Patience in Suffering

Tom Shrader works through James 5:7-12, explaining that suffering is a universal human experience from which Christians are not exempt, and that the coming of the Lord is the primary motivation for patient endurance through both adverse circumstances and difficult people. Using the illustrations of the farmer, the prophets, and Job, he shows that trials grow and strengthen believers rather than defeating them, grounding patience in the fruit of the Spirit and the certainty of Christ's return. He closes by directing listeners to 1 Thessalonians 4 and 1 Peter 5, calling them to cast their anxieties on God because He genuinely cares for them.

“Cast all our cares on Him because He cares for you. He climbs right in there in the midst of them with you.”

— Tom Shrader

Series: Blue Jean Theology (2011)

Recorded: 2011 at East Valley Bible Church

Duration: 50 min

Themes: patience, suffering, endurance, hope, trials, anxiety, waiting on God, perseverance, going through a difficult season, struggling with anxiety, dealing with difficult people, feeling defeated by trials, new believer, grieving, caregiver under stress, navigating conflict

Scripture: James 1:2, James 1:6, James 1:8, James 1:26, James 2:4, James 3:2-11, James 5:7-12, Job 42, Proverbs 15:18, Proverbs 16:32, Acts 14:22, Galatians 6:9, Luke 9:51, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 1 Timothy 4:5, 2 Timothy 4:5, 1 Peter 4:7, 1 Peter 5:5, 1 Peter 5:7, 1 Peter 5:10, 2 Peter 3:11, 2 Peter 3:15, 1 John 2:18, 1 John 3:3

Theological Themes: eschatology, second coming of christ, sanctification, fruit of the spirit, theodicy, divine providence, imminence of christ's return, biblical suffering

Full Transcript

Introduction and Context

Open your Bibles to the book of James. We are at the end of the book, and next week we will finish it. Today we are going to look at chapter 5, verses 7 through 12. The following week will be a stand-alone message, then Easter, and then we will spend five weeks in the book of Ruth. After that, we will take 13 weeks and work our way through doctrinal truths. All of the campuses and what made the mergers work is the theological alignment that we have, and that will really come into play as we teach through those 13 weeks of theology.

The Passage

"Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for his precious produce of soil, being patient about it until it gets the early and the late rains. You too, be patient, strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged. Behold, the judge is standing right at the door. As an example, brethren, 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. But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by the heaven or by earth or with any other oath, but your yes be a yes, your no a no, so that you may not fall under judgment."

Observing the Text

The first thing to do with a passage like this is to look at the immediate context, and to look at the surrounding material and put it in the context of the book. A couple of things stand out right away from that reading. First, in verses 7, 9, 10, and 12, James uses the word "brethren" or "my brethren." He uses that phrase 15 or 16 times in this book. Part of what he is doing today is coming at his readers with some very critical things, and he wants to emphasize that he is not doing this in some arbitrary fashion — he is treating them as followers of Christ.

Also, in verse 7 and verse 8, and again in verse 9, you see the phrase "the coming of the Lord" and "the coming of the Lord is near," followed by "behold, the judge is standing at the door." So you get the clear idea of judgment that is about to take place. The structure becomes visible very quickly: James says be patient, then gives an illustration of patience in the farmer, then in verse 10 points to the prophets as a role model, and then points to Job — a figure so associated with patience that even people who know nothing about the Bible, when they hear the name Job, think of the patience of Job.

The Connection to Last Week

There is also a connection to last week's passage. Justin was dealing with the whole idea of the rich and the oppression that comes from the wealthy, concluding that believers should not resist that oppression. That theme ties directly into the call to patience here in chapter 5. James moves naturally from the suffering caused by the rich into an exhortation about how to endure that suffering with patience.

A Note on Verse 12

The verse that initially seems to hang out on its own is verse 12. At first glance it does not appear to fit the flow of verses 7 through 11, and then verse 13 begins a section on prayer. However, the word translated "but" at the beginning of verse 12 is also sometimes translated "now" or "since," which suggests a continuation of thought rather than a sharp break. James is still talking about how believers are supposed to live through this season of suffering, and here he addresses the taking of oaths.

