Not a Good Farmer

Friday - November 5th

Devotionals from the Book of James

Scripture to Read Today: James 5:7-12

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Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord's coming.

See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop,

patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains.

James 5:7

My Dad worked a fairly sizeable garden full of various vegetables when I was a kid. Northern Indiana contains some of the richest agricultural soil in the United States. While I enjoyed working with Dad in the garden, I got the idea in my head that I needed a garden of my own. Dad gave me a little patch of the yard behind our shed to create and cultivate my own vegetable garden.

Since it was an area covered by thick grass, it took some work to plow the ground, clean it up, and prepare the ten-foot by eight-foot area to be a garden. After the patch of soil was tilled and ready, my grandfather took me to the Northside Feed Store in my hometown of Mishawaka to get some seeds. I got radish, string bean, carrot seeds, and some onion bulbs.

At the age of ten, I now had the keys to my own garden - to start my career as a farmer. I planted all of the seeds one warm May afternoon. I watered them. The next day I got up early, ran quickly to my garden, and looked for any change overnight. Day after day, I looked.

My impatience got the best of me. I got frustrated by the lack of progress. My Dad had to tell me to wait. The seeds would sprout under the soil and eventually push their way through the ground. I wanted the sprouting now. I wanted full-grown plants ready to harvest. My first attempt at farming demonstrated I am not a good farmer!

When James tells us to be patient in James 5:7, he uses the farmer's patience as an example for us. "See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains." As we wait for the Lord to work in our lives now and ultimately make all things new when he returns for His followers, we need to be patient. The farmer does not plant seeds one day and expect them to be plants ready for harvest the next day.

He trusts God to bring the sunshine and rain necessary for the seeds to sprout. He must be patient for the harvest.

Maybe you are waiting on the answer to a prayer. Perhaps you long for Christ's return. Maybe you see so clearly what needs to happen in your life, but it just isn't working out that way. Learn from the farmer. Be patient. Wait on the Lord and trust Him!

Our journey in life requires a patient trust in the Lord. Like the farmer, we must be willing to wait for God to work!