To the brothers who were facing trials of many kinds (1:2), James exhorted them to be patient. James repeated the same word “patient” four times in five verses (7-11) to emphasize on the need to actively wait upon the Lord and to not lose heart in their existing circumstances.

He first used an agricultural analogy, familiar to the people of his time. Every farmer in Palestine understood that growth of the crops was dependant on the early and late rains. The early rains come in late October and early November to help germinate the seeds. Then the late rains of the April and May causes the grains to mature. The farmers understood that nature was in charge of the growth of their crops. They can put in effort to tilt the ground and sow the seed, but growth was out of our hands. They needed to be patient.

Then James turn to the examples in the Old Testaments, to further reinforce the need to be patient. The prophets in the Old Testament served God faithfully, and in accordance to God’s instructions. Some prophecies did not take immediate effect, while others did not go well with the people who heard them. The prophets were persecuted and despised by the people of Israel but they remained undaunted and patient.

James then quoted the example of Job. Patience did not seem to be an appropriate word to describe Job as we recount of him passionately agonising over the terrible thought that God might have forsaken him. Barclay said that few men had spoken such passionate words as he did, but the great fact about him is that in spite of the agonising questioning which tore his heart, he never lost his faith in God. His patience here did not refer to his unquestioning faith; he struggled and questioned, but he remained steadfast and trusted that God was good.

The reason for the patience hinged on the important truth that Christ has promised His return one day and the season of waiting will be over. When Jesus Christ, the King and the judge returns, He will set the record straight once more, and everyone will have to account for their words and works before the just King! Dear brothers and sisters, the difficulty about being patient lies in the process of waiting for His return.

I remembered, as part of our jungle survivor training in the army days, we had to be in the Brunei jungle for five days, without food, while finishing the tasks allocated to us. Even with proper training to prepare us for it, the hunger grew more unbearable and the nights felt longer as the days progressed. On the final day of training, we were told that a speed boat will be used to pick us back to base camp. Each one of the trainees would be picked up from an allocated location along a river early in the morning at dawn. After five days of solitude, hunger and filth, I was looking forward to returning back to base camp so much for a hot milo, a hot shower and friends to talk to. I remembered waking up at 4 in the morning, and together with my training equipment, I stood by the river and waited for dawn to come. That three hours felt like one of the longest wait I had in my life and every minute that passed felt like hours to me. However, I waited in great expectancy knowing that the boat would finally come and I would return home. Indeed, as the boat drew near, the sound of the throttling engine from the speed boat came to me like sweet melody. I was going home!

Dear brothers and sisters, are there moments in your life where God is stretching your patience? In those long and difficult nights, have we thought that God had forgotten about us. God does not forget, because He is kind and merciful. We know that Christ will return to bring us home. In your darkest nights, cling on to the remnants of faith and in the end, we will hear the sweet trumpet sound during the triumphant return of our Great and Mighty King!