when the outlook is bad, look up…

in being patient waiting on GOD you wait expectantly, you wait quietly and then you wait confidently.

when the outlook is bad, you look up.  micah 7.7 (gn), i will wait confidently for GOD.

how do you do that?  you have hope.  hope is holding on praying expectantly – hope.  when you’ve got a problem that’s unexplainable, a person who is unchangeable, a circumstance that is uncontrollable then wait confidently.  GOD is working.

how do you wait confidently?  sit still.  don’t get nervous, anxious.  you don’t take matters into your own hands and work things out. 

psalm 37.7 (nlt), be still before the LORD and wait patiently for HIM to act. 

where do you need to have patience right now?  do you have an uncontrollable circumstance in your life right now?  maybe you're in a job situation and your boss has told you to do something that’s beyond your control and you don’t want to do it.  maybe you’ve had a financial reversal that was beyond your control.  maybe you have a long term illness. 

maybe you’ve got an unchangeable person in your life.  it’s frustrating when you tell your kids something to do over and over and they don’t do it. it’s frustrating when you want to make the marriage work and you’re willing to change but your partner is not willing to change.  it’s frustrating when you have a parent who’s growing old; their idiosyncrasies are coming out and they’re dependent upon you.  there’s that cantankerous relative that, every time they are around, they cause problems.  they’re never going to change.  you need patience with an unchangeable person.  you need patience with unexplainable problems. 

what do you do when you have these kinds of things?  remember what GOD has said in james.  GOD is in control.  it may be out of my control, but it’s not out of GOD’s control.  nothing is beyond HIS power and HIS purpose for my life is greater than the problem i’m experiencing right now.  GOD will reward your patience, if not in this life, HE will in eternity.  GOD is working behind the scenes for a purpose.

just a thought from the front porch…

what happens when we get uptight?...

a lot of times when i’m waiting on GOD, HE’s really waiting on me.  HE was ready to give the answer a long time ago that i was asking for but i wasn’t ready to receive it.  HE’s saying, “grow up!  get some SPIRITual depth in your life.  I want to bless your life but you can’t handle the blessing I want to pour on you.  I’ll bless you beyond what you can imagine.”  waiting is a time to get ready.  prepare. 

JESUS waited thirty years before HE began HIS ministry.  thirty years of preparation and HE accomplished more in three years than we would in a lifetime.

isaiah 49.23 (niv), the LORD says…“no one who waits for MY help will be disappointed.”

while i'm waiting on GOD i wait expectantly then i wait quietly.

james points out the fact that we have a tendency to run off at the mouth when we’re irritated, when we’re tense, when we’re under pressure, when things aren’t going our way and things aren’t under our control.  james warns us in chapter 6 verse 9 (niv), don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. 

why does he talk about grumbling right in the middle of patience?  it’s hard to be quiet when you’re frustrated.  when you’re frustrated, you want everybody to know about it.  you want to grumble, mumble, moan, complain.  we don’t mind waiting if we can complain about it.  i’ll wait if i can gripe while i’m doing it.  james says, “don’t grumble”.  the new english bible says, don’t blame your troubles on one another.

when you get up in the morning, do you rise and whine?  hit the ground griping?  everything is bad!  if you come home at night dog-tired, it’s because you growled all day! 

then in verse 12 (niv) he says, above all, my brothers, don’t swear.  does waiting ever tempt you to swear? 

what happens when you get uptight?  when you’re frustrated and things aren’t going your way and things are beyond your control? how do you normally respond?  typically, we take it out on those closest to us.  we unload on our husbands, our wives, our children, and it’s not even their fault.  but we’re frustrated and impatient.  we displace our anger and focus it on those we love the most.  james says don’t do that.

lamentations 3.26 (niv), it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

habakkuk 2.3 (lb) these things won’t happen right away.  slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled.  if it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass.  just be patient!  they will not be overdue a single day!  

do you have a dream, a goal in life, a vision that GOD’s given you?  GOD says it will be right on target, at the right time, in the right way.  you wait expectantly and you wait quietly. 