The theme of the tongue has actually been present throughout the entire book. In chapter 1, verse 26, James writes, "If anyone thinks himself religious, but he doesn't bridle his tongue, he deceives himself." In chapter 2, verse 4, he calls believers to speak and act as those who will be judged by the law of liberty, and he urges them to be slow to speak and quick to listen. Chapter 3, verses 2 through 11, is entirely devoted to the tongue. So verse 12 is not as disconnected as it first appears — it is another expression of the same concern about how we use our words.

In that day and age, and especially within Jewish culture, a very complex system of taking oaths had developed. It was a kind of acknowledgment of the seriousness with which a statement was being made.

The Nature of Oaths and Honest Speech

We intuitively are not really honest people. Our hearts are filled with lies. The phone rings, your kid answers it, you see who it is on the TV, you don't recognize the name, and they say, "Dad, it's for you." Your flinch is to say, "Tell him I'm not home." That is our natural instinct. The oath was designed to counter this tendency — to say, "I swear, in this solemn way, what I am about to say is true, and I want to come under this burden."

The word "oath" in the Hebrew carries the idea of swearing. In the Greek, it is the idea of binding or strengthening. What an oath does is take the statement you are making and add weight to it. We do something similar even without a formal oath. You have had this conversation many times. You will be talking and conversing along, and then all of a sudden someone will say, "Let me be honest with you." Well, what does that make you wonder about the first fifteen minutes? What about all that came before?

What James is saying is: you do not need to do that. Your heart is regenerated. You are a new creature. You do not need to be swearing on a stack of Bibles or making a bunch of solemn, frivolous pledges. His instruction is straightforward: your yes is yes, and your no is no. If you say you are going to do something, do it.

Faithfulness in the Little Things

This principle shows up most clearly not in the big moments but in the small ones. Big things we tend to get right. It is the little things that put everything together. Consider football. By and large, the team that wins is the team that does the little things — the team that blocks, the team that tackles. It is third and seven, you run a little screen pass, you pick up the first down, and then there is a holding call. Now it is third and seventeen, you do not convert, and you turn the ball over. It is all those little things, and the same is true in our lives.

Here is an example, and this is not meant to be harsh or judgmental — do not wear it unless it fits. We will hold an event, and fifty people will RSVP and say they will be there. Then thirty-five show up. Now, do things come up? Sure. But when you check and find that nothing came up for the missing people, and even when something does come up — let us say your event is at seven o'clock Friday night and something happens Thursday — what do you do? You call. Otherwise, you are left with fifteen extra meals, wasted food, wasted money, while people say it does not really matter. It matters a great deal.

A man once came to me and said he wanted to do what I do — he wanted to teach. He said he thought he would be a great teacher and asked if he could help. I told him that this particular Saturday we had a men's leadership event and needed someone to make coffee. He said he could do that. So I arrived Saturday morning, the event was to start at seven, I got there around six forty-five, and noticeably absent was the fragrant aroma of freshly brewed coffee. About five minutes to seven, this man came strolling in, and I said, "Hey, good to have you here — we don't have any coffee. What happened?" He said, "Yeah, I know. I just didn't get to it."

Afterward, he came up and said he still wanted to talk about teaching. By that point I had been walking in the Spirit for hours, and I am afraid I moved out of being Spirit-filled into the flesh. I said to him, "If I cannot trust you with coffee, I do not believe God can trust you with a soul." He disappeared, and I never saw the man again. If he had had any fortitude at that point, he would have confessed he was wrong and moved forward. But that is exactly the point — it is the little things.

Our service times are eight thirty and ten thirty. My daughter Sarah comes in the morning with three kids, the oldest of whom is four. My other daughter Haley comes with three kids, the oldest of whom is five. They look like the Grapes of Wrath coming onto campus, with boots and shoes and everything else. And yet they start five minutes early. Are there exceptions? Of course there are exceptions. But every church I visit, pastors will say their people just do not get there on time. I go to pastor's conferences and these pastors themselves are never on time. If you cannot be on time for a meeting, you see what I am saying.

