The Root of Patience

Introduction

Do we have any impatient cows here? Don’t answer that. But if you do struggle with impatience, you’re not alone, certainly not if you’re in the room with me.

Because, and maybe it’s just me, but I feel like there’s a relationship, an inverse relationship, in the number of years that I spend on this earth and the natural tendency that I have toward patience Like, the older I get, the less patient I become? Again, it could very well just be me. After all, some of the most patient people I know are much older than me…but then again, so are some of the most IMPATIENT (not in this room, of course).

But seriously, I get it. There are a lot of factors that contribute to impatience, especially the older we get. I’m turning 48 this year, and I’m already seeing it. The older you get, the less time you have. You’re busier maintaining relationships, fielding responsibilities or just practicing the habits that you’ve spent a lifetime developing. And then, of course, the older you get, the more aware you are of how little time you have left on the earth. You literally have less time, not just in the day, but in life.

And when time is short, there is very little motivation to wait. It’s like the much older lady I knew who always, and I mean ALWAYS had dessert before the main course. I asked her why she did that, and she told me, “Because at my age, you never know.”

And there’s very little motivation to be patient with others. After all, you’ve been there, and you have the scars to prove it. If people would just listen to you, they might actually learn something. But they don’t listen, at least that’s the way it seems. The older you get, the less appreciated you are, the less valued you feel.

But it’s not just older people, of course. I think all of us regardless of age, if we’re honest with ourselves, we’d have to admit that we struggle at least to some degree with being impatient. And that’s a problem. Living in a society full of impatient people is a problem for everybody, but when WE’RE the ones being impatient, it’s an even bigger issue. Because we’re NOT supposed to be that way.

Patience, Holy Spirit driven patience is part of what it means to know Jesus. And the older we get, the longer we follow Jesus, the MORE patient we should become. Because the longer we follow Jesus, the longer this spiritual fruit has to ripen in our lives.

Being patient in all circumstances is part of what it means to practice the Christian faith. Don’t misunderstand me; we’re not saved by our patience, and we don’t lose our salvation when we’re impatient. But if you claim the name of Christ, and you’re KNOWN for your lack of patience, that’s a problem, because you’re misrepresenting who Jesus is.

So, we have to get to the bottom of it. As people—men and women, teenagers, boys and girls—who want to represent Jesus well in this world, we have to get at the root of patience to deal with the root of our impatience.

And James helps us with that. If you haven’t been with us in a minute, you should know that this is the last message in our James series that we’ve been calling New Year, Fresh Faith, in part because you can only call it the new year for so long, but also because next Sunday, we’re going to get into book of Luke (back into the book of Luke for some of you) at the events leading up to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. If we keep to our schedule, we’ll finish Luke on Easter Sunday.

But again, today we’re in James, and in case you’ve forgotten, James is writing to Jewish believers—remember, the first church was almost exclusively Jewish—but Messianic Jewish believers in Jesus from all over the Roman empire. These believers had been scattered due to persecution, and most of them were still being persecuted wherever they landed.

And James is encouraging them here, even in their suffering, to be patient.

Most of us here today aren’t really suffering—at least not that way. Most of us here in this room aren’t worried about religious or political zealots breaking into our homes and forcing us to verbally reject Jesus. That’s not our reality, but it is the reality for many of our brothers and sisters all over the world. That’s why we pray for the persecuted church. We pray for an end to the persecution, sure, but more than that, we pray for their endurance. We pray for their patience.

And hopefully, as we do that, we understand that, if they can be patient in the Lord’s strength, so can we. The question is, “How?”

James chapter 5, starting in verse 7. Look at it with me:

James 5:7–8 NASB 2020

Therefore be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.

James says, “Be patient like the farmer.” A farmer doesn’t gaze out the window the day after planting looking for the first little sprig of the plant. He (or she, I guess) doesn’t pace the floor, anxious and worried that the crop will never come. No, seasoned farmers know how long it takes for a seed to germinate and for a plant to mature, and because they have that knowledge, it’s easy for them to be patient.

