Author: missionspaul

Yesterday after the service had ended I saw a small group of people gathered around a man who clearly was not well. In fact he has outlived the time the doctors had given him to live. The church attribute this to prayer. This group were fervently praying for this man. They want him to live. They were speaking words to God. It was a reminder that prayer works. Words to God can be powerfully effective.

James is closing down his letter and he does so by looking at the words we use. He has called us to pray, to sing, to call upon the leaders of the church, to confess your sins and ‘to pray for each other.’

“Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” (James 5 v 14-16)

“Poverty-stricken as the Church is today in many things, she is most stricken here, in the place of prayer. We have many organizers, but few agonizers; many players and payers, few pray-ers; many singers, few clingers; lots of pastors, few wrestlers; many fears, few tears; much fashion, little passion; many interferers, few intercessors; many writers, but few fighters. Failing here, we fail everywhere.” (Leonard Ravenhill)

The greatest need for the Church today is not a move from God but a move to God in prayer.

The world is not waiting for the Church to become modernised and slick with its presentations but it is waiting for the Church to discover the ancient paths of presenting itself in front of God. Great communication is only successful if there has been communication with a great God.

Never stop praying. If you have, start it up again. Make a determined effort to pray every day and throughout the day. Stay up late and pray. Get up early and pray. Spend the night in prayer. Fast things so you can pray more.

For when you are praying you are hoping. You are waiting. You are expecting God to answer. When you are praying you are focused on Him. Prayer keeps your eyes lifted upwards even when your heart maybe heavy. When we pray we are acknowledging that we are not alone in this life but there is another presence, the Living God.

In this letter James has taught on double-mindedness, humility, perseverance, temptation, deception, hearing and exercising God’s Word, favouritism and love, faith and works, controlling the tongue, divine wisdom, a pure heart, submission to God and each other, slander and gossip, knowing God’s will, the dangers of money and living in the light of His coming again. Why? His Churches were righteous but the evidence was lacking. James was saying be who you are, be righteous.

The key to effective prayer is a close relationship with God and His Word. This is not a reward for obedience. No. The righteous prayer is powerful not necessarily because it is related to the nature of the one praying but because they are able by their close relationship with God to discern how to pray.

Pray today for someone and if there is a prayer meeting at church this week then go to it.

A recent study of those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder found that 88.3 percent of those who participated in group therapy no longer exhibited PTSD symptoms, versus just 31.3 percent of those who received minimal one-on-one interaction.

There is also evidence that the act of confessing one’s faults to a few safe people—enshrined in AA’s fifth step—helps in changing addictive patterns. According to researchers, “Revealing one’s deepest flaws and hearing others do likewise forces a person to confront the terrible consequences of their alcoholism—something that is very difficult to do alone.”

Conversely, some research studies have shown how friendships can also lead us to adopt negative behaviours. For instance, a paper published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that a person is 50 percent more likely to be a heavy drinker if a friend or relative is a heavy drinker. Also, a study concluded that a person’s odds of becoming obese increase by 71 percent if he or she has a same-sex friend who is also obese.

The Church continually needs to ask the question: what do we do with sin? Simply because it is inside and outside the Church. Politics, private agendas, whisperings, plans, stubborn refusal to move forward, to listen and learn, to change, criticisms, manipulative abuse, I see it every week and so do you. Worse, we have partaken in this.

James is closing down his letter and he does so by looking at the words we use. He has called us to pray, to sing, to call upon the leaders of the church and ‘to confess your sins’.

“Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” (James 5 v 14-16)

See how the whole point of confession is to be healed. The result is that you are free from that what you have confessed about.

I know someone who had an old life-time friend but only hears from the person every few years when that ‘friend’ has sinned badly. They will phone up and confess and ask for prayer. However, they will then continue to live their sinful lifestyle as usual and that will be the last this person hears from them for a long time. This is not the confession James speaks of.

The need to find people you can walk with is huge. Those you find make sure you can be as open as you possibly can. If they knew the very worst of you, your deepest flaw, would they still be your friends? If you can find such a friend, then walk openly and honestly before them and then not only will you survive but you will thrive and be healed of that which is the burden of your life. This is the power of confession.

