Lord will teach us the importance of being patient. James has begun this fifth chapter with the Lord’s warning to the rich (vv. 1-6). This thought about them, they have been dishonest, and their judgment is coming. We will be looking over James 5:7-11 for the next several days. In these words, we will find three examples of patience.
1) The Farmer’s Patience,
2) The Prophet’s Patience,
3) Job’s Patience.
If we heed the Lord’s Word, we can learn to be patient even while we may be suffering in this life. If we do not know to draw our stamina from the Lord, we will need to keep learning from the same kinds of trials. We will do our best to understand God’s lessons from our life experiences. If these people can be long-suffering, why can’t we?
Part 1
Today: The Patience of the Farmer (a)
(James 5:7) “Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth and hath long patience for it until he receive the early and latter rain.”
“I want patience, and I want it now!” Unfortunately, that is not how this works.
“Be patient, therefore, brethren.”
This is one of those virtues that we all agree is needed, but we may not want to obediently wait around until we get it. The question was asked online, “How to get patience?” The first three hits were these:
1) “Four Steps to Developing Patience”[1]
2) “Six Steps for How to Have More Patience”[2]
3) “7 Strategies to Build and Improve Patience”[3]
I’m sure these articles might have some helpful ideas in them. Though, I doubt they contain the Lord’s statements on gaining patience. Instead of “steps” and “strategies,” the Word of God gives us what we need to know about ourselves, our needs, and God’s way to gain His kind of patience. In our verses, He points us to three examples of patience for us to imitate. The first is the farmer.
“Brethren.”
James’ message is to believers. We who know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior are blessed with the Holy Spirit living within us. He is the one who can give us the strength to carry on as we are striving to obey our Lord. Without Him, this project for patience maybe just another hopeless “self-help” plan. “Lord, we need You!”
“Be patient.”
“Be patient, therefore,” … This word is from an ancient word, made up of two Greek words. Here in James, it means, “of long spirit,” and “not losing heart… The appeal is to the oppressed brethren. Catch your wind for a long race (long-tempered as opposed to short-tempered)”[4] (Robertson).
Patience does not come quickly to anyone. And the suffering that James’ brethren were encountering was not going to be over soon. They need to be ready to suffer over the “long haul,”[5] being “long-suffering.” There are two parts to this kind of patience. First, there is the willingness to stand up even in the present storm upon us and keep on walking, striving for progress, and never giving up. Secondly, while we are obeying by moving ahead, we are waiting on God, trusting Him for our deliverance.[6]
Believers, our growth in patience takes patience. Luke quoted Jesus telling the meaning of the parable of “The Soils,” with these words.
“But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15).
For the child of God to grow spiritual fruit in their life, we must be in the Word of God. And our growth demands our patience.
“For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope” (Romans 15:4).
Patience + God’s Word believed and obeyed = HOPE!
Quote: “Hope is patience with the lamp lit”[7] (Tertullian).
[1] This was from Psychology Today, www.psychologytoday.com/…/four-steps-developing-patience.
[2] This one was from IQ Doodle, iqdoodle.com/have-patience.
[3] Finally, this last article was by Melissa Eisler, melissaeisler.com/improve-patience.
[4] A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, the electronic version in eSword.
[5] The “long haul” is a trucking term that means to go the distance. It’s a long tiring trip.
[6] See thoughts in the Popular New Testament, A Popular Commentary on the New Testament, the electronic version in eSword. James 5:7.
[7] Tertullian’s quote Downloaded: Monday, March 22, 2021. From: https://www.inspirationalstories.com/patience-quotes/. He lived from AD 160 to AD 240. He was a Christian apologist who wrote against “pagan idolatry and Gnosticism.” From the Oxford Dictionary online.