Then James says, “You too be patient,” because, just like the farmer trusts that the rains will come at the right time for the harvest, you can trust that Jesus will come when the time is right.

“The coming of the Lord is near.”

The bottom line, those of us who know Jesus, we can grow in Spirit-driven patience when we…

Trust in the Lord’s faithfulness.

If you grew up like I did back in the eighties and nineties, in the “Left Behind” era of Baptist youth ministry, you may have trouble seeing the “coming of the Lord” as a good thing.

If, like me, you grew up in the era of evangelical life where you were forced to watch “Thief in the Night” during youth group and half the world is raptured and children are forced to starve without parents, or if you were forced to read the Left Behind book series that drug on and on and on with a lot of the same stuff, you might wonder how the idea of “the coming of the Lord” being near could bring anybody comfort.

But that just shows us how far off the biblical mark all that stuff is. The Bible never associates the coming of Jesus with fear. Sure, the world is going to be in bad shape up until He comes, but depending on who you talk to, the world is already in bad shape, and it has been for very good while.

Here’s the deal. According to the Bible, Jesus could return at any moment, and for those of us in Christ, that is a very much a thing to look forward to. When Jesus returns, He will come with authority, and He will immediately make things right. Scripture tells us that, on His return, it will be so incredible that EVERY knee will bow and EVERY tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

All our sickness—cured. All our sorrow—comforted. All our mourning—turned to laughter. All our pain—healed. All our sin—those of us who trusted Him for salvation—forgiven. All the injustices of the this world—made right.

You say, “How do I know that?” Because our God said it would happen, and whatever our God promises, you can trust.

And when you trust Him, when you trust that He is God and you’re not…. When you trust Him, even when you face unimaginable pain, unimaginable suffering…that trust takes root in the fertile soil of that pain and sprouts and flowers and grows…into patience.

And it’s not just surface patience—the outer discipline of patience that comes with breathing exercises and stuff like that. Patience borne from trusting God is suffering is patience that is rooted deep in your soul.

You want to be patient? That’s where it starts. Trust in the Lord’s faithfulness.

Pick up in verse 9:

James 5:9 NASB 2020

Do not complain, brothers and sisters, against one another, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door.

That’s at the root of most of our impatience, isn’t it? Especially our impatience with other people. I’m not gonna rehash all of last week’s message. You can go back and watch it on YouTube if you missed it. But if you were here, you remember that James has already made the point that the internal source of all complaining is judgement.

We complain against people because in the deepest part of who we are, we think that we know better. We think that, if they would just listen to us, they’d be SO much better off. That’s why, when we complain, according to James right here, we earn God’s judgment.

But James also says that it’s foolish to be judgmental, because THE Judge—the only one qualified to judge, the only truly good, truly righteous human ever to live, the Lord Jesus is standing at the door! He is ready, willing and able to judge much better than we are!

And brings us to another branch in this root of patience, especially patience in suffering. Trust in the Lord’s faithfulness, and second…

Trust in the Lord’s righteousness.

Trust in His goodness. I love that image of the Lord and His righteousness being right there at the door.

I’m an oldest child. Do we have any other oldest children in the room? I am an oldest child, and I love my oldest child. Y’all know Clayton. He’s not a kid anymore. He’s an awesome young adult doing awesome things for Jesus. I’m extremely proud of him, always have been.

But there’s something that Clayton used to do that drove Jennifer and me crazy. Thankfully, he’s grown out of it for the most part, and I’m certain that he’s not any different from most oldest siblings in this regard. But from the time Clayton was a little kid, and I mean six or seven years old. Clayton was convinced that his mother and I desperately needed his help when it came to parenting his two younger brothers. I can’t tell you how many times we’d have to remind him, “Bro, you’re not the third parent. We’re good. We don’t need your help scolding your brother.”

And again, as an oldest child, I can relate. So when James describes the Lord, the only righteous judge, “standing at the door” I picture little ten year-old Clayton back in one of their rooms, thinking it’s only the two of them, just giving it to Jack, lecturing Jack, complaining to Jack about Jack,” and then he looks up and sees me standing right there at the door.