It seems every day we are hearing of someone struggling with their health. It happened again yesterday as I was told of someone critically ill.

What is coming out of the mouths of the sick today?

James has a response to this. He is closing down his letter and he does so by looking at the words we use. He has called us to pray, to sing and also to call upon the leaders of the church:

“Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” (James 5 v 14-16)

The word translated ‘sick’ is a word used elsewhere in the Bible to mean a want of strength, weakness, distress, suffering and so ill health is just one meaning of the term. The word is covering all kinds of weakness, weariness, personal inadequacy, both spiritually and generally linked to a sense of rejection, powerlessness, incapacity, anxiety and demoralisation.

So what we have James saying is this:

In a period of suffering due to your faith – use words to pray for endurance.

In a time of happiness – use words to rejoice with singing.

In a time of weakness whether physical or spiritual then use words to ask for prayer.

Oil was regarded by the Jews as symbolising a number of characteristics that may have influenced and encouraged the one who was to be anointed. It indicated the presence of the Holy Spirit. Anointing was linked with restoration and strength. It occurred when a person had been healed of leprosy; such an act proving their cleansing and they were welcomed back into society. On other occasions oil was used to demonstrate that a new situation had come into being. This aspect would have been most encouraging to a sufferer about to be anointed, for it would fill them with a hope that their suffering would soon be over. Anointing was also linked with joy, with the granting of eternal life and with goodness and purity. These features would fill the person receiving prayer with positive feeling of hope. Anointing with oil is more than just symbolic. It can result in the sufferer feeling secure, knowing that they are in the presence of a God who does restore.

Should we anoint with oil today? If it enables the sufferer to focus on the Lord and if it fills them with a hope that God will restore then that is good. But it must not become more important than the prayer of faith. The important factor here is the call to pray. It is the words of faith; to ask; to call for help.

It is difficult to try and explain how prayer works. But prayer does work. Prayer impacts our world. For God is here. So don’t be afraid to ask for prayer. Call your elders, leadership team, or your Pastor, your friend, whoever it is call them to come and stand with you and petition God on your behalf and if they use oil then great! Above all believe in it for prayer does work!

It was loud and joyful, the emotion and depth of feeling, every word was sang with feeling, the lyrics were often repeated but they never lost their meaning. I was in church, in a shack of a building in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and I would have done anything to transfer these 300 women to any UK church. I think I was moved because every single one of them had no reason to sing in terms of material blessing or circumstantial blessing. In fact all of them were rape victims from the ongoing rebel-led war and raped many times. But they were happy in the presence of God.

When the suffering sing angels join in and God comes into the place.

“Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.” (James 5 v 13)

James is saying if you are suffering due to the persecution of being a Christ=follower then pray and if you are cheerful because of being such, then sing!

Let the mouths of the Church be filled with singing because of the good things God has done as well as asking for Him to help us.

Singing is very important to the Christian. It brings God into our thoughts; it lifts us above our struggles; it confirms our belief in the words we sing and it confronts the darkness that we may be facing.

Corrie Ten Boom who with her family helped save around 800 Jewish lives in the Holocaust of World War 2, captured and taken into solitary confinement would begin each day by singing, “Stand up stand up for Jesus ye soldiers of the cross.”

The history of the persecuted church is full of stories of followers of Jesus praising God in the last hours of their life on earth. Emperors were known to put their fingers in their ears and scream “why do these Christians sing as we kill them?” as the gladiators or the lions ravaged their bodies.

David ran away from Saul who was trying to kill him. He hid in a cave and wrote, “I am in the midst of lions; I am forced to dwell among ravenous beasts— men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.”

But then he looks outside the cave and something erupts within his heart:

“Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.” Psalm 57:4-5

It is not the song itself but it is the heart behind the singer. Praise stems from the heart.

“May the praise of God be in our mouths.” Psalm 149:6

“I will sing and make music. I will awaken the dawn.” Psalm 57:7-8

God always does something in you before He does something outside of you. The internal is more important than the external.

There is a song that is sung before dawn, in the night, where there is darkness, fear, terror, loneliness, isolation, God says sing!

“God protect me today, get me through this ordeal, don’t let me fail you, don’t let me back down, turn back, give up, I will have succeeded today if I’ve not denied you.”

Christians who live out the gospel all over the world will pray this kind of prayer and for some they pray it daily. In prison or in hiding, a refugee or spat at in the street, this is their prayer.

James pastorally advises the people, “Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.” (James 5 v 13)

What kind of trouble? Was it the suffering due to the oppression by the wealthy? Perhaps James was saying, ‘to you Jewish Christians, since you have come to Jesus, is your family rejecting you because of your faith, are you suffering persecution? Is anyone among you in trouble?’

And us?

I was sent a headline of a newspaper recently from an Islamic nation, “Two Christian women face the death penalty in Pakistan for removing a sticker carrying a verse from the Koran from a Muslim colleague’s locker they were asked to clean.” Can you imagine their prayer today?

And us?

Every day the Jews say a prayer like this one: “May it be Your will, HaShem, my God and the God of my forefathers, that you rescue me today and every day from brazen men and brazenness, from an evil man, an evil companion, an evil neighbour, an evil mishap, the destructive spiritual impediment [‘Satan’], a harsh trial and a harsh opponent, whether he is a member of the covenant or whether he is not a member of the covenant.” (The Complete Artscroll Siddur)

And us?

If you are in trouble today, whatever you do, please do ask God for help.

Hours from his death, Jesus is preparing his disciples for what is ahead of them. He tells them he is going away but they will see him again. But when they do things will be different. It will be wonderfully different and it will be centred on our opportunity to pray.

We will ask the same person that Jesus asked. We must approach the Father in the same way Jesus did and to ask.

We come to the Father in prayer acknowledging we are followers of Jesus; we belong to him; and the glory of God is the most important result.

Jesus told us trouble is ahead. For those reading this today then you know in your life you have had all kinds of trouble. You may even be in great difficulty now.

James says use words, pray, ask. He only said it because he firmly believed it works. It still does.

I had my fingers crossed! So it doesn’t count!

Words. Our whole lives are full of them. Do we consider them? Is this helpful? Does it build the person up? Am I thinking of their need? Is it beneficial? Am I recognising that they are listening to every word? Everyone can criticise but we are called to construct. Building someone up isn’t to massage ego or tip-toe around issues why they may need building up. What someone wants to hear and what they need to hear can be very different. Sometimes what is needed is not a pat on the back, a sympathetic shoulder to cry on, we need a hard word, a revelatory word, something spoken that hasn’t been said before and we need outside of the box thinking.
We need words that will move us out of a position we may be stuck in. We need words to think the opposite. We need words to dare to believe in the face of opposition that something just maybe true!

Choose your words carefully today. Slow your mouth down. Don’t type so fast on your social media feeds. What will come out of your mouth today?

And so James is closing down his letter and he does so by looking at the words we use.

He will call us to pray, sing, to call for the church elders if we are sick, to confess our sins and to pray for one another.

But first …

“Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” Otherwise you will be condemned.” (James 5 v 12)

I hope you still don’t cross your fingers behind your back when you are telling a lie! We have come to realise as we have grown up from this childish behaviour that having our fingers crossed behind our back does not protect us like we thought it would!

This picture gives us an idea of what James is talking about.

Have you ever been tempted to make up a story to go along with your NO because you want to let someone down gently? Then this is nearing the truth of what James is saying.

These early believers were making oaths to support whatever promises they might make as they went through hardships. But it seems these were unrealistic promises. James says stop it. Let us not be rash with our mouths, either with half-truths or exaggeration. We don’t need to use God’s name to back up what we are saying, we don’t have to cross our fingers and we don’t have to create which is probably the best picture of what James is saying.

Once again James is using the Sermon on the Mount and the heart of it which was hypocrisy. The Pharisees were constantly pulling the wool over people’s eyes. It seems that the religious would make great promises that they had no intention of keeping. Jesus is not saying that oaths should never be made. But he is telling his disciples in the hearing of the crowd not to be fooled by elaborate words and promises and indeed not to make them.

James is using that teaching of Jesus by telling us that the weight behind our words is our character. A great team is one where you know what one another would say. “That does not sound like her” is said because we know that our team member would not have used those words, we know her character.

