The Farmer Waits
James asks impatient believers to look at how a farmer relates to the rain.
James 5:7-8NIV
James 5:7-8. Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near.
The farmer in James's illustration is not passive. He has plowed and sown and done everything in his power. What he cannot do is make it rain, and so he waits, not with resignation but with expectation, because he knows the rains come. The crop is valuable. The waiting is part of the work.
Most impatience is a failure to accept that some things are not ours to hurry. A prayer unanswered, a child not yet returned to faith, a wrong not yet righted, a body not yet healed. James says the Lord is coming, and that is the rain. Do what is yours to do. Then stand firm, and let the seasons run. Thursday's field is not the harvest, but it is not empty either.
More in scripture
Be Still, and Know
A short command from an old psalm asks us to stop, and tells us why.
Be Still, and Know
An ancient line, written for a frightened people, asks us to stop before it asks us to understand.
Peace That Stands Guard
When worry crowds in, an old letter offers a different way to carry it.
