James___5

Scripture

James 5: 7-8

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.

 

Observation

James is wrapping up his letters about the beliefs and expectations of believers by speaking about submission to God and patience in suffering. He uses an analogy of a farmer to further his main point to remain in Christ and in the faith no matter what the circumstance or situation may be. He then closes his final letter by challenging believers to live a life full of faith in order to bring others to Christ as well.

 

Understanding

Patience throughout a trial is more than a virtue, it’s a conscious lifestyle.

As a kid I had a third grade teacher who always taught us these deep truths of life that in the moment seemed really confusing, but as we got older they all began to make a lot of sense. But one that she always seemed to use with me was one that I will never forget. She would look at me over the top of her glasses and then say “Miss Khan, patience is a virtue.” It always ended up with her handing back my spelling sentences because I had rushed through them and used all the words incorrectly. And I would always say, “But at least I got it done.” Still, to my chagrin, she would hand back the sentences with the word “redo” written in red pen on the top. As I got older and worked with more people I finally began to understand the weight of “Miss Khan, patience is a virtue.”

I think this is exactly where our church finds ourselves right now. We’ve been told things like

“The harvest is plentiful!”

“This year is the year of harvest!” Or

“The best is yet to come!”

And we’ve gotten to reap our little harvests here and there, but it does not satisfy the contentment of having a full barn. But here, James says that the farmer waits to yield valuable crop. We are so set on getting to work that we just get to swinging the sickle and we turned in damaged goods. Sometimes patience produces the best yield ever. This season that we find ourselves in is a season of patience, but let’s turn our patience into a lifestyle to yield the best crop all the time.

 

Life Application

How do we yield the best crop all the time?

• We must be active in planting the seed (who has God placed around you in this time that you can be intentional with?).
• We must be active in toiling with the soil (invest with these people in a way that you truly develop a deep and personal relationship).
• At DSC we like to say it’s like having a piece of PII (Pray, Invest, Invite).
• But despite all of this, we must also remember not to forget our root (cultivate our own relationship daily with the Father).

Let’s get to turning our virtue into a lifestyle.

-Allison Khan