That is all James is saying. You should not have to swear on these things — you simply live this way. If you say yes, you do it. If you say no, you do not. That is what he is getting at in verse 12.

Introduction: Trials as a Universal Theme

Let us look at verses 7 through 11. The context clearly is the idea of trials. If we go back to the first day of our study, James says in chapter 1, verse 2, "Count it all joy, or consider it all joy when you encounter various trials, knowing the testing of your faith produces endurance." He is writing to a group of Jewish Christians who are scattered primarily because of persecution, and he begins right where they are. He says, "Count it all joy when you encounter these various trials."

We said in the first week that trials are inevitable. He says count it all joy when they come — when these various trials come. Literally, the word means multicolored: they come in all shapes and sizes, in all different ways. Though you can expect trials to come, you do not necessarily know the timing of those trials. Consider it all joy. Why? Because it strengthens you. That has been a theme all the way through this book, and now we come to the end of the book and in a sense come full circle.

Christians Are Not Exempt from Suffering

What James is saying is that trials, suffering, and pain are in a sense the universal language. That is what it means to be human, and Christians are not exempt from that. So when you came to Christ in repentance and faith, if you thought that meant everything was going to be easy, you are mistaken. If you thought somehow you would be exempt, consider that Christians still get sick, still lose jobs, and still have relationships that fall apart.

We have all of those struggles, and on top of that — especially in that early church, and we experience it to some minimal level today — there is the idea of persecution. So you suffer all of life: the relational, physical, financial, whatever it might be. And beyond that, there is the sense in which, as you take a stand for Christ, there will be times at school, in the marketplace, or in the neighborhood where relationships suffer for it.

We had a woman here at church who, when she and her husband came to Christ in repentance and faith, her family disowned them, had nothing to do with them, and would not talk to her. The grandmother would still talk to the children, but really only to tell them what a heretic and a witch their mother was. Eventually, that relationship had to be ended. That is real suffering.

James is saying: understand that this is part of human life. Job chapter 5, verse 7 says, "For man is born for trouble." Paul writes to the church at Galatia, recorded in Acts chapter 14, verse 22, "Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God." And Jesus, the night before He died, said, "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you might have peace. In this world you will have tribulation." That is the guarantee.

Patience with People

Now, the idea in chapter 1 is to have endurance in the midst of adverse circumstances. The language here, however, deals with people. The idea is to be patient — to be long-suffering — in the midst of difficult people. That ties perfectly into where we left off last week in verse 6, where we are told not to resist but to embrace. And then James says, "Therefore be patient." The idea is patience with people.

It is important to note that James is saying this to believers because believers have the ability to be patient. He speaks to the brethren — to believers — four times: in verse 7, verse 9, verse 10, and verse 12. So when he says to these believers, "Be patient," how does he know they have the ability to do that? Because Paul has taught us about the fruit of the Spirit. If Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior and I am indwelt by the living God — the Holy Spirit — then as the Spirit works in my life, He will produce love, joy, peace, and patience.

So you have this ability. You might sit there and say, "I cannot do it." Yes, you can. It may not be easy, and for some it will be easier than for others, but you have the ability. You have this power within you. The word used is "long-suffering." You have heard the term "short fuse." You have the ability not to have a short fuse. You have the ability to have a long fuse with someone.

The Slow to Anger

Proverbs chapter 15, verse 18 says, "A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but the slow to anger calms a dispute." Proverbs 16, verse 32 says, "He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty." God Himself is patient. 2 Peter 3:15 speaks of the patience of the Lord regarding our salvation. God is a patient God. He has not yet returned. God is waiting even for those who are His to respond.

The Motivation to Hang In There

The motivation James gives us is found right there in verses 7, 8, and 9: the coming of the Lord, the coming of the Lord, the coming of the Lord is near. "Hang in there" doesn't help much on its own. Hang in there, how? This is the answer. The coming of the Lord is the motivation.

