Advent is a time of waiting – and we often find waiting very difficult. Time can seem to go so slowly when we are waiting for something; we even can find it quite hard to count and wait for a minute! James 5:7 reminds us that we need to wait like the farmer who has to learn patience when growing crops. First of all, he must prepare the ground and then sow seeds:
After this comes irrigation (watering the seed, often easy in this country because of our frequent rainfall!) and using fertiliser to feed the crops:
Only then, after about nine months, does the farmer reap the benefit of all this hard work in harvesting the crop.
Waiting for God’s promises to be fulfilled can take a very long time! For Abraham, it was 25 years between God first giving him promises and the birth of Isaac; for those waiting for the promised Messiah, it was more like 700 years between Isaiah’s prophecy in Is 7:14 and the birth of Jesus. We have to wait with expectation, however, for God always keeps His promises (see 2 Cor 1:20)
Advent is the period of time when we wait for the birth of Christ; we remember again that first arrival in Bethlehem. But James 5:7-8 is written in the context of us waiting for the Lord’s return, and James urges us to be patient as we wait for His coming. We wait also in our everyday lives for God’s help (Is 64:4) and cry to God out of the depths of our despair at times (Ps 130:1-6).
What can we do as we wait? Jude 1:20-21 reminds us of the need to build ourselves up in faith through God’s word (see also Acts 20:32). We pray in the Holy Spirit (see Eph 6:18), engaging with God, and as we pray, we ask God to guard our hearts and keep us track so that we are not derailed (e.g. by a love of money, as 1 Tim 6:9-10 warns). If we wander from God, we will not wait, but if we learn to wait with expectation for God, confident in His promises, we will receive all that He has promised.
