“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.”
-James 5:7 (New
International Version)
Patience is a godly virtue
which is very hard to achieve in this age where everything is quick and fast.
We push buttons and get quick results.
We eat fast-food served in less than a minute. We go to places with
speed. We hate it when we are made to wait. We discard gadgets which are slow
and replace them with the latest versions which are faster or fastest. Waiting
is a torture for some. We are short tempered as we are impatient.
The Apostle James seems to
be a man who has practically learned about patience. He understands the
discipline of waiting. In the art and discipline of waiting we learn patience. “Be patient,” James said, “as you
wait for the coming of the Lord.”
Waiting is not a useless,
waste of time. It may be viewed as
passive but actually it is active, for in the course of waiting something is
happening, which will bear fruit at the right time. To the believers the coming
of the Lord is the most awaited event. They do not know exactly know, when, but
they observe and wait for the signs and the seasons, and are assured that the
Lord’s coming is certain. It would take a lot of patient waiting to welcome His
arrival. This is the hard part.
The good Apostle gives the
analogy of a farmer who waits for the coming of the harvest. This is how we are
to wait for the Lord. The farmer cannot possibly speed up the harvest of his crops
by pushing buttons. He needs to wait and allow the crops to grow, mature;
waiting for the changing of the seasons until they are ready for harvest. He
expectantly waits and allows time to do its work. He keeps up his patient vigil
over the crops waiting for the sun and rain to their work. Through this
patient waiting and expectation the precious harvest comes at the right
time.
The Lord teaches us to
wait patiently.
On the other hand, the
world drives us to restlessness and hurrying in a mad rush of meaningless
existence.
The choice is ours.
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