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James 5:10-11
James 5:10-11
If people know nothing else about Job, that Old Testament character, they know he was a patient man. James 5:11 says, “You have heard of the patience of Job.” James has been talking about patience in this paragraph. In verses 7 and 8 of James chapter 5 he says, “I want you to be patient with the Lord. He’s going to come, be like a farmer who’d waiting for the seed to produce the harvest” (paraphrase). Be patient.
And then in verse 9 he tells us to be patient with each other, “Don’t murmur against each other.” And in verses 10 and 11 he says, I want you to be patient with your circumstance and he uses Job as his illustration. “You have heard of the patience of Job.” The patience of Job was not something that Satan was interested in; he wanted to make Job impatient. And by the way Job’s friends did a good job of making Job impatient at times. Job said some things that were rather harsh, he was telling the truth, and the Lord even vindicated him.
You see patience means endurance. It’s not a passive thing, it’s an active thing. When Job was suffering there on the ash heap, he was enduring. He said, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust Him:” (Job 13:15). He had endurance that came from God. It can be done by the grace of God. Patience is something that all of us need and God’s grace is sufficient for us.
But he tells us here that we should not only depend on the grace of God, but we should notice that God has a purpose. “You have seen the end [or the purpose] of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, [very kind] and of tender mercy.” You see as Job went through this experience he learned a great deal about himself, but he also learned a great deal about the Lord.
Why does God permit us to go through these circumstances? Because “tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: … And the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts” even while we are suffering. (See Romans 5:3-4.) We learn a great deal about the Lord as we go through these experiences. If you don’t learn patience, you’ll never learn anything else. It takes patience to learn how to play the piano, how to play football, how to serve the Lord. It takes patience and God wants us to mature and have the patience that produces maturity.
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By Back to the BibleJames 5:10-11
If people know nothing else about Job, that Old Testament character, they know he was a patient man. James 5:11 says, “You have heard of the patience of Job.” James has been talking about patience in this paragraph. In verses 7 and 8 of James chapter 5 he says, “I want you to be patient with the Lord. He’s going to come, be like a farmer who’d waiting for the seed to produce the harvest” (paraphrase). Be patient.
And then in verse 9 he tells us to be patient with each other, “Don’t murmur against each other.” And in verses 10 and 11 he says, I want you to be patient with your circumstance and he uses Job as his illustration. “You have heard of the patience of Job.” The patience of Job was not something that Satan was interested in; he wanted to make Job impatient. And by the way Job’s friends did a good job of making Job impatient at times. Job said some things that were rather harsh, he was telling the truth, and the Lord even vindicated him.
You see patience means endurance. It’s not a passive thing, it’s an active thing. When Job was suffering there on the ash heap, he was enduring. He said, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust Him:” (Job 13:15). He had endurance that came from God. It can be done by the grace of God. Patience is something that all of us need and God’s grace is sufficient for us.
But he tells us here that we should not only depend on the grace of God, but we should notice that God has a purpose. “You have seen the end [or the purpose] of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, [very kind] and of tender mercy.” You see as Job went through this experience he learned a great deal about himself, but he also learned a great deal about the Lord.
Why does God permit us to go through these circumstances? Because “tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: … And the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts” even while we are suffering. (See Romans 5:3-4.) We learn a great deal about the Lord as we go through these experiences. If you don’t learn patience, you’ll never learn anything else. It takes patience to learn how to play the piano, how to play football, how to serve the Lord. It takes patience and God wants us to mature and have the patience that produces maturity.