just a thought from the front porch…

get ready for the answer in advance …

have you ever asked this question, what am i supposed to be doing while i’m waiting on GOD?

james first of all gives the example of the farmer and that we are to wait expectantly.

i must expect a harvest.  i must believe that it is inevitable, that i’ve done the right thing. 

what does a farmer do while he’s waiting on GOD?  just sit and watch reruns on television all day?  no, while he’s waiting on the harvest, the farmer is preparing for the answer.  he’s getting ready. 

waiting is a time for preparation which shows your expectation.  we demonstrate our expectation by our preparation.  we get ready for the answer in advance. 

psalm 130.5 (lb),  i wait expectantly, trusting GOD to help, for HE has promised.  notice the word, expectantly. 

what are you waiting for from GOD?  maybe to heal a long-term illness, or to transform your marriage, or to reverse your financial problems or for GOD to reach your teenagers for CHRIST?  do you really expect HIM to do that? 

the bible says, according to your faith it will be done unto you. 

if you do expect GOD to do it eventually, then prove it!  how can you prove that you’re expecting GOD to do something?  simple.  what are you doing to get ready for it?  are you preparing for the answer?  if the answer came today, would you be ready? 

how can i prepare?  the way you get ready for something is by preparing in advance.  while you’re waiting you’re preparing.  preparing demonstrates expectation.

just a thought from the front porch…

be patient and trust HIM…

in whatever difficult situation you are asking GOD to help you with, thank HIM in advance because HE’s working things out.  here in james 5.7 he gives the illustration of the farmer.  when the farmer plants the seed, he’s waiting for that seed.  while he’ waiting, GOD is working behind the scenes to cause that plant to sprout.  HE’s creating the conditions so at the right time, in the right way there will be a harvest.  the farmer waits, GOD works. 

philippians 2.13 (niv), GOD who works in you.  maybe you can’t see it, but HE is. 

romans 8:28 (niv), and we know that in all things, GOD works... 

in every circumstance in your life, GOD is working.  be patient.  i don’t know what kind of problem you have this week, but regardless of the problem you’re going through (financial, relational, health) GOD is working in that problem.  be patient and trust HIM.

just a thought from the front porch…

just wait, HE is working it out…

you need to be patient because GOD is working things out often behind the scenes, things we don’t even see, HE’s at work but we don’t see HIM at work. 

james 5.11b (niv), you have heard of job’s perseverance, and have seen what the LORD finally brought about.  the LORD is full of compassion and mercy. 

GOD was working, all the time that job was not knowing what was going on, what was happening.  GOD was working.  a delay does not mean a denial.  if you’ve been praying for an answer to prayer and you haven’t gotten it, you think GOD doesn’t want to give it to you.  no.  a delay is not a denial. 

we have to learn the difference between “no” and “not yet”.  big difference.  we want and we want it now. but we have to be patient.  GOD is at work, even when we don’t see what’s going on.  GOD was at work in job’s life, even when he didn’t know, “why is this happening to me?” 

story of phillip brooks, a famous pastor of the last century.  one day he was in his office, pacing the floor, frustrated. somebody walked in and saw him and asked, “what's the matter, pastor?”  he said, “i’m in a hurry and GOD isn’t!”

GOD says, “be patient because I’m working things out.”  while i am waiting, GOD is working.  you need to remember that!  your hands may be tied and the situation may be uncontrollable but it is not uncontrollable in GOD’s viewpoint. 

just a thought from the front porch…

there are lots of benefits…

you and i need to be patient because GOD rewards patience.  james 5.11a (niv), as you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered.  

notice the word, blessed.  the second half of job’s life was more blessed than the first half.  GOD doubled everything he had.  it pays to be patient.  there are all kinds of rewards.  your character grows, you get along with people better, you’re more happy, you reach your goals.  there are lots of benefits of being patient.  GOD rewards it.  you’ll be honored by others.  they’ll say, “he’s a patient person.” 