Duplicity comes from a Latin word meaning “double”. A duplicitous person is a two-faced person. They are intentionally hiding their true feelings or intentions so as to try to make people believe something that you are saying or doing that is not true.

Do you ever feel tricked? Do you ever feel like you are playing mental gymnastics when talking with someone realising they are trying to trip you up or lead you to believe something that is not true? Do you ever wonder what the hidden agenda behind the comments and questions you are hearing?

Duplicity. Two-faced. Duplicitous people lay traps and the innocent continually fall into them. They exaggerate their speech for gain. They show no integrity with their words.

James says anything other than the simple truth will be judged. So let you YES be YES and your No be NO. Keep it simple but keep it truthful.

The sufferings of Jesus Christ and the glory that followed had been known before they happened. They had been revealed to the prophets by the pre-existent Christ. These prophets spent their entire ministries listening, studying Scriptures and searching the depths of their soul for the revelations of this suffering and glory. Yet James knew they had seen even further than the Messiah. They had revelation of the salvation that is ours.

James wrote to his generation who were suffering for their faith and said remember the prophets? The prophets spoke to people in their generation and to us. The prophets suffered but didn’t experience the glory that was to come. The prophets spoke of the Messiah’s suffering and future glory.

What does this mean? When you are struggling through your circumstance it is hard to understand what the purpose is? It sometimes seems meaningless, unfair and the questions are many.

Your salvation contains suffering and glory, it is founded on Jesus Christ, prophesied beforehand and only known to the saved. Not even angels can understand this and they do try.

In your suffering there is glory. A cursory look through the Bible and you see this message constantly. Suffering doesn’t stand alone for the saved it contains honour, worth, value, praise, His presence and ultimately heaven!

“Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹ As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” (James 5 v 10-11)

James gives an example of patience and of whom they know full well, Job.

Satan wanted to dislodge and remove Job from faith in God. He boasted that once he touched his body with the pain of severe illness, Job would curse God.

You may be the person who could not sleep last night because of pain (Night pierces my bones; my gnawing pains never rest. Job 30:17).

The days are no better, constant pain and suffering (The churning inside me never stops; days of suffering confront me, Job 30:27).

This illness may have caused you to lose so much weight (I am nothing but skin and bones;, Job 19:20).

The pain is clearly seen for it has aged you (When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads., Job 2:12).

This might be you, if not you will certainly know someone right now who is in such suffering.

The debate on suffering is not for us here but an opportunity to see that there is a voice near the sufferer calling for them to give up, to curse God and die.

James is using the story of Job to call for us to endure in our own suffering.

Think of Job’s wife. She has lost all her children and all she had. What wife could bear to now see her husband suffer like this? For her, there is no hope and life is not worth living anymore. She questions her husband, “are you still holding on to your integrity?” and it suggests she has abandoned hers. Satan desired to shake Job from his relationship with God. He has failed to do so, but succeeded with his wife. Many today are not where they should be because they walked away from God through the period of suffering.

If you are a sufferer today then you will have known a similar voice maybe from somebody you love or even your own idea. Resist this voice calling you to walk away from God. Job’s wisdom said that God gives good things but also suffering can be a gift from God too. These are words not from a theorist but from someone in constant pain. He knew there was a reason for this even if he couldn’t see behind the scenes of life. God has not forgotten you He will bring you through it. There will be an end to this pain.

Job had lost everything and all his friends and family, but he persevered, he didn’t give up. He may have complained but he never cursed God for his suffering.

They also knew the end of his life and what God brought about for him. They knew that Job prospered through his perseverance. It’s always too soon to give up. You never know what you will miss if you give up now.

Endure this season of suffering whatever it might be for it will be worth it! That is what James is saying.

For the Jew every day contains at some point a moment of thankfulness. In fact because of a legend regarding a plague that took the lives of 100 people in one day during King David’s reign and the rabbi’s understanding of the spiritual reasoning for the plague a daily ritual of saying 100 blessings of thankfulness to God was instituted.

How do you have a heart of thankfulness when you are going through difficulty? When you are seeing the rich exploiting the poor and you in the poor category isn’t the most natural thing to do is grumble?

Remember this promise?

