Test 7: Patience Test Series

JAMES 5:7

Patience has natural evidences. Isn’t God’s creation amazing? Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.” God reveals Himself in His creation. Not completely or fully like He does in His Word. But He does reveal Himself enough to let people know He is there. In Romans 1 and 2, Paul tells us that revelation alone is enough to condemn us. Because of that revelation alone, all people stand without excuse before God. But not only does God show us that He is there through His creation. He gives us some wonderful illustrations about life. James uses one of those illustrations to teach us about patience. He uses the example of the farmer. Now, I have told y’all several times that by no stretch of the imagination am I a farmer. If weeds ever become a cash crop, I’ll be rich. But one thing I know about farming—it takes patience. I remember one time CJ had to do an experiment for his science class. The assignment was for him to make a self-sustaining terrarium. He potted a plant in the bottom of a Mason jar and put a little water in it. Then he screwed the lid down tight. It was supposed to sustain itself and grow without adding any water or anything to it. Well, I guess he gets his green thumb from his mother—because the plant died. But it wasn’t from lack of looking at it. I remember him checking that thing four or five times a day to see if it had grown any. He’d pick it up and look—and then put it down. And then a couple of hours later, he’d pick it up and look again. I don’t know why the thing didn’t grow. But I do know that there wasn’t a whole lot of patience happening. James uses the illustration of a farmer here as a good example of patience. But think about what a farmer does. Many times we think of patience as just sitting back with our hands peacefully folded waiting for something to happen. Does the farmer do that? First, the farmer has to prepare the soil. He tills it and plows it and takes out the rocks. It takes a lot of work to get the soil just right, doesn’t it? Then he plants his seeds. He makes sure and selects the right type of seeds for the soil and the climate. He plants them at the right spacing and at the right depth. He makes sure everything is planted to the best of his ability. And then he’s done, right? Not hardly. Then he has to water and fertilize and keep out the weeds. Some plants he has to prune or thin. He has to keep out the deer and squirrels and rabbits and birds. He has to do the hard work of keeping things up. If he doesn’t, then all of his hard work planting has gone to waste. Then he’s done, right? He does all of that one time and then he’s done. No, he has to do it continually, or the crop is lost. The farmer works his field every day. How? With patience. He is active. He is working. All the while, he is patiently waiting for the harvest. He is patiently waiting for the fruit of his field to be ripe unto harvest. James tells us at the beginning of this verse what we are patiently waiting for. We are patiently waiting to see Jesus. Whether we see him when He calls us home or He calls us to meet Him in the air—He is coming back for His children. If you know Him as your Lord and Savior, that’s what you are patiently waiting for. But how are you to patiently wait? Just like the farmer waits for his crop. You patiently wait by working. Ephesians 6:13 tells us to take up the full armor of God that we might be able to stand in the evil day. The picture of standing in the evil day is a good one. Unless you think that Paul is talking about just standing there doing nothing. He closes that verse by saying, “and having done all—to stand.” That is the same thing the farmer does with his crop. Having done all the work he can, he stands. He stands and patiently waits for God to provide the increase. That is what you are called to do until the day you get to see Jesus. Patiently work like the farmer does. And having done all you can do, patiently stand in the assurance that if you’ve trusted Jesus, He’s coming for you. God has provided examples of that kind of patience all around us because patience has natural evidences. But not only does patience have natural evidences, it has eternal consequences. Look at verses 8-9: