This is a copy of a talk I gave on ‘Patience’ (from James 5:7-12) to Pensioners Praise at Christ Church, Billericay on Monday 5 June 2023. 

A man in Los Angeles, California, USA, was arrested for negligently discharging a weapon after shooting his toilet bowl five times with a .38 calibre handgun. He claims that he got upset and couldn’t take it any longer. The reason? His daughter had flushed a hairbrush down the ‘loo’ earlier in the day and clogged the pipes. So, he shot the ‘offending toilet’ in a fit of impatience! Just as well he didn’t shoot the ‘offending’ daughter isn’t it! But you know what they say, don’t you?

Patience is a virtue, possess it if you can. Seldom found in a woman, never in a man.

1) What is Patience?
I call patience ‘loves endurance’ and it is a characteristic of God’s Spirit living within us. As such, it is one of those things that should set Christians apart. If you’re lucky, you might hear the Lord speak to you about patience today – that is if you’re not in too much of a hurry to get out of here or thinking about what you’re having for tea!

The word patience comes to us from the combination of two Greek words (makros) which means “far away” and (thumos) which means “anger, heat or rage.” So, patience (makrothumia) in Greek means, literally, “long tempered.” Or to have a ‘long fuse!’

Is patience difficult for you? Do you have it in abundance or short supply? It seems to me there is always something to try our patience. We wait in traffic and in queues. We wait for our children to grow into responsible adults – especially when they flush hairbrushes down the loo! Every day of our life presents us many opportunities for training in patience. We can’t avoid it. We can accept it, resent it, and even, sometimes, just sometimes, become good at it!

2) Examples of Patience.
James gives us three examples of patience from this passage:

The Farmer (vs7): James gives a classic illustration of patience when he says … see how the farmer waits. The farmer is patient because the value of the harvest justifies the wait. When the seed is planted and everything is done in the initial stage, he doesn’t go off and retire. He is busy working in another area of the farm, patiently waiting for the time of harvest.

The Prophets (vs10): James points us to the prophets: as an example of patience in the face of suffering. Abraham, too, waited patiently and received what was promised (Hebrews 6:15).

Job (vs11): You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. Job was blessed above every other man of his day. He was prosperous and it seemed he had everything his heart desired. Then suddenly, it all changed. He lost his property, his possessions, his family and his health. Job didn’t understand what was happening, or why? But he knew his life was in God’s hands. In the face of unexplained suffering Job is an amazing model of endurance under tremendous testing.

Jesus, of course, is our model in all things and He demonstrated patient endurance throughout his life and through journey to the cross: Who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2).

3) Living in the Present Moment.
We live in a technologically driven culture built upon the latest, the most modern, and the disposable. A culture that values speed and efficiency. Advancements in technology are wonderful, but have we become so dependent on the latest gadget that we don’t know how to function without one? When a computer is slow, a network is down, or a smart phone crashes, we crash too?

Have our devices turned us into a bunch of impatient, privileged tech addicts who have lost the ability to reflect? We are a society built upon instant credit, instant food and instant gratification. So much energy seems to be channelled into getting more. I want it, and I want it NOW! 

Patience Now

So often, we find ourselves in a hurry, only to find out that God isn’t! Do you remember the story in Mark 5 of Jairus’ daughter was unwell and he falls at Jesus’ feet and: ‘Pleaded earnestly … ‘My daughter is dying’ And between the muffled sobs, he begs: ‘Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.’

However, on the way to Jairus’ house, Jesus is pursued by a crowd of people and then, would you believe it, Jesus stops and won’t budge until he finds out who has touched him! Touched him! ‘Why there is a whole crowd of people touching you Jesus – my daughter is dying and all you can be bothered about is who touched you.’ And then Jesus finds out it was a woman who has been healed by this touch after twelve years of spending all her money of doctors hoping to find a cure. Then he decides to have a conversation with this woman!

Can you imagine the intense agony of that interruption for Jairus? This is beyond irritating – it is almost irresponsible. The clock is ticking, and Jesus is talking! I guess Jairus’ patience was tested to the limit!  The story ends well, though! God’s timing is never ours!

