Faithful Endurance - Faith In Action Series

This week’s devotional was written by Abson Predestin Joseph in his book entitled, “The Letter of James (OneBook, Daily-Weekly).” We hope you will be encouraged.

James 5:7 NLT - “Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen.”

Key Observation. Believers should learn hopeful expectation and active engagement.

Understanding the Word. James transitions to a more conciliatory tone as he exhorts believers to embrace a life of patient endurance. Patience requires forbearance through time. Therefore, James uses the experience of farmers to provide a perspective that conveys both what is required for the future and for the present moment.

One lesson believers can learn from farmers is that patience expresses itself in the form of hopeful expectation. There is a positive outlook toward the future because of the assurance that the delay one experiences presently will not last. There is confidence that the time that passes is an integral part of the maturation process. The experience of farmers patiently waiting for rain provides an important reminder to believers. The sociopolitical and theological implications of being in diaspora imply that James’s audience may be facing life challenges that stretch them. The letter itself bears witness to the challenges believers face in their lives together. In fact, the letter opens with a reminder for believers to focus on the educational value of the trials they face (James 1:2, 12). The letter warns believers against favoritism, discrimination, and prejudice (2:1–4). The context of the letter reveals that the potential victim and perpetrator of such practices are both members of the congregation. Some are being dragged to court (v. 6), others suffer verbal abuse (v. 7). This is a stress-filled situation.

For believers, the coming of the Lord may be the most salient solution to their problem. James uses the term parousia to speak of Christ’s coming. The word often conveys presence within a community. Paul uses the same term when talking about his presence within the church community (2 Cor. 10:10; Phil. 2:12). This term is also used to refer to the arrival of a dignitary or a king. Many writers in the New Testament use it in this way to speak of Christ’s return (1 Cor. 15:23; 1 Thess. 3:13; 1 John 2:28). Jesus uses the same term when talking about the end times and the coming of the Son of Man (Matt. 24:27, 37, 50). For James’s audience, the hopeful expectation of the coming of the Lord serves as the ultimate motivation to bear the trials they face. The coming of the Lord is often associated with ideas of vindication, retribution, and judgment. Therefore, the exhortation to hold on until Christ’s coming puts the future in clear view and empowers them to face the present. However, at the time of writing, this solution is taking time to materialize. The tension and discomfort among James’s audience may resemble what has been documented among the Pauline congregations in Thessalonica (1 Thess. 5; 2 Thess. 2:1–4).

Farmers teach believers that patience requires active engagement. James elaborates on the kinds of the actions believers need to embrace and/or not be involved in during their time of waiting in the passages that follow. The reference about farmers waiting patiently for rains in the fall and spring infer prayers on their part. Any wise farmer who looks to the horizon for gathering clouds, consciously or unconsciously, prays for rain. It is perhaps no coincidence that when talking about the power of prayer, James uses Elijah’s prayer for drought and for rain and the subsequent harvest (James 5:17–18). Praying for rain and patient endurance were most likely linked in James’s mind.

Writers use multiple metaphors to urge their audience to patience and watchfulness as it relates to believers’ posture toward the end times. All use the certainty of Christ’s coming as the starting point. As farmers are assured of the coming harvest, so believers can be assured of the coming of the Lord. A hopeful expectation regarding the coming of the Lord puts testing, trials, and diverse challenges in perspective. It provides strength to face daily trials in diaspora.

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