Patience In The Waiting
Scripture
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. 8 You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near. 9 Don’t grumble about each other, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. For look—the Judge is standing at the door!
- James 5:7-9.
James writes to encourage believers who are waiting. Waiting for relief. Waiting for justice. Waiting for the Lord to return and make all things right. So he offers a simple but challenging invitation to be patient. Not passive or disengaged, but steady and trusting while life remains unresolved.
To help us understand this kind of patience, James points to a farmer. The farmer plants the seed and then waits. He cannot rush the rain or force the growth. Much of the outcome is beyond his control. And yet he waits with expectation, believing that what has been planted will bear fruit in its season. This is the posture James invites us into, a patient hope that trusts God to work in His time, even when we don’t see immediate results.
“The waiting is to teach us our absolute dependence upon God’s mighty working.”¹
- Andrew Murray
That’s what the farmer understands, and it’s what James wants us to learn. Waiting reminds us how much we depend on God. But James also knows how quickly impatience can show up in our relationships. When waiting stretches us thin, it’s easy to grumble, complain, and turn on one another. That’s why he urges believers to be patient with each other as well. Waiting well means choosing grace over frustration and remembering that we are all learning to trust God together.
Finally, James lifts our eyes beyond this world and our present struggles. The coming of the Lord is near. We don’t know when Jesus will return, but we know we are closer than we have ever been. That promise gives courage to our waiting. Brokenness will not last forever, and God will finish what He has begun. So don’t lose heart in the waiting. Take courage, be patient with the people around you, and trust the One who holds both the harvest and your heart.
Reflection
- Where is waiting most difficult for you right now?
- How has impatience shown up in your relationships or attitudes recently?
- What would it look like to wait with trust rather than frustration today?
Prayer
Ask the Lord to grow patience in you through His Spirit. Pray for the grace to wait with hope and to treat others with kindness as you wait. Invite God to strengthen your courage as you trust Him with what you cannot control.
Footnote
¹ Andrew Murray, Waiting on God (London: James Nisbet & Co., 1896), Eleventh Day, “Patiently.”
