“Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and you garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth; and the cries of them, which have reaped, are entered into the ears of the Lord of saboath.
Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and have been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts as in the day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.
Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, unto he receive the early and the latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned; behold, the judge standeth before the door. Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy.” James 5: 1-11
Today’s daily devotional
“Are we there yet?” I ask the question, already knowing the answer. It is clear that the car has not moved for the last five minutes. We are still locked in on the expressway.
It is a smoldering July afternoon and the air conditioner in our station wagon is broken…again. On a Chicago summer, this is never a good thing. My brother and I hang our heads out of the back window. We exchange exhausted glances at the family dog in the car next to ours. He is doing the same thing.
Our family is on our way to grandma’s house. The trip from our suburban home to grandmas in the city only takes about an hour. But, to my brother and I it felt like an eternity.
“Oh mom, look!” We pointed to the golden arches that shined brightly in the sky as if it were an oasis in the Sahara.
“Please can we stop for some ice cream? We are starving…” Our warm juice boxes did little to quench our thirst or boredom.
“You both just ate a sandwich before we left. Besides, you two are restless enough. I’m not going to add sugar to the equation.” Mom fanned herself with a map she found in the front seat.
Our car slowly passed McDonalds. We painfully pressed our faces against the hot window. Our eyes soaked in the other happy kids frolicking in the air-conditioned playground. Heaven was so close—we could almost taste the melty ice cream and French fries—yet we could not enter. We were trapped in our hot, rusty station wagon.
Patience has never been a strong point of mine—I did not have it when I was five years old, and I still struggle with it today.
Sometimes it seems as if the people who have no care or concern for the things of God seem to enjoy the best that life has to offer. But God warns that the day of sorrow will come to those who oppress others, forget about God and live only for his or herself. The temporary pleasures of this life will end one day, and God promises to restore justice to the oppressed.
The blessing James 5:1-11 gives us is the reminder we have to keep the goodness of God in our minds. When He makes a promise, there is nothing that will stop Him from fulfilling it. Hope in His goodness will give our patience a goal that will make our temporary suffering bearable.
Considering this, it helps to look at things from a proper perspective—God’s point of view. Keep mind that God’s timing is not the same as our timing. What seems like an eternity to us, is less than a second to God. When you have something worth waiting for, it makes waiting for it a whole lot easier, don’t you think?
“Dear Heavenly Father,
Forgive me for my impatience. I feel such frustration as I see that the wicked are very blessed in this life.
The people who are selfish, only looking out for themselves and their best interests seem to be the ones with all the blessings.
The more I allow integrity to lead my decisions, it seems the more foolish I feel. It has not gotten me ahead like I had hoped it would.
Lord, help me to overcome this discouragement. I will continue to make choices I know that will make you happy, and in the end I will be able to look you in the face and to know I gave it my best shot.
I know you said you would supply my every need, and maybe the things I have been striving for are not my real needs that need to be met. Show me where my focus has gone wrong, and lead me into better ways.
I am expecting a productive, successful life because I am not going to compromise and in the end; it is those little wise choices I make everyday that will eventually reap great dividends.
There is a hunger in my heart for something more and something deeper and I see now that it is you I have been craving this whole time. Fill me up, Lord.
In Jesus’ precious name, I want to be ready with everything I got when Jesus returns for the children of God, Amen.”
Thank you for reading today’s daily devotional.
Please check back and see what we have for you tomorrow!
Author: Julia Shalom Jordan