When Clayton at that age, he had trust issues, in part because he’s a very independent thinker, but also…mostly probably because I used to aggravate the snot out of him. He was like, “This joker certainly isn’t qualified to raise. I’m gonna have to step in!”

Here’s the point. When we’re impatient with one another, it’s a reflection of our internal lack of trust. We don’t trust that God knows better than we do. We don’t trust that God is at work changing the people we complain about. We don’t trust that God has plan, even in our suffering. We don’t trust in God’s goodness.

Let me just remind you friend. Our God is a good God. He is a righteous God, a holy God who keeps His Word. He is faithful, and you can trust Him.

And when you learn to trust His righteousness…that’s the fertilizer that allows your patience to grow. Because you realize that it’s not your job to change the people around you. It’s your job, as His kid, to encourage, to invite, to challenge. But only the Righteous Father standing at the door has the authority to judge with any meaning.

So, trust Him. Trust in the Lord’s righteousness, and watch your patience grow.

Look at the rest of the passage. Pick up in verse 10:

James 5:10–11 NASB 2020

As an example, brothers and sisters, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.

I love this reference to Job, because as the guys in the Equip Men’s Bible Study (every Wednesday, 5:30AM)…as they’ll tell you, we are neck deep in Job right now. And the thing about Job is, he wasn’t always what we think of when we think about patience.

If you read the book, which I highly recommend you do, you’ll see that there were times when Job got extremely frustrated with his friends (with good reason!) and extremely frustrated with God. He shook his fists at God. In his extreme situation of suffering, Job accused God of not caring, of being arbitrary, of rewarding evil and punishing good. He even accused God of not being just.

But he never cursed God. He never denied God, and even in his anger, he kept coming back to God.

And what we see in Job is that, before the story is over, God reveals Himself to Job. God speaks to him from the whirlwind of doubt and grief and suffering, and God tells Him…

Job 38:2 NASB 2020

“Who is this who darkens the divine plan By words without knowledge?

And in verse 4:

Job 38:4 NASB 2020

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding,

And on and on and on He goes in this beautiful poetic passage that unveils God’s sovereignty and majesty and beauty and unfathomable power.

And at the end of the book, the Lord, the God who oversees everything, this same God that should have nothing to do with any of us, restored Job’s fortune and blessed the end of his days even more than the beginning.

Because He is compassionate. He is merciful. And He is faithful.

And that brings us to a third branch in the root of patience. Trust in the Lord’s faithfulness. Trust in the Lord’s righteousness, and third…

Trust in the Lord’s compassion and mercy.

Our God is merciful, isn’t He? Our God is compassionate. And I get it. It’s so hard to feel that when you’re in the heat of suffering. But you have to understand; your comfort is not the down payment of His compassion. Your comfortable life is not the fulfillment of any promise that He has made.

Just the fact that He is God and that He chooses to have anything to do with us should be enough for us to see His mercy. But our God has gone way beyond that. He isn’t just sitting up there in heaven, intervening when He feels like it. No! Our God who “laid the foundation of the earth”, who “made the dawn know its place”, who “entered the springs of the sea and walked in the depths of the ocean”, our God who has “Adorned (Himself) with majesty and dignity (and) cloth(ed) (Himself) with glory and splendor…”

That same God became flesh and dwelt among us. But He didn’t just submit Himself to our frailty and limited perspective. He humbled Himself, emptied Himself…by becoming obedient to point of death, but not JUST death, even death on a cross. Jesus died for us, for you! Jesus died so that your sin could be forgiven.

If he never did anything else for you, isn’t that enough to see how much He loves you, to see His compassion and mercy…and trust Him?

That’s really what it boils down to, isn’t it? the root of patience, the source of true lasting patience is trusting in a truly patient God.

Have you trusted God this way? Have you trusted Him with your life, surrendered everything to Him. That’s where forgiveness is found, and that’s where patience begins.

Won’t you give your life to Jesus today?