“Those who wait for the LORD [meaning who expect, look for, and hope in Him] will gain new strength and renew their power; 

they will lift up their wings [meaning they will rise up close to God] like eagles; they will run and not become weary, they will walk and not grow tired.” (Isaiah 40:31)

James is saying be like a farmer who continues to sow and waits for the rains to get a crop. Continue to do your best to live your life as a Christian. Don’t take out your worries on others. 

^“Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” (James 5 v 7-11)

In the waiting James is calling for a watch on our words. Don’t grumble.

While we wait on God we do not become anxious; we are not frustrated at the place we are at; we don’t become upset; we don’t try and make things happen in our own strength; we wait and trust in God. 

It is in our very nature to grumble. We complain about everything.

It was midnight and 2 followers of Jesus, Paul and Silas, were in a dark horrible prison cell waiting their fate and they began to sing hymns of thankfulness to God. When we lift up thankfulness for whatever is before us then something from God will happen. Suddenly there is a violent earthquake and the prison doors fly open!

What has happened to you? What have you gone through? Difficult that it might be watch what you are saying. Give thanks to God. Something is about to happen.

23^rd June 1978, 9 missionaries and their 4 children went through hell on earth.

They were massacred on a school playing field in the Vumba mountains of then Southern Rhodesia where they were serving. In horrendous circumstances God called them to be with Him.

Peter and Sandra McCann, Philip and Joy…Wendy White… Philip and Suzanne Evans and Rebecca…Catherine Picken…Roy and Joyce Lynne and Pamela Grace…Mary Fisher.
They are an inspiration who with the great cloud of witnesses cheer us on who are here today. They fell to the ground but their act propelled others into a life of service in missions. They fell to the ground not because of God or an evil spirit, it was man who did this. But their life or their impact didn’t end on the ground. They fell to the ground but it wasn’t because they gave up but it was because God gave them the endurance to not give up.

^“Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!” (James 5 v 7-9)

Some days you just have to go through it and keep going. There are times for whatever reason that we should not stop and admire the view. We should just go through it as best as we can. This place is not your destination nor is it a resting place. It is a going through place. Do not be distracted or attracted to whatever you see around you, just keep walking through.

Today may be a painful day, the memories can be painful perhaps or it could even be a monotonous day, walk through it, you can get through.

Today is the 23^rd June, the exact date, 46 years ago when these missionaries endured their own cross. Over 6 years ago I was privileged to make a new friend centred around a book project he was writing, The Axe and the Tree, please do order that book today if you have never read it.

Stephen is a son of the late Peter Griffiths, the Principal of the Elim School and a British missionary with his wife, Brenda, at the time of the murder of our Elim missionaries in what is now Zimbabwe.

This story even though it is 46 years later is still impacting, still stirring, it is still helping many to endure.

Let me give an excerpt of what happened on this day, the day after the surrender. The Griffiths family were on furlough in the UK at the time.

Stephen writes, “We got up early on Saturday 24 June 1978 to travel together as a family to Surrey. My father was going to speak at the Elim Bible College graduation, in the Surrey village of Capel.

The sunlight came flickering through the trees as we drove through the green countryside of early summer. I leaned my head back against the car window, staring up into the vault of blue overhead. It was a summer’s morning to fill the heart with a numinous joy.

As we drove up through the grounds, we expected to see the spreading lawns of the college splashed with colour; students, their families, and friends strolling on the grass anticipating a day of celebration. But the lawns were deserted. Pulling up close to the main entrance, we were curious and amazed to find that all was quiet. On graduation day we expected noise and movement and laughter. A student stepped out of the shadow of the doorway and quickly stepped forward. “I’m here to take you straight to the Principal’s office,” he said, an unexpectedly solemn look on his face.

We followed him in a small family knot, increasingly bemused. Here and there we saw one or two people as we made our way through the building but they drew back or turned away as we passed. The door to the Principal’s office was opened and we saw Wesley Gilpin, the Principal, standing behind his desk. My father advanced towards him, smiling, with his hand outstretched, and we followed him in.

Without preamble the Principal said, “Pete, I’ve got some bad news for you.”

My dad’s face changed and he said abruptly, “They’ve killed Phil.”

