James series – “The Litmus Test for life”

James 5:7-11

⁷ 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. ⁸ You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. ⁹ Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! ¹⁰ Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.¹¹ As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

When it comes to waiting we need to be careful that we don’t see it as doing nothing. Because James also reveals that patience involves:

• Working 

Waiting involves the work of ploughing and preparing the soil. So let me ask you are you ready for the rain, patience prepares us to plant, it prevents us from missing ministry opportunities. The soil has to be prepared in order to plant the seed. Patience isn’t just sitting around. So what does pushing the plough look like? It’s the hard work of prayer. Are you ploughing the soil with prayer, parents are you praying for your prodigal kids? Are you ploughing the soil of their hard hearts with prayer, are you praying for the seed that’s been planted? Or are you giving priority to panic. I’m in ministry today because my Mom put her energy into working and waiting not worry. She ploughed ahead in prayer, even though there was no sign of fruit not even a small shoot of green growth. She prayed over the hard-frozen bleak winter field of my life because she didn’t focus on what she saw she focused on the Savior. Instead of focusing on her heartache over the pain of a prodigal son she focused on the Hope that only comes from Heaven. Ploughing ahead happens when the team of oxen are tied together with the yoke. In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.³⁰ For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” We become weary in well doing when we do it in our own strength. Are you ploughing, or pouting? If we are not careful, we will spend our time whining instead of waiting and working. If you don’t farm by faith you will fall victim to fear and frustration. How do we wait patiently for Jesus by remembering that He has been patient with us. He patiently pursued you and now in patience we pursue Him. But it’s hard for us to sit still because many of us want to be in charge and in control. The truth is impatience is a form of unbelief. It’s what happens when we start to doubt God’s goodness and guidance. We feel like nothing is happening that He doesn’t care and so we get angry with the Almighty, and go off on God, we end up spraying shrapnel everywhere, ruining all of our relationships. We have two decisions to make.

• We can choose to wait on God right where we are and not giving up. Instead of bailing on God, let Him use His waiting room to build you up.

• We can determine to go at His pace rather than being reckless and trying to run the show.

Give God His Place and keep in step with His Pace. So how are you handling the frustrations of life? Are you focusing on faith or fairness? Are you praising or protesting? How do you have hope in hard times, by focusing on the harvest not the hardship. Are you patiently working and waiting for the fruit of the field to be ripe unto harvest?