Be patient, stand firm

Be patient, stand firm James 5:7-12

Intro…I think one of the toughest things to do in life is to be patient and stand firm…my day at court and the DMV trying to be patient and “stand firm” knowing why I was there.

• That’s just a silly example from life.
• When it comes to our faith, God is asking us be patient as he unfolds his plans for our lives.

Text: James 5:7-12
Thesis: When we are patient, trusting God for his plans, he will help us stand firm in our convictions.

God is asking us to be patient and stand firm like a farmer. V. 7
• I’m guessing that for most of us here in San Diego, the closest thing we’ve ever been to being a farmer is attempting to have a garden. Any farmers out there?
• Notice the seasons James mentions, autumn, spring rains.
• God teaches us as we go through the seasons of life.
• We need to trust him for the “yielding of valuable crop.”
• Just like the farmer cannot hurry this process, neither can we as God works in our lives.
• We can’t just take a season off…there is always much work to be done to ensure a good harvest.
• That could be character development, learning to trust him more, changing our ways…
• While God changes us we live by faith, trusting him for the outcome.

God is asking us to be patient and stand firm like an OT prophet. V. 10
• Let’s take a look at a few of them, things they said or did and the price they paid.
• Samuel, Nathan, Jehu, Elijah, Elisha, Joel, Jonah, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah Micah , Nahum, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, Habakkuk, Obadiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Haggai, Malachi
• Isaiah 20 God had Isaiah walk naked a sign and warning to the Egyptians and Ethiopians that would make them afraid to do the things they were doing.
• Jeremiah, Daniel, Amos, Haggai, Malachi
• What did prophets do best? Speak the truths of God with conviction!
God is asking us to be patient and stand firm like Job. V. 11
• Job is always the “extreme” example of how our patience could be tested.
• Most likely, these kinds of events will never happen to us…
• Job was steadfast in his moral integrity.
• Job 1:21, 2:10, 13:15, 16:19, 19:25.

How do we have patience like a farmer, prophet or endurance like Job?
• By being patient and standing firm. V. 8 (Trusting that God has a bigger plan then you can see…”the Lord’s coming is near.”)
• We need to stand firm in what you know is true…biblical truths, God’s providence, provision.
• By not grumbling…v 9
• When things go wrong we tend to blame others. Instead we need to own up to our responsibility.
• Before we judge others for their shortcomings, remember, God is the judge who won’t let us get away with shifting the blame.
• Focus on God and the basic fundamentals of the faith, not getting caught up in petty differences.

v. 12 Above all, when learning to have patience and stand firm…be careful what you (swear) commit to.
• We need to let our “yes” be “yes” and our “no” be “no.”
• People who tend to exaggerate or lie often can’t get anyone to believe them on their word alone.
• We always need to be honest so others will believe a simple yes or no.
• Stand firm in your beliefs, what you know is biblically right.
• As God takes us through life’s trails and we come out the other side with his perspective, we learn to trust him more.
• This verse is talking about not taking an oath (or committing to something) that is flippant, profane or blasphemous.
• We can take oaths that are solid affirmations of what we believe.
• Ex. 22:11, Matt. 26:63-64, Rom. 1:9

In our struggle to learn patience and trust God remember…
• “We consider blessed those who have persevered.”
• “The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” V. 11b
• What God finally brought about in Job’s life is amazing…
42:10, 12-13, 15-16 …. this is just an example…
• God wants us to have patience and stand firm not because we are guaranteed to have twice as much as we had before…but just because we need to trust him.



Conclusion:
Mindy Belz World Mag.
Every year the garden reminds me of something different about life under the sun.—the garden is a steady pacesetter, a visual metronome marking out the seasons in a rhythm that's undeniable, no matter my hurry or the blur of events around me.

In the great race to learn how to pace, have you noticed that American culture has become a pell-mell quest to feast all the time? That we have so much of everything we don't have time to enjoy anything?

That we've lost our equilibrium in the art of abounding and abasing? That we forgot doing without goes along with having plenty?

Our cars with their cupholders, face mirrors, and USB jacks are a testimony to our belief in having and doing all, all the time. Amid the darkened auditorium rows at my son's graduation were scattered bricks of light as family and friends paused to check mail or text from their smartphones. We're working the next deal or planning another event even in the midst of one.
Some of us can do it all, for awhile, but I come to the end of this season limp, drained of my capacity for joy at just the moment when there is most to enjoy. What I end up with in a time of perpetual feasting feels more like a persistent fast. I gnaw at a vast cluster of bones but miss the choicest pieces of marrow.

Here's the good news to the believer: God gives us leave to enjoy both feasting and fasting. The writer of Proverbs 30 declares, "Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, 'Who is the Lord?' or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God."
He also says..
"I am weary, O God; weary, and worn out. Surely I am too stupid to be a man."

I too am weary of the feast, fearful of the fast, too stupid usually to know what I need when; but longing for both if they will but come from the hand of God.

Let’s be patient as God takes us through the seasons of life and stand firm in what we know is right and true.