Very gently the Principal said, “I’m sorry, Pete. They’ve all been killed.”

With those words, my father staggered as if he had been punched, falling down backwards with the shock. My mother stood, shaking all over as if she had a fever, saying, “Why are we still alive? Why have we got life and they’re all dead?” I was traumatized both by hearing words which didn’t make sense at first and then seeing the reaction of my tough, capable father who had coped with so much. The room rocked and swayed and a strange buzzing rang in my ears.

The summer light drained from it, the day passed in a colourless blur of faces coming into view and fading away again. Broken fragments of sentences. Joy Bath’s face, normally so animated and full of fun, running with tears as she stood enfolded in my parents’ arms. Treading carefully, unsure of feet and balance in the weightless atmosphere of shock, I was intensely aware of each movement and moment.

The Bible College graduation service went ahead. Although others offered to take his place as the speaker, my father felt he should do it. He had already planned to speak from Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi: “It is my eager expectation and hope that I shall not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honoured in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” 

Tears ran unchecked down my father’s face as he recalled his friends and colleagues one by one and spoke of their determination to follow their Lord. A graduating student recalled, “I can see him now … his bloodshot eyes seemed to be alive with grief and hope. He paused for a long time, looked into our eyes again, and asked us if we would be faithful to the Lord Jesus whatever the cost. As we knelt to pray we were sobered but determined. His was one sermon I will never forget.”

That’s it, isn’t it? Whatever the cost, will we be faithful? Are we determined? Will we endure? Do we have zeal? Is there passion within? Will this passion compel us to love and will it bring us to our knees in surrender if that is required?

Will you say YES to these questions as I ask them myself also? Whatever you are facing today and whatever you are fearing tomorrow, the Lord is near and He is coming for you. Be patient. Endure. Stand firm. The Judge is about to come through the door.

The news today is that our wealthiest family in the UK with an estimation of £37 billion have been found guilty of exploitation and illegal employment and are starting prison sentences of four and a half years. The workers they brought from India were not paid as much as the family dog. They were paid £7 to work 18 hour days and had their passports confiscated. Two thousand years after James was writing this letter the rich are still exploiting the poor. “What should you do when it all goes wrong? When you have been hard done to, what action should be taken?” James addresses those people at the hands of the abusive rich people and he answers the questions.

 “Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. ⁸ You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. ⁹ Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!” (James 5 v 7-9)

See how the farmer waits … A farmer does not give up when his crop does not come to harvest immediately. He keeps on working even when the crop cannot be seen at all.

The waiting and need for endurance we have in the Christian life is very much like the waiting of the farmer.

They wait looking for the return on their work.

They wait what might seem a long time to non-farmers.

They wait without standing still, there are other things to do.

They wait without allowing the anxiety of weather patterns and disease to overwhelm them.

They wait because there is no other thing that can be done.

It’s not easy this thing we call patience is it? Who has any time for patience? Today we live in a world where everything comes to us at speed, and we’ve lost the art of waiting.

The word ‘patience’ doesn’t mean to ‘keep smiling’ under duress. It is rather a conquering patience with anything that life can throw at you knowing that God will always turn even evil into good!           It is to hold out under trial before giving into the passion of retaliation. It is to pause long enough to find wisdom.

Of course the situation we are reading of calls for a patience that is so much more challenging than waiting in a supermarket queue. Today around the world Christians are needing to find patience that seems beyond their capability. Jesus said we will have trouble in this world. But to take heart because he has overcome the world.

The Apostle Paul tells us, “We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body”. 2 Corinthians 4:10

A Saviour is one who intervenes, who steps in and rescues from either physical or spiritual suffering. We carry His name and His presence in our lives today. We may not have done much in our lives but He has done it all!

Believe that your Saviour can rescue you from your enemy’s hands: “My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies” Psalm 31:15. This ought to be our prayer.

So in whatever affliction you are experiencing stay where you are today. There is in the suffering a hidden mystery. It is Jesus Himself. The impatient miss Him. They want it over with. They want to move on and move out. And in doing so they miss the fellowship of Jesus in the sufferings.

Being patient doesn’t mean you do nothing. It is not limbo. You are not wasting any time. You are active. Try being a farmer today.