The Mending of All Things

When a country is in crisis, its leader does a “state of the union” address. And the citizens tune in, because what this respected leader has to say in this moment of need is weighty.

James is like a patriarch of the early church, a respected father-figure. And what’s the state of the churches? They’re suffering. Oppression, abuse, injustice — “trials of various kinds” (James 1:2). So we can imagine his first readers tuning in, hanging on each word. What will James say about our suffering?

“Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord.” (James 5:7a)

Patience. It’s not the answer we want when we’re suffering. But it’s the wise answer; the answer we need.

Do you know the difference between “patience” and “passivity”? Passivity waits to see how things will shake out. It is grounded in nothing but a vague hope. Christian patience, on the other hand, is grounded on the certain hope of Jesus. That’s why James anchors his command to “be patient” in the imminent return of Jesus. He then gives two examples of patience in suffering from Scripture: the prophets (5:10), and Job (5:11). The prophets were patient because they knew the “Day of the Lord” was coming. They knew that God was going to come down, bring justice for the oppressed, and mend all the wrongs and wounds of the world. And Job was patient because he knew the character of his Redeemer. God is compassionate and merciful. If he is allowing this suffering, at least we can lean into what we know to be true of him, and we can trust him with it.

Are you suffering? You can know and rest in two things about Jesus:

1) He’s coming back, and he’s going to bring justice to the earth — satisfying justice, driven by love for you.

2) He’s deeply good. He is the very embodiment of compassion and mercy.

If those two things are true of Jesus (and they are) then we can settle into patience as the path through suffering, because we can trust our Lord with it completely.