The book of James says a lot about endurance in the Christian life. The Christian life is not a sprint—it is a long race and takes endurance. It is full of joy, but not every day is as pleasant as the next or as exciting as the last. The goal of the Christian life is to take you all the way to glory. That may be a long journey. We need endurance.

Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. In order to endure, we need patience. That is how the book of James begins. Trials bring patience. Patience gives us what we need to be complete and mature in Jesus. Trials require patience and endurance. We get plenty of trials. We have a lot of need for patience.

Notice what we are to be patient for—the Lord’s coming. We are not told to hold on just to hold on. We are given a certain hope of Jesus’ return. The King of kings will return and defeat his enemies and ours. In part that is what we are praying for when we pray "Thy kingdom come." We want Christ to rule in us and in all creation. Our outcome is certain. Our victory is secure. It will be more than worth the wait. Our Lord Jesus Christ has secured for us a treasure that cannot corrode, fade or pass away. It is secure in heaven. And the rule of Christ is coming even to this earth. Justice and judgement will come. We fix our eyes on Jesus and his coming kingdom so we can endure.

How do we stand firm until his return? Paul’s example is from the farmer. Farm life is removed from most of us. We are used to controlling our situation. We make plans and execute them. We turn on daylight with the throw of a switch. The farmer realizes that he is not in control. He can water and fertilize, but the harvest will not be rushed. He must wait and pray. We get impatient when things don’t happen our way in our time. So we try to make changes. Sometimes we cannot make the changes that we want. We need to watch and pray, like the farmer.

St. Paul spoke of his own ministry when he said that he planted, another watered, but God gives the increase. Dear Christian, we hang on because God gives the increase. He does it in his time. Sometimes there are things we must be doing. Other times, the thing we must do is to wait with patience and prayer. Let God take his timing in the things of your life. He will anyway, you know. Pray and tell him what you want and when you want it. By all means pray according to your heart. Do the things God has told you to do through his Word. Do the things the Spirit leads you to do. But realize that God will give and direct for your good according to his will. And God is love.

How well do we hang on? Sometimes better than others. Sometimes we grumble at God. Sometimes we grumble at one another. Verse 9 tells us not to do that. Our focus must be beyond the trial to the prize that has been given us in Christ. The trials we endure are not comparable to the riches that are kept for us in Christ. We need to focus on those things.

There is another lesson from the farmer that is for us here. Farmers can have a bad year—even a disastrous year. And yet they don’t pack it in after a bad year or even a few meager years. We can have better years than others. We can have years that are real trials. I have had years where I was looking not only for the blessing of heaven, but the hope that next year would be not as difficult as the one I was in. I know folks who are looking forward to 2002. Maybe you are one of them.

Do not lose heart. Jesus is coming. Christ is the King of kings. Every knee shall bow in heaven and earth and under the earth and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father. We have joined that throng early. The greatest blessing we have is knowing the love of God for us in Christ. If you know him and focus on him, you will endure. If you do not know him, you need to give him your heart and life. There is where all hope lies for us.