[Faith-talk] Daily Thought for Saturday, June 29, 2013

[Paul]

Well folks, as I write this it's late Saturday afternoon here in eastern North America, and it's probably your Sunday in other parts of the world.  On the other hand, those of you in other North American time zones are behind us.  No matter what day it is or time of day, I hope and pray that, by God's matchless grace and His providential care, that your day is going well or went well.  Our friends in Australia and New Zealand are, no doubt as of this writing, preparing to go to their respective houses of worship.  I hope and pray that you and your fellow congregants get a good word from the Lord as imparted to you by your pastors and/or Sunday school teachers and, more importantly, that you will apply what you will hear and learn to your individual lives as the gracious Holy Spirit enables.

The article for today's daily thought deals with a topic that we all, at one time or another in our lives, have had to face, and that is the topic of waiting on God for His answers to a problem or a solution to that problem.  Its author is unknown, but its title is "Waiting For God," rendered as follows:

"Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming.  See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crops and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rain" (James 5:7 (Niv).

"I can't wait until I graduate and I'm finally free from all these rules and regulations!" one of my frustrated high school students regaled her classmates with the latest version of adult injustice and misunderstanding.

"It seems like we will never have a family!" a young wife shared her concerns with a friend over a cup of coffee in the church fellowship hall between services on Sunday.

"Do you think my Sam will ever regain the strength he lost from the stroke?" An anxious woman grasped the hand of her physician when they met in the grocery store.

It seems everywhere I turn there are people worried about when the Lord is going to visit them with the answers to their prayers.  As I write this, our two sons are looking for better job opportunities, and our daughter is facing college graduation with questions about how she will manage in the "real world." We are concerned about how we can help our aging parents when they live thousands of miles away.  We are in prayer over all these things; but waiting, as I often say, is not my best subject.

The apostle James was a man who spent time in the presence of the Lord, but he was no stranger to waiting either.  He was a fisherman before Jesus called him and his brother Peter to become disciples.  Certainly, he had spent long hours waiting for fish to fill his nets.  Then, after becoming a follower of Jesus, he had to learn to wait in a new way.  It took patience to think differently; to forgive, instead of taking revenge; to withhold judgment; to listen, and to be obedient.

After the death and resurrection of Jesus, James still needed patience to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit and later to accept his new role as leader instead of being just a follower.  By the time he wrote the words above, James was shepherding the congregation of Christian believers in Jerusalem.  He had to be patient with the many problems that arose from such a position of leadership.  I wonder how many times earnest Christians asked him how long they must suffer the persecution of Rome, deal with discrimination or live in fear and poverty.

None of us likes to wait for the things we feel the Lord could be doing in our lives, yet waiting is often the very tool God uses to bring about the answers to our prayers.  Just like the farmer, cited in the verse in the first paragraph of this article, we need to look at the rains of both autumn and spring as important factors in providing the fruit we desire.  The farmer knows that the crops cannot be rushed, that seasons come and go, that both rain and sunshine have a part in producing the harvest for which he hopes.

Our lives are not so different.  Patience is required because growth and change may take time.  Like the farmer, we control neither the rain nor the growth; and although we have the privilege of taking part in the planting process, it is the Lord who is responsible for the results.  But we can wait in patience because we know that in the end the Lord does come.  He will bring us the answers we seek, the grace we lack, the resolution we desire.  The harvest of an anxious and worried farmer yields no more than that of a patient one.  But as he waits, the patient farmer experiences the joyful expectation that comes only from trusting in the Lord.

And there you have this article by an unknown author.  If you can find a copy of it in accessible format and if you desire further study and reading on this topic, may I recommend chapter 22 of Joyce Meier's 1995 bestselling book "Battlefield of the Mind." She gives a definition of the word "patience" in this chapter as "the art of cultivating an attitude of waiting." The entire book is worth a read, if you can find it.

And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, in these last days in which we live.  Your Christian friend and brother, Paul