PATIENCE

PATIENCE
James 5:7-12
"Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming." (v.7)

IN THE FACE OF EXPLOITATION, James encourages his readers to be patient. While the Lord's coming and His subsequent judgement spell misery for the wicked (v.1), they bring comfort to the righteous (v.7). The exploited are thus assured of justice at the hand of the Lord.

On patience, James points to examples from nature and from Scripture. The farmer is a model of patience (v.7). He knows that certain essential requirements for a good harvest are beyond his control. His crop needs the autumn and spring rains which come in October/November and April/May respectively. He abides by nature's timing, and does not foolishly think he could call the rain any time he wishes. He waits patiently. So should we for the Lord's intervention in the face of difficult circumstances.

The knowledge of the Lord's coming encourages us to wait for His verdict. It also discourages us from taking judgement into our own hands. "Patience," as someone defines it, "is the ability to put up with people you'd like to put down." In the same vein, we are not to grumble against each other (v.9), but to be patient. The Judge is standing at the door, and will soon enter - let Him judge the offender, lest we in our judgemental spirit be judged along with him.

Examples of patience are also drawn from the Scripture. Though the prophets suffered, they persevered. So did Job, another model of patience. Though Job did not always keep his composure (e.g. Job 13.3-4), yet considering the severe test he went through, he provides a striking example for us to follow (e.g. Job 19.25-27). He kept his faith in God to the end.

Frederick W. Faber has these wise words of counsel: "We must wait for God, long, meekly, in the wind and wet, in the thunder and lightning, in the cold and dark. Wait, and he will come. He never comes to those who do not wait."

(The solitary ,exhortation in v.12 is based on our Lord's teaching in Matt 5.33-37. This does not mean that our answer to every question put to us must be a "Yes" or "No" and nothing else. Even Jesus evaded trick questions, e.g. Mark 12.15 about paying taxes to Caesar; or simply kept silence, e.g. Luke 23.9 before Herod. What we are called to do is to make sure our words mean what they say. When we say "Yes", we mean "Yes" and not "Yes, but no".)

Do I have the patience to wait?