Be patient.
This is one of the hardest things in our humanity to overcome. We live in a self-gratifying society. We get what we want when we want and even how we want it.
This has crippled us. This has taken out our ability to be patient and endure. Especially when it comes to the Kingdom of God.
Remember, Anticipation is faith in practice.
It is the expression of the faith we have in Jesus. It has to be active, alive.
But it’s completely another thing to wait in anticipation for something, to be patient, to endure.
Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. James 5:7 NKJV
Endure means to continue, to last. It also means to bear up under hardships, to remain under.
To endure is to continue on the path that the Lord has put us on regardless of the hardships, downfalls or trouble that waits for us ahead.
We are all on different paths. We all have our different ways but the Lord is leading and guiding us. The road is so narrow and not many find it but once we get on it we have to endure until we receive the rewards that Jesus has promised when we finish!
The rewards are given to those that endure to the end.
We have to establish our minds and have the mentality of a farmer. The farmer has to prepare the ground. Then he spreeds the seed. Then he waits for the early rain to water what he has planted.
Seed has to take time to root. And once it roots it takes time for it to grow. Then when it starts to grow it takes time for it to produce fruit.
The farmer has to continue to nourish the crops. He was to protect it from disease and pestilence. He has to make sure that weeds don’t grow and choke the life out of the new plants.
In the middle east the rains would come later in the year. They had no choice but to wait. To endure. They would plant the seed and would have to wait.
We are told so many times to wait, to endure, to be patient.
So much easier than done.
But how do we endure?
When we think about it, the waiting and need for endurance we have in the Christian life is very much like the waiting of the farmer.
He waits with a reasonable hope and expectation of reward.
He waits a long time. He waits while he continues to work.
He waits depending on the power of the Lord and not his own. Always with his eyes on heaven expecting that the Lord will provide.
He waits no matter what’s changing. Regardless of circumstances and many uncertainties.
He waits encouraged by the value of the harvest to come.
He waits encouraged by the work and harvest of the other farmers and their crops.
He waits because he really has no other option.
He waits because it does no good to give up.
He waits aware and understanding how the seasons work. Maybe drought, maybe monsoon. High winds may come or a late freeze.
He waits because as time passes, it becomes more important to wait because he knows the harvest is close.
You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. James 5:8-11 NKJV
Those that endure are called blessed!
Just like the seed the farmer plants, established hearts are rooted hearts! Rooted in Jesus and His eternal resolution and promise of all things.
Patience is a hard thing. Waiting on the Lord is a hard thing. Be aware that the harvest of the Lord is near! Be certain that the wait is worth it. The road is so narrow and not many find it but once we get on it we have to endure until we receive the rewards that Jesus has promised when we finish!
Pastor Ed