It is important to understand what normal looked like for the people receiving this letter. Their normal was suffering and pain and hardship. Life was tough. Justin talked about it the week before, noting that if you make $50,000 a year, you are in the top 1% of earners in the world, and $30,000 puts you in the top 7%. By the Bible's definition of rich, that is almost everybody in the room today. In that day and age, the original recipients of this letter would have had one or two changes of clothes, that was it, and they would have been pressed to reach the end of the week and still have food. They were really hurting and suffering, and they were looking for relief.

You tend to look for relief much more when things are hard than when things are good. So they were looking around and crying out, "Oh Lord, come quickly." And even as we yearn for heaven, there is a temptation to yearn more to get out of here than to be with Him, which is not right. But the point James is making is that the idea of His coming is what allows you to hang in there. That is his point.

The Second Coming as Anchor

The Greek word used throughout the New Testament carries the idea of His coming and His presence — He is coming, and He is staying this time. He is coming and you will be with Him forever. Let that be the motivation. One out of every thirteen verses in the New Testament deals with the second coming of Christ. Jesus Himself talked about it a great deal — the signs, the birth pains, what will happen, and how it will take place.

Nobody knows the day or the hour. He is coming. First Peter 4 says, "The end of all things is near." First Timothy 4:5 says, "Be sober in all things." Jesus says He is coming quickly, and even in the early church people were already beginning to scoff, saying He promised to come quickly and He still has not arrived. If that was true for them, how much more so for us, 2,000 years later? Yet a day is as a thousand years, so in God's economy, He has been gone two days. He is coming.

How Then Should We Live?

There are two components to drive home here. Number one, be ready. He could come at any time, or you could die at any moment. Functionally, those two things accomplish the same thing — to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. He could come at any moment. You could die at any time. How should you live in light of that?

When people asked Martin Luther what he would do if he knew he was going to die tomorrow, he said he would plant a tree. He was not trying to build a memorial. What he meant was, if he was a gardener, he would plant a tree — in other words, he would do what he was already doing. That is an extraordinary posture. Larry Wright was a man who lived that way, with almost no unfinished relational business. When Larry died, there was nothing left unsaid. He was ready. He lived in light of eternity.

The second component is to be strengthened by it. First John, chapter 3, verse 3 says that he who has this hope in him of His return purifies himself. Second Peter, chapter 3, verse 11 asks, when we know all these things shall come to pass, and as we know Jesus is coming again, what kind of person ought we to be? The answer is holy people living godly lives.

Suffering Is Real, but It Has Context

James does not gloss over the reality of how difficult life is. He does not ignore the suffering. Scripture always paints its people with warts and all — it paints the sinners and the saints honestly. James does not say it is going to be easy. If anyone told you that becoming a Christian meant everything would be easy, they lied to you. It is simply not true, and we need to be realistic about that.

But hard things, like anything else, need context. Suffering is real, but it is not the whole story.

Getting Back in the Game

Not long ago, when I finished a message, I spoke with somebody who is very sick — their cancer is back, it is all through them, and it is very serious. They were talking about the struggle of finding joy in the middle of that. I don't want to be frivolous, and I'm not saying joy comes immediately.

Yesterday we had a T-ball game. I was out there, and Yale was playing first base. Yale is only three years old — you have to be four, five, or six to play — so he is younger and smaller than he should be. I had Yale on one side of me and Zoe on the other.

I said something at that game I never thought I would say: "Good hit, Zoe." I have learned to love Zoe. She had just lost a tooth, so I was talking with her — telling her I loved the gap in her smile, asking what happened. Then I said, "Zoe, don't let the ball get by you," and I turned back to watch Yale. At that exact moment, a six-year-old kid hit as hard a line drive as you can hit at that age — one hop — and it caught Yale right in the face.

Yale turned around, and with the awareness that I was standing behind him, he ran and jumped on me. He held on and I held him, and I have learned over the years how to handle those moments. I just held him quietly and said, "You doing all right, buddy?" He said, "No." I said, "All right. Let me see your face." I checked him over and said, "You're not bleeding, and that's a big thing." Yale can handle almost anything — a broken leg, a broken arm — but blood he does not like. I told him, "I think you're okay. I'm going to put you down now, because you've got to get back in there." Personally, I would have been at the emergency room at that point. That would have been the last ground ball they ever hit at me.

