James Is Your Friend

Everyone knows someone who tests their patience.  Can you think of that person?  We all have people in our lives that bring us to the threshold of our patience because of reasons ranging from them being annoying or different all the way to them even being mean, hurtful, and causing suffering.  These people may be in our family, be our friends, or at our work, school, church, and other regular meeting places.  

I know that I am not immune to this test of patience.  I can remember working with someone who was very hard to work with.  They were very arrogant and condescending.  There were times that I had to spiritually prepare myself before walking into the door to work.  I also know that my wife is not immune to this.  I have been the cause of a lot of my wife’s struggle for patience.  I know that God loves me because He gave me a wife that can deal with my personality, weaknesses, and my times of stupidity.

Patience is important to discuss because it is sometimes at the root of conflict and drama.  Many times drama and conflict is caused by impatience and actions that flow from impatience.  In dealing with patience, we can indirectly deal with conflict and drama.  Well, the biblical author, James has provided for us a text that discusses the principles and practice of patience.  James says in James 5:7-11:

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. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

The first thing we notice is that James is instructing us to be patient right at the start of this passage.  This is a command, not an option, for believers to be patient.  Before we can go any further, we must ask the common question about the word, “therefore” - what is it therefore?  This is referring to the previous passage (James 5:1-6), in which James is rebuking the oppressive rich.  At that time, the rich were brutally oppressing the poor believers by abusing them, stealing from them, withholding wages, and treating them like dirt.  James, rather strongly, rebukes them in their sin.  After the rebuke, James then turns to the oppressed believers and says, “Even though the rich are wrong, be patient with them.”  James illustrates the principle by pointing to the farmer waiting for the harvest and the rains that feed his crops.  This is a job that requires a lot of patience, especially since it is a job of a lot of work and a lot of wait.  James relates the patience of the farmer to how we are to be patient.  This then leads to James supplementing his command to be patient by commanding us to establish our hearts.  He is referring to how we must make an unwavering commitment to be patient.  Another way of saying this is, “strengthen your hearts.”  In a little bit, we will see what we can do to strengthen our hearts.  But first, we must look to James’ practical command in which he says do not grumble against one another.  When we are impatient with people, a few things happen.  We have an internal conflict and we tend to hoard anger and grudges.  This then leads to gossip and complaining against one another.  So, James is covering all his bases by also commanding us to not allow the effects of impatience be part of our lives.  However, if we are following his first command to be patient, then following this command will naturally be easier.

Now, many of you may be saying, “of course we know that we are to be patient,” “James, we have heard all this before.”  We have heard the clichés, like “patience is a virtue.”  We have heard the jokes, like “God, give me patience and give it to me now!”  Saying “be patient” is much easier than actually being patient.  So the real question is not what we are to do, but how are we to do it.  How are we to be patient?  Well, our text today shows us how to be patient by offering six motivations that a believer should understand.

1.  God’s Return

The first of these motivations is that the believer should consider God’s return.  James states that we should establish our hearts “for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”  This is looking at our present situation by referring to the future fulfillment of God’s promises in Christ’s return.  Christ will be coming in glory and we will be revealed with Him in glory.  If Christ is our most precious treasure, then the very thought of being in His presence at that future day makes our present suffering seem less significant.  This is just another example of Paul’s principle of having an eternal & heavenly mindset instead of a temporal and earthly mindset.  When someone is testing our patience, we no longer look at the situation from a selfish and suffering perspective.  We know that we suffer for a short time, but in the future we will have a joyful eternity in the beautiful presence of Christ.  What is also motivating is that in that day, Christ will make everything right.

2.  God’s Judgment

This leads us to the second motivation, which is that the believer should consider God’s judgment.  When Christ returns, he will also come to bring His judgment and wrath on the wicked.  The wicked that we have to deal with now will one day be judged.   All suffering will be vindicated.  Not only will Christ enact vengeance on behalf of our suffering, but that vengeance will be much more than what we could ever do.  Our vengeance is tainted by sin, but Christ has a perfect, righteous, and holy judgment.  So, instead of us trying to right the wrongs against us, we need to patiently wait for our Savior to do it for us.  Furthermore, all suffering will be eliminated.  However, James also warns us that if we are impatient, we will also be under this judgment.  This promise and warning helps us to patiently wait for God’s judgment.

3.  God’s Examples

Another motivation that James provides is that the believer should consider God’s examples.  There are many people in the scriptures that we can look to as examples of patience and suffering.  Think about the patience of Moses with the people of Israel.  Remember the suffering of Joseph, even when he was fully following God.  Look at the suffering of God’s prophets:  Jeremiah endured much sorrow and persecution.  Elijah was constantly opposed, and at one time, 850 prophets stood up against him.  Hosea had an unfaithful and prostitute wife.  James mentions Job by name, who may be one of the best examples for us to follow.  Job lost absolutely everything, and he had a lot to lose, but yet he “did not sin nor did he blame God.”  The amount of suffering of these people tends to dwarf our own suffering.  If they were able to be patient, we can be patient in our situation.  