but not just on this side of eternity, but on the other side you’re going to be rewarded.  matthew 5.11-12 (niv), blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of ME.  rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

when people put you down, when they criticize you, be patient, because there’s going to be a reward in heaven. 

it is our natural tendency – one of the strongest desires in life – that when you’re hurt, you want to get even.  you want to retaliate, get revenge, take matters into your own hands.  when you get criticized, you want to criticize back.  if you get insulted, you want to insult back. 

revenge, retaliation are the natural thing – but that’s the opposite of patience.  james says that the next time someone criticizes you, before you strike back, think about this, is it worth giving up the reward i’m going to have in heaven?  i’m going to enjoy that a whole lot longer than the temporary pleasure of revenge. 

you need to be patient because GOD’s going to reward patience.

just a thought from the front porch…

everything is working out…

we are looking in the james 5 at being patience.  so why be patient?  that is a good honest question.  for one because GOD is in control   verse 8 (niv), be patient and stand firm, because the LORD’s coming is near.

three times in this passage, james says, until the LORD’s coming…the LORD’s coming is near…the JUDGE is standing at the door.  that is the ultimate proof that GOD is in control.  nothing can stop it. 

the bible talks more about JESUS’ second coming – when HE comes back to judge the world – than it does about HIS first coming.  GOD is in control of history – “HIS story’.  HE’s got it all planned out, everything is on schedule, nothing is late, it’s all moving toward a climax.  GOD is in control.  GOD’s purpose for your life is greater than any problem you’re facing right now.  GOD is in control.

the phillips translation says verse 8 this way,  resting your hearts on the ultimate certainty.

though a situation may be out of my control, no circumstance is out of GOD’s control.  although i can’t control everything that happens in my life, GOD can so i ought to trust HIM.  because GOD is in control and everything is working out, be patient.

job persevered.  GOD’s timing is perfect, HE’s never late.  some of you are experiencing a real delay right now but GOD’s delays never thwart HIS purpose.

just a thought from the front porch…  

why is this happening?...

james says we need patience especially when problems are unexplainable.  the classic example he gives is in james 5.11 (msg), you’ve heard, of course, of job's staying power.

the giants and patriots are playing this sunday in the football super bowl but job played in the super bowl of suffering.  he won the championship.  he was the wealthiest man that ever lived.  he had everything going for him.  in a two-day period, everything fell apart.  he went bankrupt, his children were murdered, he got an incurable, deadly disease that was very painful.  you think you’ve got problems, he had a rough day!  he lost his family, his friends, his finances.  he was suffering materially, physically, socially – every kind of way. 

then one day his wife comes to him and says, “job, just curse GOD and die!”  now that’s a support system!  GOD allowed the devil to take away everything in his life except a nagging wife.  the worst part of job’s suffering was that he had absolutely no idea why it was happening.  for 37 chapters in the book of job, GOD doesn’t even talk to him and tell him why it’s happening.  there was no apparent reason for his misfortune.  of all people, job had the privilege to say, “why me?”

life is not fair!  that is true.  GOD never said it would be fair.  a lot of things in life just don’t make sense.  maybe we’ll never understand on this side of heaven.  job didn’t understand.  in all of those unexplained problems, job maintained his faith.  sometimes we just can’t figure out our problem.

when circumstances are uncontrollable, when people are unchangeable, and when problems are unexplainable you really need patience. 

just a thought from the front porch…

having success with people…

here in the fifth chapter of the nt book of james we see that it is useful to be patient all the time but one of the special times that we need an extra dose of patience is when people won’t change.  when they won’t even try to be difference in their behavior. 

he gives us an example here in verse 10 (msg), take the old prophets as your mentors. they put up with anything, went through everything, and never once quit, all the time honoring GOD.

you might ask, “what was the function of prophets?  what did they do?”  well, they were to help people change, to bring them back to GOD, to help them be different in their behavior.  it was not an easy job.

have you noticed that people resist change?  when you make any little tiny suggestion, they resist you! 

