October 26, 2012 – Day 19 – James 5:7-12

⁷ Be patient, then, brothers, 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. ⁸ You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. ⁹ Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! ¹⁰ Brothers, 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 consider 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. ¹² Above all, my brothers, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your “Yes” be yes, and your “No,” no, or you will be condemned. ^[1]

Why can we not wait? We have become so accustom to instant gratification in most areas of our lives that we expect God to move instantly, and when He does not we grumble and complain, not against God but against one another. It is easy to understand our impatience. No one likes to endure suffering even when we know intellectually that it is producing for us a crown of glory. When we have seasons of distress and trial all we can think about doing is getting out from under whatever it is that has caused it. It is difficult to imagine that there could possibly be a purpose to our pain, but undoubtedly God uses (not causes) our suffering for His glory.

To emphasize his point and strengthen his position, James invokes the memory of Job who suffered more than most of us can imagine and yet he remained committed to the Lord and persevered. The automatic retort of most of us to such a comparison is, “we are not Job!” But I have discovered that we really do not know what we can endure, and what through suffering we can persevere until it becomes necessary. I used to look at people in obvious pain and comment on how difficult it would be for me, how I could not do what they were doing. I discovered that it is true that one generally does not know what they can handle until they have to handle it.

Rest assured that God knows all about the struggles in our lives. Trust that He knows the pain and suffering we endure and that He is using it all to bring glory to His name. So stand faithfully and wait for His deliverance. Stand firm refusing to waffle in any direction, allowing your ‘yes’ to be ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ to be ‘no,’ and in so doing avoid divine condemnation and judgment.

Lord Jesus, it so difficult for us to wait. We tire of the pain and suffering we endure. We want to see the end of it now. It is so severe at times that we wonder how we can possibly make it through. We hear that You have a purpose for it, but from our vantage point we have difficulty seeing it. Open our eyes today so we can see what You are doing through our suffering to bring glory to Your own name. Give us grace to wait on You and the deliverance You desire to bring us. Strengthen our resolve so we can take our stand letting our ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and our ‘no’ be ‘no,’ and do it all for the glory of Your name. Amen.