This post isn’t about tardiness, nor is it about timeliness. This post is about patience. I think some of you lost your patience while reading that last sentence, then blew a cap reading this one. All kidding aside, it is true that all of us need to be more patient. The question is, how much patience is enough patience? If we had just answered that then we wouldn’t lose our patience, nor would we be apathetic.
7 Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. – James 5:7-8 ESV
I don’t think we give enough credence to these two verses. I think a lot of people will read what comes before this passage and what comes after this passage because it is far more tantalizing. However, I know we would all be amiss if we didn’t take this passage to be the rationale behind how we should proactively and re-actively respond to people, things, and circumstances in our lives. Case in point: when you cursed up a storm sitting in traffic (whether it was train traffic, car traffic, or pedestrian traffic); when your breakfast burrito didn’t heat up fast enough in the microwave and you were going to be late; when your co-worker didn’t deliver when they had promised to deliver; your kids not cleaning a room they promised to clean ages ago; your spouse coming home early when they agree to do so; etc. I can go on and on. Each of those instances caused you to react in an unruly manner that you wish could have had back because it made you look like an idiot and miss out on an opportunity that could have potentially been there if you didn’t sully yourself.
James writes this to people who believe they are suffering because of who they were and what they chose to follow. These people see themselves punished and maligned for doing what is right and proper and they’re sick of it. Not only that, they have been consistently enduring by biting their tongues and that patience they are displaying is running out–quickly. You know what I’m talking about: the wearing you down type of life circumstances. They are at their wits end and about to blow a gasket. In doing so, they will miss out on what God is bringing. James is making that so evidently clear. When you’re about to loose it, James says, “wait for it, it’s not over yet.” We all need to be more patient with our lives. We need to establish ourselves because we don’t live for me and our timelines mean nothing and our agendas mean less in the grand scheme of things.
You’re not done until God says its over so we need to be more patient. Don’t stop being patient with your life, with the people in your life, with the circumstances of your life. God blessed you early and you got some good, holy rain from Him. There will be late rains and if you are not patient, you will miss out on them.
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