Look Up . . . Be Calm

Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.

—James 5:7

Speculations and apocalyptic predictions of Christ’s Second Coming are certainly nothing new. They were occurring thirty years after His resurrection and ascension. James was attempting to counter such predictions with his admonition to “be patient.” The word describes a distance runner who focuses on the last lap as he runs his race. James was saying, “Don’t let stumbling or fear get you off track. Look up to the Lord and stay calm.”

The believers to whom James was writing had expected the Lord to have already returned, so they were anxious about the Second Coming of Christ and becoming more and more impatient. Furthermore, these believers were experiencing tremendous persecution by the Romans. Thus, James was calling for patience—and courage and calm—in the face of these adverse circumstances.

He encouraged these believers to remain patient until the Lord’s coming, and you and I are still living in the great “until,” awaiting this climactic event. Any woman who has birthed a child can identify with this admonition to wait. As excited as a pregnant woman may be, the only thing she can do is be patient “until” the baby arrives.

And with historians telling us that James was most likely a farmer in his earlier years, it’s not surprising that he likens our patiently waiting on the Lord’s return to a farmer waiting for the harvest. He said, “See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.”

Farmers everywhere know the feeling of planting their crops and then waiting for them to come in. In Israel, for example, farmers plow and plant their crops in the autumn months. So the autumn rains are necessary to keep the earth soft and to help the seeds germinate. Then the crop depends on the spring showers to help it mature. The autumn and spring rains—the “early and latter rain”—are beyond the farmer’s control. He is totally dependent on the Lord. He waits patiently, for the harvest—that comes in late spring—is well worth the wait.

Think now about the period after the seeds are planted when there is no visible evidence that anything is growing. The wise farmer knows there is nothing he can do to accelerate the harvest. So, knowing that God is at work underground in the process, the farmer waits patiently—but he works as he waits: cultivating, watering, cutting away weeds. The same is true with those of us who know and love Christ. We cannot hurry His return, and while we wait, we work. We plant the seeds, cultivate the ground, fertilize, and care for the crops in anticipation of the coming harvest.

Waiting periods in farming—and in life—are not without testings and trials. Sometimes the weather is too hot; other times, too cold. An overabundance of rain can cause a crop to rot; a drought can cause the crop to scorch and wither. Hailstorms can strip the fruit off the stalks. If a freeze comes too early, the crop can die. And all a farmer can do is stay calm and trust the Lord to bring in the harvest.

Clearly, James was telling us that, as believers, we should await the Lord’s coming in the same way a farmer awaits his harvest: by looking up and remaining calm. A farmer can’t control the weather, and we can’t control Christ’s return.

As we wait, we will certainly encounter times of testing and trials as well as those people who wring their hands and panic, fearful of an imminent world holocaust.

The farmer is a wise teacher. Learn from him. Look up to the Lord and be calm. “Be patient . . . until the coming of the Lord.”