4.  God’s Blessings

However, their suffering is not the end of the story.  Job, in the end, experienced unimaginable blessing, which is the fourth motivation for us: the believer should consider God’s blessings.  The end of the book of Job describes the blessing of God to Job that surpasses what he had before.  God gave job everything back, plus more.  Job died in fulfillment and happiness in his God.  It is undeniable that God blesses those who are patient in their endurance.  In fact, James states in the beginning of his book that we should be joyful when trials come because of the effectual benefits and blessings.  The blessing of God is worth the suffering of life.  Our hope in our patience is in the Lord’s promises of blessing.  Just like Paul, we can say that our present sufferings are not even worth comparing to the future glory with Christ.  Another interesting thing about God’s blessing is that it far surpasses the temporary pleasure of revenge.  Part of our struggle with patience is that when someone mistreats us, we have a desire for revenge or vengeance.  I am not going to deny that there is pleasure in getting revenge, no matter how blatant or subtle it is.  However, that pleasure is not only temporary, but it is incomplete.  In fact, if you are a believer, conviction follows that pleasure of revenge.  These facts obviously point us to the complete, lasting, and guilt-free blessings of God that result from patience.  The blessings of God far surpass both suffering and revenge.  Patience comes from placing our hope in God’s promise of blessing.

5.  God’s Purpose

Looking back to James’ discussion of Job brings us to our fifth motivation; the believer should consider God’s purpose.  The book of Job shows us the purpose of God in the story.  Knowing God’s purposes of victory over Satan, development of Job, and ultimately His glory allows us to see the importance of patience in Job.  This allows us, in our struggle, to remember that God is control and there is a reason for our suffering.  God is working behind the scenes, even if all we see is the bleak situation and all we feel is the suffering.  God has a purpose for everything that happens and we can be patient by knowing that there is not meaningless suffering.  There is a classic scripture that comes to mind, which brings immense peace and hope in our suffering.  Paul tells us in Romans 8:28 that God works all things together for good to those who love Him, to those who are called according to his purpose.  We may have heard that verse many times, but it is a great truth to hold to when striving to be patient.  Referring to the purpose of the Lord helps us practice patience.

6.  God’s Character

The last and maybe most important motivation takes the focus off of us and places our focus on the Lord; the believer should consider God’s character.  James tells us that the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.  These are elements of love and God is love.  Even when we feel alone in our suffering, we can hold to the truth that God loves us and is there with us.  God’s love gives us the strength to be patient.  God shows us compassion and mercy and that allows us to show patience.  During our struggles, we can either blame God or we can run into His loving arms.  Moreover, even when we fail at being patient, we know that God is merciful and will forgive us.  So, James is commanding us to be patient in the beginning of this passage, but he is also reminding us that when we fail to follow that command, God is there to lovingly pick us back up.  God is patient with us because of His mercy and compassion.  God Himself is an example of patience for us.  This leads us take on a new perspective when someone wrongs us:  We wrong God everyday.  Everyday we crucify Christ with our sin.  And, yet, God still loves us.  What we do to God everyday far surpasses anything anyone could do to us, and God is still patient with us.  If God is patient with us, then we can be patient with that person who wrongs us.  Furthermore, those who have truly tasted mercy will show mercy and compassion on others.  We love others because He first loved us.  We show mercy on others because He first showed mercy on us.  Remembering who God is gives us strength to have patience.

Today we have seen James’ instructions on patience.  He not only teaches us what to do, but how to do it.  He shows us how to be patient by providing six motivations that a believer should understand.  The believer should consider God’s return, judgment, examples, blessings, purpose, and character.  So now, think again of that person or people that test your patience.  How have you been responding to them?  Have you been responding in patience and endurance or have you been responding in impatience?  Are you currently dealing with conflict that has been caused by impatience?  Are you currently holding grudges against or gossiping about that person because of your impatience?  Today, do you need to “establish your heart” to God in a commitment to replace impatience with patience?  Even though it may be easier for some, we all struggle with patience.  You are not alone in your struggle.  Ultimately, God is with you in your struggle.  Get your strength to be patient from the One who has perfect patience.  Christ understands what you go through because of what He went through.  Do you remember what Christ has done for us?  Think about the patience Christ had while going through His crucifixion.  Almost everyone was against Him: the Jews planned His death, the Romans nailed Him to the cross, His closest friends and disciples abandoned Him…and even His Father forsook Him.  When we remember the cross, we can see the patience of Christ.  When we remember the cross, we can see how to practice people patience.


Posted on 08/25/11 at 9:20pm