Waiting on the Lord
James 5:7 Therefore, brothers, be patient until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth and is patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near. 9 Brothers, do not complain about one another, so that you will not be judged. Look, the judge stands at the door! 10 Brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the Lord’s name as an example of suffering and patience. 11 See, we count as blessed those who have endured.You have heard of Job’s endurance and have seen the outcome from the Lord. The Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
INTRO: Most of you have heard me say many times in the past that we will all go through trials and difficult times throughout our life. We struggle with emotional and health issues, financial issues, family and relationship issues, just to name a few. Sometimes we contribute to the difficulties, or bring them on ourselves through our own actions. But, there are also times when circumstances are out of our control and we're faced with a difficult situation not of our making.
What should we do when we find ourselves in a difficult situation? Well, the first thing we should do is to evaluate the situation and see if we are contributing to the problem. If we find that to be so, the simple solution is to stop or change the behavior or attitude that caused us to get in trouble.
(Man digging hole) - If you find yourself in the bottom of a deep hole that you've put yourself in, the first thing you need to do is to put down the shovel and quit digging!
But, that still leaves us with the question of what to do when we are faced with the situations and circumstances of life that are not of our own making. How should we respond when circumstances are out of our control.
Fortunately for us, the Bible gives us instruction in what we should do. In the passage we read together this morning, James gives us 3 powerful principles that we should follow when we're facing the trials of life. If we will learn to consistently apply these three principles, we will not only be able to endure, but to overcome and to see the power of God working in our lives like never before!
I. BE PATIENT.
James 5:7 Therefore, brothers, be patient until the Lord’s coming.
To understand this passage of Scripture better we need to understand the context in which it was written. Many of the recipients of this letter were suffering through intense persecution for their faith. They were rejected by both the Jewish people and the Gentile people because of their faith in Christ. As a result of this persecution, they were going through extreme difficulties in their personal lives and in their churches. Yet James, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, instructs them to "be patient." This was not just some flippant saying given to someone dealing with a minor inconvenience - this was a powerful revelation from God to His people who were going through terrible difficulties!
I know from experience that being told to "be patient" is not what most of us want to hear when we are going through trials. But, that is exactly the powerful truth we NEED to hear - and to not only hear it, but we need to take this truth to heart and apply it into our daily lives.
A. What does it mean to "be patient?"
The word translated as "patient" in this verse comes from the original Greek word "makrothumia" which means to hold out under an extended trial; or, a long-protracted restraint of the soul without giving in to anger or frustration.
There is also another aspect to this word "makrothumia" that deals with our relationship with those who do us wrong. This aspect means we don't retaliate against those who may be persecuting or oppressing us. Rather, we treat them with love and kindness and allow God space and time to vindicate us.
When we take all this into consideration we see see that the phrase "be patient" in this context means literally to wait on the Lord, no matter the circumstance, and allow Him to work out His plan in our life.
When we are afflicted, we wait on the Lord.
When we are injured or done wrong, we wait on the Lord.
When we don't understand why, we wait on the Lord.
Even when we can't see God's plan for our life, we wait on the Lord.
B. Why should we be patient?
1. Because God says so. (v.7 "Be Patient") - This phrase is written in an imperative mood which means it is a command from the Lord. We must learn to be patient in every situation because God commands us to do so. To be impatient is to be disobedient and is a sin.
2. Because it demonstrates our faith in God. - Resisting the urge to fight against our circumstances and learning to simply trust God during the trials of life is the greatest demonstration of real faith that anyone of us can ever make towards God.
Most of us like to be in charge, or at least think we are in charge, of our lives. When things get out of our control, we get very uncomfortable and fearful. I used to joke that the reason I didn't like to fly was that I didn't know how to operate the plane and I wasn't in the pilot's seat - in other words I didn't like to fly because I wasn't in control.
Trusting God completely when things are out of our control is what real faith is all about!
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; 6 think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths.
(Ship in Storm) There is a story I once read about a young girl who's father was the captain of a passenger ship in the early 1900's. The girl's mother had passed away a few years earlier and the little girl traveled with her father and lived on board the ship. One evening the ship encountered an extremely violent storm that was so bad, the ship was in danger of capsizing. The captain ordered the crew to get the all the passengers out of their cabins and into their life jackets as they prepared for the worst. One of crew members went down to the captain's cabin to get his daughter. When they woke her up and told her what was happening, she simply them one question: "Is father on the bridge?" When the crew member responded that he was, the little girl told him, "well with father in charge, everything will be okay." The she rolled back over and immediately went back to sleep.
Do you have that kind of faith in your Heavenly Father? That kind of complete trust in God is what the Scripture means when it says, "be patient."
3. Because it allows God to work out His plan in our life. - When you resist the urge to give in to frustrations and learn to truly trust God and be patient, He will show Himself mighty in your life. The flip side of that is as long as you continue to struggle through life in your own strength and understanding, you will never see God's hand at work in your life and you will doom yourself to frustration and failure.
Lamentations 3:25 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him.
Paul wrote these words of encouragement to the church:
Philippians 1:6 I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Be patient and trust God!