                                                  

do you have anybody in your life right now who refuses to change?  do you know how difficult it is to live with that kind of person?  we need patience with people.  joyce landorf calls these “irregular people” – they are people who only see their own way.  they may never change.  what are you going to do about it?  james says to have patience.

now the word “patience” in the greek is the word “macrothumos” – “macro” meaning “long” and “thumos” (from which we get the word “thermometer”) meaning “heat”.  it literally means “it takes a long time for you to get hot”.  you’ve got a long fuse, you don’t blow up, you don’t get overheated with people. 

if you’re going to be a success with people, you have to learn patience.  if you’re going to be successful parents, you have to have a long fuse.  you don’t get overheated. 

james says you need to be patient when people are unchangeable and won’t cooperate with you. 

just a thought from the front porch…

waiting is sooo difficult…

there are many things in life that test our patience:  expressways, supermarket lines, doctor’s offices, irritating people.  we hate to wait.  we do not like to wait. 

have you noticed that the more expensive the restaurant the longer you wait? there are actually five different waits when you go to a restaurant.  you wait to get a seat, then you wait to get the menu, then you wait to order, then you wait to get the food back, then you wait for the bill.  and they have the audacity to call that guy the waiter!

we have been looking for a while here at the book of james in the nt and he has something to say on “patience.”  you and i need patience in every area of our life.

one question we could ask james is when should i be patient?  and that is a good question.  now james doesn’t say we have to be patient all the time but there are special times when you need that extra dose of patience and one of them is when circumstances are uncontrollable

have you figured out that a lot of life is beyond your control?  you cannot keep your thumb on everything.  james uses a farmer as an example of when circumstances are uncontrollable. 

james 5.7 (msg),  friends, wait patiently for the MASTER’s arrival. you see farmers do this all the time, waiting for their valuable crops to mature, patiently letting the rain do its slow but sure work. be patient like that…

don’t go into farming unless you’ve got patience.  part of the job description of being a farmer is you do a lot of waiting:  waiting to till, waiting to plant, waiting to harvest... there are a lot of factors in waiting.  yet more than the factors of waiting on things to do are the factors that the farmer has no control over – weather, rain, heat, the economy, labor practices.  as a farmer you deal with a lot of uncontrollable factors – circumstances – in life. 

have you noticed that even when we realize a situation is beyond our control, we still try to control it?  how do we do that?  by worrying.  we think that worry will control a situation.  to worry about something you can change is dumb, to worry about something you can’t change is useless.  either way you shouldn’t worry.  we need to have patience in uncontrollable circumstances.

just a thought from the front porch…

it has value in our lives...

problems are purposeful.  they have a purpose.  pain can be productive.  pressure produces.  suffering can accomplish something.  it has value in our lives.  what value? 

for one - problems purify my faith. 

james 1.3a (niv), you know that the testing of your faith…   he uses the word testing as in testing gold and silver.  you would heat it up very hot until the impurities – the dross – was burned off.  job said, he has tested me through the refining fire and i have come out as pure gold.  the first things trials do is test our faith.  they purify us.

CHRISTians are like tea bags.  you don’t know what’s inside of them until you drop them in hot water and then you know.  your faith develops when you don’t feel like doing what’s right.  it purifies your faith.  CHRISTians are like steel; when they’re tested they come out stronger.

another one - problems fortify our patience.

verse 3b (niv), the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  he’s talking about staying power.  not a passive patience but staying power, endurance.  the ability to keep on, keeping on, the ability to hang in there.  the greek here is literally “the ability to stay under pressure.” 

we don’t like pressure and we do everything we can to avoid it.  we run from it, take drugs, gamble, drink alcohol, go to disneyland, anything to get away from pressure but GOD uses problems in our lives to teach us how to handle pressure, how to never give up.

how does GOD teach us patience?  by everything going your way?  no.  GOD teaches you patience in traffic jams, in grocery lines, the waiting periods in life. 