So I put him down, and he pulled himself together. The other kids were waiting for the next batter, and the whole game had paused. He looked up at me and said, "Papa, I've got to stay low. I've got to stay low on these ground balls, okay?" That was a great moment. I am not saying that when you get hit in the nose, you don't feel it. I am not saying you don't run and jump on the one who loves you. I am saying that just like Yale did — once he caught his breath and felt his grandfather's love — he got back in the game. Life throws things at you, whatever they are. It is going to hurt. It may take your breath away. But once you catch your breath, once you feel your Father's hug, once you know it is going to be okay, get back in the game. That is all.

The Farmer and the Harvest

This posture of patient endurance is driven by understanding that there is a day that is coming. James gives us an illustration his original readers would have understood immediately — the illustration of a farmer. I am from Iowa, though I do not know much about farming, but I understand this. You prepare the soil, you plant the seed, you nurture it, it grows, and then you have a harvest. But you do not plant on Sunday morning and harvest on Monday morning. There is a time gap in between.

When Haley planted a garden with the boys, they planted everything together — and literally the next morning the boys were up asking, "Where are the flowers? Where are the tomatoes?" We learn. We learn patience.

There is something interesting in this comparison that I want to draw out. In farming, I at least have some sense of when the harvest is coming. In Iowa, when they planted corn, everyone knew that by the Fourth of July that corn needed to be knee high. There is a measuring stick — a general sense of timing. What James tells us here is different: we do not know when He is coming. We only know that He is coming.

Endurance in the Midst of the Yuck

So in the midst of all the difficulty — and you fill in whatever that is in your life, whether it is a child in rebellion, a parent in rebellion, a sickness, a job loss, a financial situation that just is not working out the way you planned — in the midst of all of that, we know that God either caused it or allowed it. We want it to be used for our good and for His glory. That is exactly what James established at the very beginning of his letter: "Count it all joy when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance." For our good. We want to be strong in the Lord. We want to endure, to persevere, to break the tape.

Whenever I am on vacation, I tend to spend time contemplating life — thinking through this and that — while Susan listens patiently. One time she said to me, "You are always talking about finishing strong. Have you actually calibrated finishing strong into your thinking? Because it sounds like you are more concerned about your comfort." She was right. For my good and His glory — that is the aim.

With that in mind, turn to Galatians 6:9. Actually, let me just read it to you: "Let us not grow weary in doing well, for in due season we shall reap if we do not faint." Do you see what he is saying? Do not grow weary. Why does he even need to say that? Because it is tiring. It is a heavy load. All of this is coming at you and it is real, and it will beat you down and tear you apart and defeat you — unless you refuse to grow weary, choose to become patient, trust in Him, and fix your eyes on His return. That is what builds you back up.

In Luke 9, verse 51, Luke tells us that Jesus determined —

The Truth That Props You Up

The idea at work here is the same one found in the determination to go to Jerusalem — it means literally to prop you up. This truth is what sustains you. It becomes, in a sense, your crutch. Peter writes in 1 Peter 5, verse 10: "After you've suffered for a little while, the God of all grace who is called to your eternal glory in Christ will himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you." God is working in all of this. God is the one who is in control. So set your mind on this truth.

If you go back to chapter one, verse six, James introduced this idea that runs all the way through: we cannot have a duality of mind, we cannot doubt. He said, "We must ask in faith without doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea tossed about." Verse eight calls that person "double-minded, unstable in all his ways." James does not want us to be double-minded. He wants us to understand that the end is near — 1 Peter 4:7 says the Lord is at hand, and 1 John 2:18 says, "My children, it is the last time." This is the reality he is driving home.

We are going to have all of these trials, all these difficulties, and the motivation to sustain us in the midst of them is the reality that Jesus is coming again.

