Reading: James 5:7-11; James 1:2-4
Speaker: Paul McCabe
Thoughts on Wise Living
“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things” (Galatians 5:22-23).
As someone who teaches four and five year olds, I know that I am not the most forgetful person in my life. I do not lose things to anywhere near the same degree as the children I care for. But what I do find myself losing (at least more often that I’d like) is my patience.
As a teacher who enjoys their profession, this never happens at school. The place I tend to lose my patience is, sadly, at home. The house that is meant to be my retreat from a chaotic world has walls that sometimes close in on me. When Elliott and Molly are under my feet and I am drowning in unfinished chores and endless meal prep, my patience can be misplaced.
I immediately thought of Paul’s words to the Galatians when I saw this week’s theme was patience. When I find myself getting frustrated and, yes, impatient, I recite Galatians 5:22-23 like a meditation mantra. And when those same signs of irritation surface in my Elliott, I get right back on the Galatians train and walk him through the famous fruits of the Spirit.
It helps. It really does. I am not just saying that as a proud dad. Hearing aloud what the Lord would have us do, and remembering what He enables us to do by His indwelling Spirit, lets me (and Elliott) breathe relief that there is hope on the other side of impatience. But what does wise old James have to say about patience? When it comes to the biblical concept of sanctified, Spirit-led patience, where does James stand?
Well, he stands precisely where we all want to stand. He waits with bated breath for the Lord’s return. James sees the ever-present trouble and testing of a fallen world and says: Be patient. You can do it! “For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing” (James 1:3-4).
This is our reward for waiting. Endurance. Godly and God-given endurance that, when made to grow, completes our Christian walk and leaves us needing nothing. Not literally, of course. But we need nothing in the sense that the patience we gain leaves us confident and comfortable in Christ. For proof, James turns to the prophets of old and even Job, the man of ultimate testing.
Job demanded answers from God for his suffering. God did not answer him directly, but He was gracious to reveal His glory, thereby settling Job’s nerves. As Job says: “I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen You with my own eyes” (Job 42:5). This is what James means by being tested to the point of perfection, needing nothing.
As for the faithful, patient prophets, we know how they “conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight” (Hebrews 11:33-34).
As believers whose suffering pales in comparison to Isaiah, Daniel or Jeremiah, what would James have us do? Sow gospel seeds and tend to them like patient farmers. Take courage that Christ is true and He will return. Don’t grumble or gossip, for the Judge is at the door. And honour those who endured long ago and still endure today.