we live in a comfort and convenient society.  everybody wants it now.  if i can’t have it now, forget it.  endurance today, is a rare quality.  lombardi said, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

just a thought from the front porch…

patient and prayerful…

a mature person is patient and prayerful.

james 5.7,11 (niv), be patient then, brothers, until the LORD’s coming…as you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered.  verse 16 (niv), the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.  GOD says the mark of a mature person is, he is patient and prayerful. 

those are the two key words in chapter five of the book of james.  patient is used four times and prayer is used seven times.  the mark of a mature person is they are patient and they are prayerful.  those two go together.

james 5.7 (niv), be patient then, brothers, until the LORD’s coming.  see how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, how patient he is for the fall and spring rain.  you too be patient.  stand firm because the LORD’s coming is near.  don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged.

he’s saying, be patient and he uses the illustration of a farmer and if anybody has to be patient, it is a farmer.  he does a lot of waiting.  he plants a seed, waits, prays, hopes, expects…he waits.  there are no overnight crops.

and just like a farmer, we too sometimes have to wait.  we have to wait on GOD to answer our prayer.  we have to wait on GOD for a miracle.  we have to wait on GOD to work in our lives.  we have to wait.  patience is a mark of maturity.  the only way you learn patience is by waiting.

have your kids ever learned the difference between, “no” and “not yet.”  when they are young is seems that they both mean the same thing. 

many times GOD says to you, “not yet.”  HE doesn’t mean “no.”  HE doesn’t mean HE is not going to answer your prayer, HE is just saying, you’ve got to wait.  I want you to develop, to grow.

james 5.16 (niv), therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other that you may be healed.  the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.  elijah was a man just like us.  he prayed earnestly that it wouldn’t rain and it didn’t rain on the land for three and a half years.  again he prayed and the heavens gave rain and the earth produced its crop.

if anybody was patient it was elijah.  elijah was patient and he was prayful.  that’s a mark of maturity.

just a thought from the front porch…

be patient with everyone…

there’s a single word that we need in all of our relationships because they’re messy, because they take time, because the people we have relationships with aren’t perfect and we’re not perfect.  that single word is found in ephesians 4.2 (tlb),  be humble and gentle be… patient.  it takes patience. 

who do we have to be patient with?  1 thessalonians 5.14 (niv) says, be patient with everyone.  everyone needs my patience because nobody’s perfect. 

i’m so grateful when GOD’s patient with me to grow.  i am so grateful in my life for the people that have been patient with me to grow.  but even in light of that is hard being patient with other people.  i want them to hurry up.  i want them to grow fast.  yet for relationships to develop it takes genuine patience.

what does that patience look like?  you’re standing at that crossroads and you wonder, “am i going to hurry this along?  or am i going to have the patience in this relationship to watch it develop, change and heal?”  what does that look like

a great verse about this is in 1 corinthians 13.7 (nlt).  here’s the decisions we’re making at that crossroads when we decide to take the long road.  love never gives up, never loses faith.  it is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance.

so there you are at that crossroads, deciding which way are we going to go?  at that crossroads, when you decide to take the long road what you’re saying is, “i’m deciding right here, right now i’m not going to give up.” 

some of you need to decide that right here, right now about a relationship with a husband, a wife, one of your kids, a friend, somebody at work.  “i’m not going to give up on that relationship with somebody in my family!  i’m going to decide right here and right now i’m not going to lose faith. 

GOD is still there.  HE is still working.  i’m going to decide right here and now, i’m not going to stop hoping.  i am deciding to take the long road, to endure with you even through the toughest circumstances.  that’s what it looks like, to have that kind of patience, to be willing to take the long road. 

just a thought from the front porch…

the raw material…

we are all about problem – solution – done.  problem – solution – done.  but GOD’s all about problem – patience – growth.  problem – patience – growth.  because more than anything HE’s interested in what HE wants to do in your life.  and your problems, my problems, are the raw material out of which GOD manufactures hope.  out of which GOD moves us to trust HIM in something that in this world is not going to last to trusting in HIM in something in the next world is going to last. 

