James 5:7-8
Learning from the Patient Farmer: Trusting God’s Timing for Spiritual Growth – James 5:7-8
James 5:7-8 (NIVUK)
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.
Commentary
Our reading painted the picture of a farmer. Who patiently waited for the land to yield its valuable harvest and makes the comparison that says, listen, God is doing the same with us.
He is patient because he longs for us to bear good fruit. He gives us the time we need to learn our lessons, maybe even to make our mistakes that we might in good time, bear a harvest of righteousness. There’s an interesting picture where it talks about waiting for the autumn rains and the spring rains, and in a very dry land those rains were essential. The autumn rains softened the ground so that the seed could take root and the spring rains swelled the grains so that you got a good harvest and an impatient farmer was in danger of planting seed on land that was too dry. Or harvesting before the spring rains helped the harvest to come to its fullness so that it would be scant.
And those storms, I think are a picture of the storms of life. We would never choose them. We would like to avoid them and yet it is often in those uncomfortable, in those difficult times that the seeds of God’s word can take root, and that the fruit of the spirit is something that is seen in our lives.
God is patient with us. We need to entrust ourselves to his good timing, even if that seems a lot longer than we would like it to be.