When we are suffering, being persecuted, mistreated, or experiencing an injustice, we want it to end “right now.” The Bible reminds us in several places to “hang on”; the wicked will see their day! The key is learning to wait well.

James 5:7-11 addresses this very thing and gives us some much-needed wisdom:

“Therefore be patient, brothers and sisters, 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. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Do not complain, brothers and sisters, against one another, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door. As an example, brothers and sisters, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 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.”

James speaks to “brothers,” or those within the family of God. And while he warned the wicked rich of the coming judgment day, that same coming of the Lord provides a beautiful source of joy and hope for followers of Christ. It’s not something to fear. It’s something we wait patiently for—and we can wait, because we know that God is faithful to do what He said He will do.

We’re told in these verses not to be irritable with one another. God wants unity in His people – and He’s watching! James gives us an example that helps us understand what it looks like to be patient as we wait. Just like a farmer has to wait for his crop to bear fruit and in the process waits for the rains to come, so we wait for the return of the Lord. And He will return.

We have to learn to wait patiently for the return of Christ. God’s people have been waiting for this day for many years, and every generation has had to learn that God’s timing is not always our timing. We too must learn to be patient, and to live a life of faithfulness and steadfastness in the meantime.

Our culture has tried to get rid of the need for patience. We can order our groceries in advance, get things shipped to us within two days (or sooner), we can access nearly any piece of information in the world with the click of a button. Many of us don’t know how to be patient – I’m preaching to myself!

So what does it look like to patiently wait for the return of Christ? Or maybe another way to phrase that question is: how can we live our lives marked by the fruit of patience? James tells us in verse 8 that we, like the farmer, are to be patient and he says, “establish (strengthen) your hearts.”

As we wait, we stand firm. We have to be so deeply rooted in Christ that we can remain steadfast when we face difficult times. We are to be patient as we wait for God to bring vindication where needed. It doesn’t mean we sit idly and do nothing. Instead, we are to live our lives in a way that exemplifies the justice, mercy, goodness, and compassion of God.

We have to “establish our hearts.” Peter mentions this in 1 Pet. 1:13, he says, we have to prepare “our minds for action”. We need to stand firm through Christ and actively live out our faith. We don’t sit around twiddling our thumbs while we wait for Jesus to come back. Instead, we demonstrate the kingdom and the character of God on earth as it is in heaven. We have work to do as we wait. And we can faithfully do that work and remain steadfast in the process because we know that God is faithful.

The opposite of waiting well and patiently enduring is being anxious and stressed, complaining and grumbling, discouraged and despairing. James addresses this in verse 9, showing us that grumbling – especially against each other – is not being patient.

James goes on in verses 10-11, pointing us to two examples of those who waited well: the prophets and Job. The Bible tells us the prophets and Job had fortitude! Jeremiah, Moses, and David all suffered persecution. They are given to us as “an example of suffering and patience”, meaning we are to look to those who’ve gone before us and with faith and obedience finished their race. They lived faithful and steadfast lives; they believed God would eventually do what He said He’d do. So many of the prophets spoke hard truths. They constantly put their lives on the line. God asked them to do crazy things. Their lives were hard, but they spoke in the name of the Lord anyway; and we can look to them, as James tells us, as an example of suffering and patience.

Likewise, we can look at Job. Job was a faithful man of God whose life was rocked dramatically. He lost everything—his kids, his possessions, his health—yet in all of it, he did not sin (Job 1:22). He remained steadfast in suffering, bringing his griefs and questions before God, but always trusting. Job 13:15 says, “Though he slay me, I will hope in him, yet I will argue my ways before him.”

It’s ok to bring our griefs before God. We can come to Him with our questions and our tears, our anger and our frustration. None of it surprises Him. Yet, at the end of the day, we have to choose whether or not we will trust God. We might not understand what He’s doing or His timing. But will we wait patiently for Him and believe the way Job did? Are we able to look at our circumstances and say, “yet I will hope in him”?

James reminds us too, that we have a cloud of witnesses like the prophets and Job who have gone before us and remained steadfast in their trials. We have a God (it says at the end of verse 11) who is “full of compassion and mercy.”

We are to trust God, be patient and steadfast, and wait for Him.