we all trust in things that aren’t going to last.  one of the things our problems do is help us to realize “i can’t trust in that anymore.  i’ve got to find something greater to trust in.”  GOD tests us, not to grade us but to grow us.  HE doesn’t test you, looking at you thinking, “wonder how they’re going to do with this one.  oh!  they get a c minus on that one.  they didn’t do very well.”  GOD already knows how you’re going to react.  HE’s GOD.  HE knows everything.  so why does HE let us go through tests?  because HE knows what they’re going to do to our heart.  HE knows how they’re going to grow us. 

but growth and hope are not guaranteed results of problems.  i know plenty of people who go through problems and they’ve got no growth going on.  they’ve got no hope in their lives.  it takes patience.  that’s why you want to make patience your priority. 

so what is it that keeps us from hope?  circumstances?  it’s easy to think that.  but no.  every one of us knows someone who has the best of circumstances but no hope at all.  and we know people who have the worst of circumstances but they’re lives are overflowing with hope.  so obviously it’s not about circumstances.  it’s something about your heart, your attitude, in the circumstances. 

now, having patience in the midst of problems is easy to talk about but it’s hard to do.  whether you think they should or not, whether you feel guilty about that or not, your problems tend to wear you down after a while.  so what do you do?  here’s the answer.

don’t face your problems alone.  GOD never meant for you to face those problems alone and try to be patient alone.  galatians 6.2 (tlb), share each other’s troubles and problems and so obey our LORD’s command.”  our LORD’s command to love one another.  you share each other’s troubles and problems.  GOD didn’t mean for you to face it alone. 

GOD says we’re not built to face it alone.  HE has made us to share our problems with other people so we can lift each other up and encourage each other.  problems have this power to move us from false hope to real hope but it takes other people involved in our lives for that to happen. 

just a thought from the front porch…

love, mercy, patience and hope…

lamentations 3.21-23 (ncv) says, but i have hope when i think of this.  the LORD’s love never ends.  HIS mercies never stop.  they are new every morning.  i have hope when i think about GOD’s love.  i have hope when i think about GOD’s mercy.  because HE is a GOD of love and hope and mercy. 

you drive into a gas station.  what would you hope to find there at a gas station?  gas.  you go into a doughnut shop, what do you expect to find?  doughnuts.  you go to the GOD of hope and love, what are you going to find?  not fear, not guilt.  you’re going to find hope.  you’re going to find love.  because that is who GOD is. 

this verse says, GOD’s love is new every morning.  if it’s new every morning i want to think about it every morning. 

in fact, let me get even more practical than that.  if you’re feeling hopeless, or if you don’t want to start feeling hopeless, here’s the practical thing to do.  before you even get out of bed in the morning – remind yourself GOD’s love is your lifeline.  you wake up feeling groggy.  before you even get out of bed because who knows what’s going to happen the first thirty seconds of the day.  “GOD, no matter what happens today, YOU love me.”  just remind yourself of that.  every morning.  there is power in doing that. 

another way to find hope in a hopeless situation is to make patience your priority. 

but you say, “i don’t want patience!  i want hope!  and i want it now.  i don’t want to wait for it.”  if you’re looking for hope and someone says to you in the middle of a problem, “oh, just be patient.”  does that sound like an answer?  to me it sounds like somebody just patting me on the back.  “oh, it’s going to be ok.”  and send me out with no real answer.  yet GOD, when HE talks about our problems, talks about the power of patience to make a difference in our lives. 

our priority is to solve the problem.  that’s not GOD’s priority.  GOD’s priority is to grow us through the problem.  why is that by the way?  because GOD knows that you’re going to far outlast any problem that you have.  problems that you have, they might last five days, five months, five years.  they might even last the rest of your life.  but compared to the eternity that GOD has created us for, that is a short time.  so because GOD knows that you’re going to far outlast your problems.  HE’s more interested in your growth and my growth than in solving the problem immediately. 

just a thought from the front porch…