Patience

January 10

It’s been stated before but bears repeating, ‘We live in an age of instant gratification.’ Our forbearers were much more patient than are we—not because they were intrinsically more given to that illusive commodity than their progeny, but because the circumstances of their lives required it more than do ours.

For example, they had to till the soil, plant and water the seed, pull the weeds before they could harvest their wheat to make their bread. We simply pick up a loaf—ready sliced—on our way home from work. The element of waiting has been taken from almost every aspect of life.

From obtaining our daily bread to attaining sexual gratification, we aren’t inclined to wait for anything. We want it all, now. In James 5:7, 8, we are counseled to cultivate patience, “Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming, as the farmer waits for the land to yield its crop. See how he is patient for the autumn and spring rains! You, too, must be patient, for the Lord’s coming is near.”

James is saying that if we can’t wait for the rain and the increase it brings, we will hardly be equipped to await the Lord’s coming if He tarry His return. Though he expected Jesus to split the eastern sky and gather His own to Himself at any moment, he knew that unless the wait was with patience, the believer could become discouraged. Instant gratification is not our answer to life’s most important season of waiting. Patience is.