We are all guilty of living life by our diary and our next appointment and interruptions to our routine can often be unwelcome.  And, because of that, we don’t live in the present moment, and we can lose the sense of perspective that the spontaneity of the Spirit brings our way. Evelyn Underhill:

God is always coming to you in the sacrament of the present moment. Meet and receive him there with gratitude.

4) Developing Patience.
Have you ever reached the point where your faith seems to be draining away? Have you ever thought to yourself: ‘I’m so weary of being a Christian?  I have. I’m sure I’m not the only one! They are a lot of weary pilgrims around, those who’ve been really ‘long tempered’ as James said we should be but are really struggling. And so, if you are feeling a little bit like that, James gives us this next bit of advice: strengthen your relationship with the Lord. 

He says this in vs8a: ‘Stand firm.’ We are to develop an inner sense of stability. We are to patiently strengthen ourselves against the sin and temptation and trials of the world, and we can do this by strengthening our hearts. To strengthen our hearts is to strengthen our relationship with the Lord. There are three things that can be done to: Strengthening our hearts.  It requires: 1) Prayer; 2) The study of God’s word; 3) Fellowship with other Christians – not just church, home groups or small groups of any kind are as good a place as any.

But you don’t really need patience when everything around you is going all right. You need it when life is hard. The Bible often talks about tribulation working patience in us. Suffering and patience seem to go hand in hand. What do we usually do when we begin to feel the heat? We complain to anyone who’ll listen. We lash out at others, often those we love the most, because of the pressure we are feeling.

Impatience with our circumstances leads to impatience with God, which in turn leads to impatience with God’s people. “To walk in love the saints above, will be a wondrous glory; But to walk below with the folks we know … well that’s another story.”

Although most people consider patience to be a passive waiting or gentle tolerance, most of the Greek words translated “patience” in the New Testament are active, robust words. Hebrews 12:1 is one example: Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Do we run a race by passively waiting for the slow coaches to catch up? Not usually. The word ‘patience’ in this verse means “endurance.” A Christian runs the race patiently by persevering through difficulties. In the Bible, patience is persevering towards a goal, enduring trials, or expectantly waiting for a promise to be fulfilled.

Not surprisingly, patience doesn’t develop overnight. God’s power and goodness are crucial to the development of patience. Colossians 1:11 tells us that we are strengthened by Him to “great endurance and patience,” while James 1:3-4 encourages us to know that trials are His way of perfecting our patience. Our patience is further developed and strengthened by resting in God’s perfect will and timing, hence the title of my talk today: Patience: Love’s Endurance.

5) Patience in Practise.
Bruce Almighty is one of my favourite films. The follow up Evan Almighty is another wonderful film, and both have some great Christian truths. Morgan Freeman plays ‘God’ and in one scene ‘disguised’ as a waiter, he says this to someone struggling with patience:

Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?

In all my prayers, whether I get the answers I want or not, I can count on one thing: God makes use of whatever happens in my life because He is sovereign and because he has a purpose for my life. And we can be sure, wherever we may find ourselves, that it is a perfect plan (Psalm 18:30).

Sometimes God says yes; sometimes he says wait; and sometimes he says no – but these are all answers to prayer, aren’t they?  Only, no and wait are the answers we don’t want to hear! We aren’t patient enough. There is no need to panic or to be afraid that we cannot work our problems out, because God can drastically change the situation. He is that kind of a God.

So, how might we put patience into practise?

1) We thank God for our circumstances. A person’s first reaction is usually “Why me?”, but the Bible says to rejoice in God’s will (Philippians 4:4; 1 Peter 1:6);

2) We seek His purposes. Sometimes God puts us in difficult situations so that we can be a witness. Other times, He might allow a trial for sanctification of character. Remembering that His purpose is for our growth and His glory will help us in the trial.

3) We remember His promises such as Romans 8:28, which tells us that: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. The “all things” include the things that try our patience too!

The Serenity Prayer.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; Courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.  Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; So that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever and ever in the next.  Amen.