Mensa Otabil - Remain Patient

Watch
Donate

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. So, we’ll 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. Well, the immediate past 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, and he uses an analogy: the analogy of a farmer who is waiting for the early and latter rain so that his crop will be ripened. So, James says 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.

Now we can use the same analogy of James to talk about waiting also for the promises of God to be fulfilled in our lives because it takes the same principle. Just as the farmer is patient while 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? Now, if you look at the passage, waiting is related to being patient. And what does that mean? It means to remain where you are. To remain where you are can be physically staying in one place, but it goes beyond just staying physically. It also means that mentally, you should be in the right place at the right time.

Where you are spiritually, remaining where you are, is not an excuse for laziness; it is a charge for you not to give up and to run away, run off, or do something else. When a farmer farms the land and the rains come in but are delayed, they don’t transplant their farm into another location; they are patient, knowing that the season for rain will come and that the rain will fall on their crop. Now, 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 so quickly, and if it doesn’t happen fast, we change and do something else. Some of us get into a cycle of changing and changing and changing until we end up doing 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 wait by looking 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. Because, of course, if you’re waiting and think nothing’s going to happen, everything will stay the same, and nothing will change, you will be discouraged. But when you are hopeful, when you are expectant, especially when you are expecting something that is sure to happen, one of the things we can be sure of is that God’s goodness will touch us, that God’s favor will touch us, that God’s blessing will come to us, that God will always respond to His promises in our lives.

So, when we trust the promises of God, there is certainty that God will do it. Thus, we wait in anticipation; we wait in expectation. If you’re going to fulfill God’s purpose for your life, you have to learn to wait, to be patient, not to just transplant yourself, keep moving and moving, and never achieving anything. Learn to stay in one place and wait for the fullness of a 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. God will bless you where you are; just be patient. I am Pastor Mensa Otabil. I’ll catch you again tomorrow. Shalom, peace, and life to you.