(Bible open to Micah) I remember a number of years ago, I was going through the darkest time in my life. I didn't know what to do, or where to turn. It seemed like the darkness was overwhelming. The only hope I had was my faith in God, and the fact that I knew He loved me. Months of darkness dragged on into years. I must admit to you that by this time I was at the verge of giving up all hope, and then one night the Spirit woke me up 2:30 AM and spoke to me. He told me to take out my Bible and turn to Micah chapter 7 and verse 7. I reached over on the nightstand to get my Bible and turned on the lamp. As, I opened to the passage He gave me, this is what God's spoke to me:
Micah 7:7 But I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.
God let me know in that moment that He had not forgotten me, He still had a plan for my life, and that if I continued to patiently trust Him I would see His plan come to pass in my life. My friends, I stand before you today as a living example of God's faithfulness! If we patiently trust Him, He will show Himself to be faithful!
C. How long should we be patient?
James 5:7 Therefore, brothers, be patient until the Lord’s coming.
I'm certain there were members of the church James lead who were asking him, "how long must we be patient?" James answers by telling them, "until the Lord's coming." In other words, as long as it takes, even if it means waiting until Jesus returns.
How many of you know that there are some things that are never going to be right in this present world until the Lord returns? That's just a reality of the fallen world we live in. When sin entered the world it corrupted everything. But, we know from God's Word that there is a day coming in the near future where the Lord Himself will return to receive us unto Himself and set all things in order.
Sometimes it may seem that God has forgotten His promises, but we know He never will. But, we must always remember that He works on His own schedule, for His own reasons and not ours.
2nd Peter 3:8 Dear friends, don’t let this one thing escape you: With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9 The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.
In the meantime, we learn to patiently wait on the Lord and trust Him in everything. We must be prepared to be patient for as long as it takes to see God's deliverance!
II. STRENGTHEN YOUR HEART.
James 5:8 You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.
How do we "strengthen our hearts?"
A. By studying God's Word. - If we are to strengthen our hearts we must first turn to God's Word and learn from it.
2nd Peter 1:3 His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. 4 By these He has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desires.
How do we know what God's provision and promises for us are? By studying His Word which contains the revelation of everything we need!
B. By Applying God's Word. - Once we begin to learn God's Word, we must begin to apply it into our lives.
Romans 15:4 For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures.
Did you catch that? "Hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures." That means that once we learn God's Word it produces hope in us through endurance, or exercising our faith in the Word of God that has been revealed to us.
(Me powerlifting - leg press) Those of you who know me well, know that I used to be very into powerlifting. I was in the gym 6 days a week for years. It's driving me crazy right now that I haven't been physically able to get in the gym regularly for almost a year, but with God's help I hope to do so very soon. When it comes to powerlifting, you have to progressively put the muscles under intense stress to make them grow larger and stronger. The principle is simple; to get bigger and stronger, you have to lift heavy. We used to say in the gym, "Go big or go home."
Faith is like a muscle; in order for it to grow stronger it must be exercised. Sometimes that involves circumstances that put us under extreme stress. But, the more we apply God's Word and exercise our faith, the bigger and stronger it grows!
C. By looking for the Lord's return. - Once again in this verse, James reminds us of the Lord's return. This time he also reminds us that His return is soon!
Paul also reminds us of the Lord's return.
1 Thes. 4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Knowing that the Lord will return should be an encouragement to believers! Paul tells us to encourage one another with this truth!
D. By learning from examples. - 3 examples are given to encourage us by James in this passage:
The Farmer - (prepares soil, plants seeds, waits for the harvest)
The Prophets - (were faithful, saw miracles, but didn't always see the fulfillment of the promises until they had passed on)
Job - (stayed faithful thru the worst, was blessed more in the end)
Remember that God gives us these examples to help us in our time of struggle:
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us
Let us learn the Word of God; apply the Word of God; look to the examples given us; and, encourage one another by looking forward to the Lord's return.
When our hearts are strong, we will be able to wait patiently on the Lord through any situation, and to see Him work mightily in our lives!
III. DON'T COMPLAIN.
James 5:9 Brothers, do not complain about one another, so that you will not be judged. Look, the judge stands at the door!
James also reminds us that when we are going through difficult circumstances, not to complain, or grumble, and especially not to turn on one another.
A. Why should we not complain?
1. Because God says "do not."
2. Those who complain will be judged.
3. Complaining demonstrates a lack of faith.
4. Complaining does not honor God.
5. Complaining ruins our witness.
CONC: I will remind you again as I close, that all of us at some point in our lives will go through difficult times. The difference in the outcome will depend upon how we respond. If we respond in faith, waiting patiently on the Lord, and trusting Him completely through the trial, we will see God work out His perfect plan in our life. If we demonstrate a lack of faith by our impatience, or try to fix it in our own strength alone, we will fail every time. I encourage you this morning to trust in the Lord!
Successfully waiting on the Lord is born out of a close relationship with our Heavenly Father. The better we know Him, the easier it is for us to trust Him.
Some of you here today may not have a personal relationship with the Lord. The first step is to receive Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord. We do this by first admitting that we are lost and our need for salvation. Next we must place our trust completely in Jesus for our salvation. And finally, we must publicly confess Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Are you ready? If so, today can be the first day of your new life!
