{"id":6335,"date":"2015-04-08T00:48:43","date_gmt":"2015-04-08T00:48:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/?p=6335"},"modified":"2015-04-08T01:16:15","modified_gmt":"2015-04-08T01:16:15","slug":"james-57-8-be-patient","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/?p=6335","title":{"rendered":"James 5:7-8\u2014Be patient"},"content":{"rendered":"

Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.<\/em> James 5:7-8<\/p>\n

Therefore be patient, brethren\u2026 <\/em><\/p>\n

James had just written about the self-absorbed, inhumane behavior\u00a0that some who were\u00a0wealthy displayed toward souls more righteous than they\u2014men<\/em> of whom the world was not worthy<\/em> (Hebrews 11:38a). In the face of such treatment, James wrote “be patient”. The Greek word for \u201cpatient\u201d is makrothyme\u014d, <\/em>which means \u201cto be of a long spirit, not to lose heart\u201d; \u201cto persevere patiently and bravely in enduring misfortunes and troubles\u201d; \u201cto be patient in bearing the offenses and injuries of others\u201d; \u201cto be mild and slow in avenging\u201d; and \u201cto be longsuffering, slow to anger, slow to punish\u201d ( see http:\/\/www.blueletterbible.org\/lang\/Lexicon\/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=G3114&t=KJV<\/a>). When suffering unjustly, no one feels like responding that way. <\/em>Yet this is what James taught.<\/p>\n

The first meaning for makrothyme\u014d<\/em> is telling\u2014\u201cto be of a long spirit\u201d. Your spirit, made in the image of Jesus Himself, is capable of bearing long under anything. As unpleasant as this may sound, the \u201clong spirit\u201d outlasts everyone and everything else. A man or woman with a \u201clong spirit\u201d is the last one standing, and hence, through Christ, is more than a conqueror. But how<\/em> long must you exercise this \u201clong spirit\u201d of patience?<\/p>\n

\u2026 until the coming of the Lord. <\/em><\/p>\n

You are called to be patient until the coming of the Lord. Jesus did not return in James\u2019 time, therefore, the patience of his audience\u00a0was to extend to the end of their days. You and I are called to this duration of patience as well\u2014until the coming of the Lord or the end of our lives, whichever comes first. And remember: the Lord never calls you to do anything for which He does not equip you. You are<\/em> equipped; through Jesus you have been given a \u201clong spirit\u201d.<\/p>\n

The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it\u2026 <\/em><\/p>\n

Farmers have patience. They understand sowing and reaping, and they understand the necessity of waiting out the process for seeds sown\u00a0to develop into a fully mature harvest. Jesus said, \u201cThe kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows\u2014how, he himself does not know. The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head<\/em>\u201d (Mark 4:26b-28). The farmer doesn\u2019t dig up the seed every day to see if it has sprouted roots yet; he waits and lets the seed and the soil do their thing.<\/p>\n

The church world today has viewed sowing and reaping and the patience of the farmer primarily in relation to the things<\/em> we\u2019ve desired. And that is fitting. Yet here, James was likening the patience of a farmer to believers enduring through ungodly treatment. Even when others look down on or misuse you, remember the farmer’s patient sowing and reaping. You sow peace; you sow integrity; you sow love and endure patiently, and you will reap an enormous crop of righteousness\u2014if not now, then later. If not later, then in the world to come. And according to the Word\u2014great shall be your reward<\/em> (see Matthew 5:12).<\/p>\n

\u2026until it gets the early and late rains. <\/em><\/p>\n

In James\u2019 day, the early rains started in October (see http:\/\/www.blueletterbible.org\/lang\/Lexicon\/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=G4406&t=KJV<\/a>). The late rains were in March or April, just before the harvest (see http:\/\/www.blueletterbible.org\/lang\/Lexicon\/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=G3797&t=KJV<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Patiently waiting for a mature crop was the way of life for James\u2019 readers, and they knew the importance of rainstorms. Yes, it was muddy. Yes, the air was heavy with a damp chill. Yes, it was gloomy and dark. But the rains were necessary for the harvest to spring forth from the ground in all its abundant glory. Waiting in the damp, muddy, gloomy chill for a bumper crop was well worth every dark, dank, sticky, icky minute.<\/p>\n

You too be patient\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

James reminded them of the patience which farmers exerted through the often unpleasant, long wait and urged: You too be patient. <\/em>He was encouraging them to view their harsh circumstances as the rain necessary to produce an abundant crop. If they encountered ill-treatment or distorted misrepresentation, it was like torrential downpours and angry thunderstorms. They, like farmers, could endure it all for the sake of the coming harvest.<\/p>\n

\u2026strengthen your hearts\u2026 <\/em><\/p>\n

How do<\/em> you strengthen your heart? Psalm 27:14 declares, \u201cWait for the LORD; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the LORD<\/em>.\u201d Patience\u2014waiting on God\u2014has a strengthening component to it. As you wait on Him, you gain new strength (see Isaiah 40:31). And as you wait on Him, your heart takes courage, enabling you to stand. When you have done everything to stand, His courage within you empowers you to keep<\/em> standing.<\/p>\n

\u2026 for the coming of the Lord is near.<\/em><\/p>\n

The endgame is not<\/em> what evil men and women envision with their cleverly crafted social engineering. The endgame is not<\/em> the ultimate triumph of man\u2019s methods, ways, and ideologies over the beliefs of “unevolved clingers to an archaic Deity”. No.<\/p>\n

The endgame is this: The coming of the Lord is near, <\/em>and every eye will see Him<\/em> (see Revelation 1:7). And the end of the matter is this: Because Jesus is Lord, you win. You\u2014man or woman of the \u201clong spirit\u201d\u2014have within you the ability to outlast and surpass\u00a0the most unnerving, depressing, manipulative, wicked, undermining schemes concocted by man or by devil. Exert patience. Strengthen your heart.<\/p>\n

The Lord is coming soon.<\/p>\n

Dorothy<\/p>\n

O love the Lord, all you His godly ones! The Lord preserves the faithful and fully recompenses the proud doer. Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the Lord.<\/em> Psalm 31:23-24<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. James 5:7-8 Therefore be patient, brethren\u2026 James had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[106,107,108,109,105],"class_list":["post-6335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-james-5","tag-be-patient-until-the-coming-of-the-lord","tag-early-and-late-rains","tag-farmers-wait-for-the-produce-of-the-field","tag-strengthen-your-hearts","tag-the-coming-of-the-lord"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6335"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6341,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6335\/revisions\/6341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}