“You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near!” James 5:8.
I have shared with you consistently, that I am not the most patient person on the face of the globe. For some reason I was born to be a “pusher”. Waiting on the Lord to accomplish His purpose, to me, is like “wasted time”. It is that old nature that will haunt me to my dying day.
The verse selected, James 5:8, issues a very strong injunction, that because the coming of the Lord is “NEAR”, I must learn to live in readiness for that grand occasion. Further in the context James says: “Behold, the judge is standing right at the door!” (v9) Most of us have been “standing at the door” on some occasion waiting. When the person who answers, may or may not be, attired as expecting our call.
It does not take long to determine whether they were expecting us, or if there has been confusion about the time we were to be there. Those can be very embarrassing moments as to what to do next.
In the event we have not grasped that description to which James refers, read the Book of Job. You remember how Job and his friends debated endlessly? Job eventually is able to tie it all together. He is able to take that puzzle and fit the pieces into an understanding of what God was doing. It ends with a masterpiece of God’s timing.
Another thought that James introduces is in that 11th verse where He says: “We count those blessed who have endured” and ultimately we see His mercy instead of our stubbornness, our impatience.
Just what do you see here that we might have missed right from the start…The coming of the Lord is near…be patient, strengthen our hearts, for the coming of the Lord is “at the door!”
-Ted
ETCetera 