21.08.07
James (13): Patience in Suffering - James 5:7-11
It is hard enough to go through difficult times in life, but what makes it harder is either that they these difficulties have been caused by other people, or even worse, that while you suffer, these other people who have been responsible for your pain, are having a great time. That’s the situation many of the early Christians found themselves in – impoverished and suffering whilst those who were causing their suffering were getting richer and enjoying life to the full. James 5:1-6 talks of the rich who misuse their wealth, often at the expense of the righteous poor. James 5:7-11 now talks about what the reaction of these suffering Christians should be – and what our reactions should be to our times of difficulty. In a nutshell, he tells us to be patient – to endure and to keep on going. I want therefore to look at three things this evening: first, the command to be patient; secondly the motives to be patient and thirdly, the ability to be patient.
[A] The Command to be Patient
James uses the word for patience 4 times in these 5 verses (vs. 7 (x2), 8, 10) and the word for endurance, which for James means basically the same thing as patience, 2 times in vs. 11. The word for patience is a compound word made up from two words – literally, ‘long-tempered’ - or, not to lose heart. When we are suffering whilst those who are causing our suffering are enjoying life, we must not lose heart, but rather, we must be long-tempered and patient. James gives us three commands which illustrate for us what it means to be patient in suffering:
1. Strengthen your Hearts (vs. 
– the whole message of the book of James is that we must be single-minded in our faith in Christ – we must live in such a way as to show that our eyes are firmly fixed on Christ and not on this world. To strengthen our hearts means to be completely single-minded in our love for the Lord Jesus. It is the sentiment of King David in Psalm 108:1 – “My heart is fixed O Lord”. We read in Luke 9:51 that Jesus, knowing that His mission was nearly complete, set His face resolutely towards Jerusalem. Nothing would deflect Him from His mission. And nothing must deflect us either. So often in suffering, we fall apart. But we must, by God’s grace, pull together our broken hearts and fix them on Christ.
2. Do Not Groan (vs. 9) – it is a very common thing, when we are suffering, to blame everyone else – to groan against them, even if it isn’t their fault. The word ‘groan’ or ‘grumble’ is used in the Bible to talk about frustration and James is here telling us that we should not take out our frustrations upon our fellow Christians. By all means, share your difficulties, but don’t let your frustrations turn into grumbling against other Christians. To do that is not be patient, and as we shall see in a moment, it invites the judgement of the Lord!
3. Take an Example (vs. 10) – James is telling us to open our ears and eyes – to listen and see – to take examples from other areas and from previous history. James gives us three examples to listen to in these verses:
- The Farmer – the farmer has to wait for his crops to grow. In the Middle East, there isn’t always a lot of rain, and so the farmer has to patiently wait for the autumn and spring rains so that his seedlings and plants may be nourished. It must be hard to wait, but the waiting pays off because he doesn’t only reap a harvest, but a precious, valuable harvest. In the same way, it’s not easy to be patient, but our patience will pay off in the end in the harvest of a valuable crop of righteousness in our hearts.
- The Prophets – prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah spoke the Word of the Lord to people who didn’t want to listen. But they kept on speaking, even though eventually it led to their deaths. They were patient because they were doing the Lord’s Work. Similarly, we must be patient in our Christian lives because whatever we do as Christians, we are doing the Lord’s work.
- The Patriarch – Job suffered more than any of us will have to – in one fell swoop he lost his family and his health. And yet he endured and remained steadfast to the end. As we will see in a moment, his patience paid off. But his example is there to encourage us to endure through our sufferings also.
And so we can be patient through suffering by fixing our eyes upon Jesus, by not taking out our frustrations on other Christians, and by heeding the examples of the farmer, of the prophets and of the patriarch Job.
[B] The Motives to be Patient
In these verses, James gives us two reasons why we should be patient in suffering – the first is God’s proximity – He is near; the second is the purpose of God.
1. God’s Proximity – God is close to us. That should both be an encouragement and a warning to us. There are two aspects of God’s closeness James points to:
· He is Near in Time (vs. 7, – in both these verse James talks about the coming of the Lord. Jesus is coming again soon, and when He does, all our sufferings will be over and we will enjoy eternal pleasure, whist our persecutors will endure eternal pain. And this small word ‘until’ is so important – our sufferings are not eternal – they only last ‘until’ Jesus comes again, whether in our deaths or in His second coming. We don’t have to suffer forever – these sufferings are temporary and a great reward awaits us if we will but persevere.
· He is Near in Space (vs. 9) – in this verse God is presented as a judge who is standing at the door – so close that He can hear everything we say. How careful then we must be not to say anything which will cause Him to judge us! Rather, we must speak and act realising that God is hearing everything we say and watching everything we do.
2. God’s Purpose (vs. 11) – our sufferings sometimes seem so pointless – that’s the way it must have felt for Job as he endured so much pain. But God has a purpose in it all – as James says in vs. 11 ‘what the Lord brought about’ – or more literally, ‘the purpose of the Lord.’ This purpose is two-fold:
- Our Good – before Job was afflicted, He was a very rich man. But after His suffering, Job 42:10 tells us that ‘the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before’, and then again in Job 42:12 ‘the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning.’ God takes our pleasure away that He may multiply it infinitely in the future. Do not doubt God’s goodness towards you, even in times of suffering, for as you pass through the fire, you are being refined and purified – made ready for heaven.
- His Glory – Satan was convinced he could make suffering Job curse God, but the fact that by God’s grace Job endured the pain and did not turn away from God, gave God glory and tore down the devil’s strongholds. God was glorified in Job’s endurance and Satan was defeated. Likewise, Job’s so-called comforters, those calling on him to curse God and die, were proved to be wrong and God was proved to be right. Again, men were shown to be weak and God was shown to be strong. Again, Job himself grew and matured in his relationship to God through his painful experience. Finally, he was able to rest in God’s glorious sovereignty and love for him.
Be patient in the rough times, because by so doing you will reap a reward beyond the wildest dreams of even the richest man on the whole earth. You will gain eternal life when Jesus comes for you and you will see His Glory!
[C] The Ability to be Patient
By nature, we are all impatient. What or who therefore gives us the ability to be patient through suffering? James tells us in the last few words of vs. 11 – the Lord is full of compassion and mercy. He will give us the strength we need to endure like the farmer does, or like the prophets did, or like Job did. We don’t have the ability – but as we trust in God’s compassion and mercy He will give us the strength we need. He doesn’t enjoy watching us suffer – He loves us too much for that. And so when we need Him, He’ll be there for us.
The message of James is that we be single-minded – fixing our eyes upon Jesus and not being deflected by what we suffer here and now, but in fact, using our sufferings to draw us closer to Him. So whatever hardships you are going through at the moment, by His grace, be patient and keep going. Don’t envy the world their pleasures. The Lord Jesus is coming again soon and when you see Him face to face, you will realise that it’s all been worth it. AMEN