Patience is a virtue

Often it’s hard to be patient for that which we really want, however God holds all time in His hands.

James 5.1-12

Reference: v.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 and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. (NIV Bible)

Explore: Clearly there are now many reasons why I’m glad my parents didn’t follow the rest of the family and bring us up on a farm. Originally I thought it was just because we would have had to milk cows morning and night, everyday, but now I see that I would have to have been patient as well! And that I would have struggled with more than early mornings and endless amounts of cow manure! Patience is not my strength! I like to be efficient and often I expect others to be too. Clearly God’s efficiency runs to a different time than mine!!

Application: The farmer in this passage has to be patient for the correct season, and I think that is appropriate for everyone. Whether you’re growing some crops, growing a company, growing a family or growing a church, we all need to be patient and wait for the correct response in to correct season. From a church’s perspective I know that often we pray for more people to know God and to come into the church to worship but we don’t have the set up to accommodate for a new crowd. It’s like we’re expecting humidity in winter. Patience is important for us to wait for God’s response at the right time. Sometimes it may seem that God takes forever to respond, however I guess He does come from an eternal perspective. We just need to remember that He set all the season in place and His timing is perfect.

Prayer: Lord, so often I am impatient. However that is because I don’t always know what is best for me. I need to trust you more as you are the Creator of all the seasons, you set time in place and you know what is best. Amen.