Hope at the Funeral

Keep your place in James chapter five and turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter four — page 641 in the Bible provided. Paul is writing to the church at Thessalonica. They are confused because, much like what we have been discussing, they understood that Jesus was coming again soon, and yet they were now seeing Christians die. They were asking how it was all going to play out.

So in 1 Thessalonians chapter four, verse 13, Paul tells them: "We do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not be grieving as the rest who have no hope." He is saying: do not be like a Gentile. Have hope here. You do not have to grieve without it. When we are at a funeral and we are weeping, those tears are completely natural — but they are really more for us than for them. You are not weeping for the one who has died. They are in heaven. You are saying you wish you could have them back, but why would they want to come back? We are not hopeless in the midst of loss.

Our Hope Is Not in This World

Here is the real hope, and it stands in sharp contrast to everything else on offer. Watching a great deal of television while away, there was simply no reason to be encouraged by anything on the screen. The Middle East is a mess. International affairs are a mess. Things at home are a mess. The people in the House, the Senate, and the White House do not have the will to fix the economic situation. We do not have the collective fortitude to take what it would take. There is no way out through political means.

When that is said, some people respond by calling it negative. But it is not negative — it is realistic. The hope was never in the Republican Party or the Democratic Party or the Tea Party. It was never in Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, or Ronald Reagan. Abraham Lincoln called the United States of America the last best hope for mankind — but if that is true, mankind is in very big trouble. The last best hope for mankind is Christ. That is where our hope is anchored, and James is saying we must keep that truth right in front of us, always.

The Coming of the Lord

Paul continues in 1 Thessalonians chapter four, verse 14: "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus." The hope rests on the resurrection of Christ, which we will return to on Easter morning. Verse 15 continues: "For this I say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep." And then verse 16: "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout and with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first."

Those who are Christians who have died — in crematories, in the sea, in cemeteries, wherever they are — they are going to rise. Then verse 17: "We who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, so we shall always be with the Lord." That is an extraordinary truth. No matter how bad things get, it can only last a lifetime. To be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord.

What the Passage Is Really About

Almost always when this passage is taught, the focus shifts to debates about the rapture, the tribulation, pre-trib timing, and all the related questions. That territory is not particularly interesting to some — others are deeply into it, and that is fine. But here is what matters: the point is that Jesus is coming again. One out of every thirteen verses in the New Testament touches on this truth, so it is clearly important. He wants us to know He is coming again so that we will be ready, so that we will be strengthened.

The Hope That Sustains Us

Therefore comfort one another with these words. That is why this is important, because as we look around us, we tend to look at everything and this looks like the real world to us. In our human understanding, our intuition tells us that we are in the land of the living, and when we die, we go to the land of the dead. What Jesus tells us is that this is the land of the dead and we go to the land of the living. That is the hope that sustains us.

There is a poem credited to an anonymous Civil War soldier. I have no idea whether it is real or not, but it does not matter — it is great. It reads: "I ask God for strength that I might achieve, and I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey. I ask God for health that I might do greater things. I was given infirmity that I might do better things. I ask for riches that I might be happy. I was given poverty that I might be wise. I ask for power that I might have the praise of men. I was given weakness that I might feel the need for God. I ask for all things that I might enjoy life, and I was given life that I may enjoy all things."

The closing line is the best part: "I got nothing I asked for and everything I hoped for." That is exactly what we do. We say, "God, I want to be happy. If I get that deal, I will be happy. Give me that deal." And He does not give us that deal. He takes it away, and we find real happiness. That is God's economy of happiness. The word God uses for it is "blessed."

If we went around this room right now and gave everyone a chance to share a time when they really saw God working, when God really revealed Himself and grew them, almost all of you would highlight a time of adversity. And you would end with this: "I would not want to go through it again, but I would not trade it for the world." That is exactly what He is saying. We do not even know what is good and bad circumstantially. You look back and you see what God did in your life in a moment of incredible teaching, and almost always, at the very moment it came, you would have resisted it and said, "I do not want this. It is not good." But He knows. That is all He is saying.

