While I Wait

Patience is not my strength.  Waiting is not something I enjoy -- whether it be 3 minutes or 3 years...so how perfect that I was scheduled to lead our Ladies' Bible Study through James 5 this Monday night.  God truly has a sense of humor...

Anyway, as I was convictingly reminded, as a Christian my whole life is really nothing more than waiting for Jesus to return...but James, being so delightfully practical, doesn't just tell us to wait -- he gives us some specific instructions on what to do while we wait.  I love specific instructions!

So, for anyone else who struggles with waiting -- or really for anyone at all, since we're all actually waiting, whether we realize it or not -- here is the notes from Monday.

James 5 - While You Are Waiting

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. ² Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. ³ Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! ⁴ Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. ⁵ You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned and put to death the righteous man; he does not resist you.

⁷ Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. ⁸ You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. ⁹ Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door. ¹⁰ As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹ 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.

¹² But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.

¹³ Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; ¹⁵ and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. ¹⁶ Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. ¹⁷ Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. ¹⁸ Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.

¹⁹ My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, ²⁰ let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

• Thesis of the Chapter: "Life" is what believers do while we wait for the Kingdom of Heaven (James 5:7-9)
• Positive perspective of waiting (Isaiah 40:31)
• "Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles.  They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not grow weary."
• What waiting really feels like (II Corinthians 4:7-10)
• "...we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persectued, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body." 
• What NOT to do while you wait
• Pursue Riches ahead of Christ (5:1-6)
• Temporary (5:2)
• Can tempt us to sin (5:3a, 5)
• Can reflect wrong priorities (5:3b)
• Can lead to dishonesty (5:4)
• Can lead to unnatural death (5:6)
• Complain about each other (5:9)
• Judge (James 4:11; Matthew 7:2-6)
• "Do not speak against one another, brethren.  He who speaks against a brother, or judges his brother, speaks against the law, and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge of it."
• "For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.  And why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and behold, the log is in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye."
• What TO do while you wait
• Be patient (5:7)
• Until harvest - Jesus comes back for us
• Strengthen your heart (5:8)
• Look to the prophets as an example (5:10-11)
• Suffering & patience bring blessing
• Always Pray (5:13-18)
• Praise when times are good (5:13a)
• Pray when times are hard (5:13b)
• Pray for each other (5:14-16)
• Context "anointing him with oil" in v. 14 refers to medical care of the time
• Power of a man "with a nature like ours" prayer (5:17-18)
• Jesus' Prayer (Mark 14:34-36)
• "And He said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch."  And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground, and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by.  And He was saying, "Abba! Father!  All things are possible for Thee; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what Thou wilt."
• A prayer of despair "deeply grieved to the point of death" (14:34)
• An honest prayer for His own, personal desire (God knows anyway, so we might as well ask for what we truly want in our heart) (14:35-36)
• A prayer of trust in God (14:36)
• Watch out for one another (5:19-20)
• Opposite of complaining/judging (5:9) is to confess, pray and assist one another
• Mutual benefit of instructing/guiding one another (I Timothy 4:6)
• "In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constanly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following."