Waiting on God

ill bet most of wish Jesus would come back right now and right every wrong establish his kingdom. We are all waiting for that promise to be fulfilled. but in the meantime we see all this evil going on in the world, the corruption, the propaganda, the lies taught in our schools, the rise of false religions and radical socialism. the increase of the persecution of Christians around the world and for the first time in our culture we are witnessing a real hatred being expressed out loud to anyone who holds to Biblical values. its enough to make you want to just lock yourself in a room with the bible turn up the worship music and not come out.   And I am sure the Christians in James day felt the same way with the persecution of the church,  the exploitation of the poor. they were getting impatient. How long were they supposed to wait.. and so James writes to the church

(7) Dear brothers and sisters,  be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. (8) You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near. (9) Don’t grumble about each other, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. For look—the Judge is standing at the door! (10) For examples of patience in suffering, dear brothers and sisters, look at the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. (11) We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy. 
James 5:7-11 – NLT

Being patient is an admirable quality but it doesn’t come easy. When i am at the grocery store checking out im looking for the shortest line and when I find it and get in line behind somebody that’s got like 10 coupons or they need a price check on something and the cashier has a badge that says trainee. and so the line i was in before is moving much faster. or im in traffic. at a 4 way stop and wait my turn and then go but then people that don’t understand how 4 way stops work almost crash into me and honk at me if as if i did something wrong. i have had to curb the temptation to correct them because we live in a time where people are crazy. 

It’s hard to be patient in this world unless you have the bigger picture in mind. and that’s what James is getting at.

1. Patiently wait for the Lords return– the new testaments speaks of a catching up or a rapture of the church in 1 Thessalonians 4. That we will hear a trumpet sound and we will be gone. yes millions of people disappearing off the earth. But those that don’t know the Lord are left behind to experience the last 7 years of what’s called the tribulation period. its a time where the a world leader will arise and draw many to himself and where judgements will be poured out on the earth, and after some years Jesus returns to earth. In Israel to be specific and he establishes his kingdom on earth and rights every wrong and establishes righteousness and justice. Now with that bigger picture in mind we are called to endure, with that hope we look forward as we endure this the difficulties in this life.

(We are given three illustrations of what it means to live a patient life.) A farmer, the prophets and Job.

 2. intentionally cultivate of your spiritual life  I don’t know how many of you have ever tried to grow your own vegetables but its not a job for someone who lacks patience. My sons know not to get me plants because i don’t take care of them. They’ll just die. but tammy has been doing a great job growing herbs. she goes out to water them regularly and cares for them. so when im cooking i just grab some basil or mint, or rosemary. its great. but it takes patience and knowing about the different plant. Its so cool to hear the boys giving her all this advice on how to grow the plants. never thought gardening tips would be a conversation we would be having with the boys.  but there is a lot to consider, the right kind of soil, the right fertilizer, what to use to keep bugs from eating the plants. 

 it takes dedication and attention to detail and patience to cultivate a fruitful garden. Now imagine multiplying that a thousand times. as you take on a Farm. Wow! that’s a whole lifestyle change and imagine doing it old school without modern irrigation systems they had to trust God and rely on the rain that would come in the fall that would get the seeds to sprout and start growing and the latter rains in the spring that would help the plants mature until harvest time.

application: God calls us to be like farmers that work the field, patiently planting the seeds cultivating our spiritual lives and realizing that there are seasons in our lives. Some seasons are difficult with health problems, financial difficulties, challenges raising our kids, caring for our parents.

but then there are those times where he brings the rain, he provides the growth, the personal revelations, the maturity the unexplainable joy and peace that doesn’t rest on any one thing. Waiting on the Lord is anything but passive. it is hard work tilling the soil and that trusts the rains will come at the right time.

3. Waiting for God is not about passivity but to working towards spiritual progress.

(8) Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. (9) So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. (10) Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith. 
Galatians 6:8-10 – NLT

4.  Be patient with fellow Christians we are all on the same path. 

Its so easy to complain and argue and blast one another. that’s the default of the flesh or sinful nature. when we live to please the spirit we make an effort to work through issues, forgive and overlook one another faults in an effort to build God’s kingdom together. imagine if we just focused on improving the fellowship of believers in this way what a testimony to the world that would be. it would more impactful than any miracle

5. Speak from God’s Word with all your heart an endure insults for his name– James says take courage or establish your hearts. Living the Christian life is not for the faint of heart. The prophets were called by God to speak his word to the people. they spoke truth to the culture that didn’t want to hear it and that included so called followers of God. and not much has changed. Anyone who gets serious about speaking the truth of God’s Word gets resistance not just from the culture at large but from professing believers as well.

6. Understand that everything you endure in the end brings the blessing of God.– everything bad that could ever happened. happened to job. a man that was allowed to be tested. lost his family all his possessions, his health and had to endure the judgement of his friends and his own wife saying he should just die already. So if your having a bad day. consider job.