Patience Like the Farmer

Jesus uses the imagery, back in chapter five, of being patient like the farmer. He also tells us in verse nine not to be complaining against one another, which suggests there was arguing going on in this church. That is one of the things I have learned in more than twenty years of being around churches — people can be brutal in accusing others, speaking about others, saying things that are hurtful and cannot be undone. But the Judge is standing right there. "Vengeance is mine, says the Lord." We do not need to fix it. There is that sobering idea that we will all stand before the Lord someday.

I think many Christians misunderstand what that judgment means. It is not that our sins will be judged — they have already been judged and paid for at the cross. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The judgment for believers is based on the rewards we will receive, not on punishment for sin. That was already dealt with. That is what the cross was all about.

The Example of the Prophets

James says we need a role model and points us to the prophets. These were men who spoke in the name of the Lord, and by and large they were hated for it. They seem to have been very unhappy people — they wrote books with titles like Lamentations. They were declaring the truth in the midst of opposition, and yet they stood firm for what was true. James says to be like them.

The Example of Job

Or consider Job, as James directs us in verse eleven. At the beginning of the book of Job we are told he had seven sons and three daughters, 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, many servants, and that he was the greatest man in all the land. Then Satan came to God and said, "Sure he is faithful — look at everything he has." God said, in effect, "Go ahead," and Satan took it all away. Job was still holding on. He had at least his health, and then came the boils. His wife came to him and said, "Curse God and die," and Job answered, "What shall we do except receive the good from God and not the adversity?" His friends arrived and began to accuse him and question what was wrong with him.

When Job finally arrives at the very end of the story, in Job chapter 42, here is what he says: "I have heard about you by the hearing of my ear, but now I have seen you." What he is saying is that up until all of this, what he knew of God had been theoretical. He had heard that God was kind, loving, and gracious, but then adversity came, and with it came God's strength, God's love, and God's endurance — not Job's own strength, but God's — that allowed him to endure to the very end. That is the point. In the midst of suffering, Job moved from hearing about God to truly knowing Him.

Closing

Let me close with this, from 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 7 —

God's Timing and Humble Trust

Peter writes in 1 Peter 5:5, "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble," and continues in verse 6, "therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you at the proper time." This whole passage is about God's timing. Remember what James said: don't grow weary of doing well. God will come, and we will endure.

In the midst of this, Peter says God is opposed to the proud and gives grace to the humble. He promises that God is going to exalt you. Then in verse 7 he adds, "casting all your care" — or your anxiety — "on Him."

Depositing Your Anxiety with Him

The word translated "casting" carries the idea of depositing. Think of stopping at the bank to deposit a check. There is one important component to add to that picture: this is not you making the deposit yourself — it is a direct deposit. Cast all of your anxiety, all of the hurt, the pain, all that the world brings — we don't minimize these things, we acknowledge them — and deposit them with Him. We give them to Him.

And here is the reason, which is a beautiful way to bring everything together: we cast all our cares on Him because He cares for you. You may have wondered whether you are loved. You may have asked whether anybody truly cares. He does.

Endurance, Because God Cares

Here is what James says: you are going to have trials. You are going to meet adverse circumstances and adverse people, and here is what you do with them — they grow you, they strengthen you, you gain endurance through them, and you become patient like the farmer. You hang tough like the prophet. You endure like Job.

Why? Because God cares for you, and Jesus is coming again. That does not mean life is smooth and easy. It does not mean that trials, tribulations, and hardship simply go away. It means that He climbs right in there in the midst of them with you.

A huge component of that endurance is prayer, and that is what we will look at next week.

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Father, thank you for this amazing truth. Thank you that indeed Jesus is Lord, that we know Him and love Him, and that He loves us — that we can cast our cares and anxiety on Him, making a direct deposit of that anxiety onto Him. God, You love us. You care for us. Father, thank you for Jesus. Thank you for the Spirit that gives us strength to endure. Father, now as we come to the communion table and our time of worship, remind us You are the one true God. It is You and You alone that we need, that we lean on. Father, we pray to You now in Christ's name, amen.