Mensa Otabil - Wait (10/19/2025)
This week, we are looking at the things we need to do to fulfill God 's purpose for our lives, how God sees His purpose for our lives, and how it works out. We look at James chapter 5, verse 7: «Therefore be patient, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.» The immediate context of this passage is the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle James is teaching the early Christians about patiently waiting for the Lord Jesus Christ, using the analogy of a farmer who is waiting for the early and latter rain so that his crop will be ripened. James states that just as the farmer waits for the rain to come, so that his crop will be ripened, Christians should also be patient, waiting for the coming of the Lord.
We can use the same analogy of James to discuss waiting for the promises of God to be fulfilled in our lives because it operates on the same principle. Just as the farmer is patient in waiting, we should also be patient, waiting for the fullness of time for God 's purposes to be fulfilled. So, what does it mean to wait? If you look at the passage, waiting is related to being patient. What does that mean? It means to remain where you are. This can be physically staying where you are, but it goes beyond that. It also means being in the right mental and spiritual place at the right time.
Remaining where you are is not an excuse for laziness; it is a charge for you not to give up, run away, or do something else. When a farmer farms land and the rains are delayed, they don’t transplant their farm to another location. They are patient, knowing that the season for the rain will come and that the rain will fall on their crop. Many times, we start doing something for God, knowing this is God 's purpose for our lives, but we are impatient. We want something to happen quickly, and if it doesn’t, we change and do something else. Some of us fall into a cycle of changing constantly and doing something new until we achieve nothing.
So we have to learn to be patient, as the scripture says: wait, because the early and latter rain is going to come. Waiting also means to be in expectancy, to look forward to something. When we are waiting, we don’t just look at what we have; we look forward with expectation. This sense of expectation-being ready to see something happen-keeps us in our waiting period. If you’re waiting and think nothing is going to happen, that everything will remain the same and nothing will change, you will be discouraged. But when you are hopeful and expectant, especially when you are confident something will truly happen, one of the certainties is that God 's goodness will touch us, His favor will reach us, and His blessing will come to us. God will always respond to His promises in our lives.
When we trust in the promises of God, there is assurance that God will fulfill them. So we wait in anticipation; we wait in expectation. If you are going to fulfill God 's purpose for your life, you have to learn to wait, to be patient-not to transplant yourself constantly, keeping on the move without achieving anything. Learn to stay in one place and wait for the fullness of the process to work out for you. Let 's pray. Say with me: «Heavenly Father, help me to remain patient and faithful as I work and plow my field. In Jesus' name, Amen and Amen.»