Pastor Josh Weisbrod – June 2, 2019

Key Idea: God is faithful. If God planted a seed, He will be faithful to send the rain, and bring the harvest. // Key Passage: James 5:7-11

Summary: Like a farmer who waits patiently for the land to produce a harvest, we grow in spiritual maturity as we are patient in the process between the planting of the seed and the promise of harvest.

Introduction – James 5:7-11

James is using the analogy of a farmer waiting for the early and late rains, because the farmer is reliant on both rains in order to harvest a crop.
The early rain softens and prepares the ground for the seed to be planted.
The farmer waits for late rain.
If he takes the seed out to “check on it”, the seed will die. The farmer waits through the hot, dry season, while birds try to eat the seeds. If the seed is going to die, it will happen during the waiting season.
Once the seed starts to sprout, the later rains come. The water fills the ground, swells the plant, and the fruit comes. This is the best part: to eat and rejoice at the harvest. If we eat the fruit too early, it is bitter. Everything has its time and season.
James wants us to grow into spiritual maturity—complete and whole.
Be patient in the process between the seed and the promise. We live our lives between the early rain and the late rain.
God is faithful! If He sent the early rain, He will send the late rain. If He planted a seed, He will bring it to harvest. (Deuteronomy 11:14; Joel 2:23)
When the seed has been planted and we are waiting in the dry season, we don’t see any fruit and often experience suffering. I think if I can’t hold the ‘seed’, I can’t control it. I don’t trust the seed buried in the soil. So I try to dig it out and in the process kill it. There is no quick way to spiritual maturity.

Application:

Patience has Hope -> Put your hope in Christ

Rain is no respecter of persons, it has no feeling. It rains on the just and the unjust.
We have a hope in Christ. (1 Peter 5:7)
If He sent the early rain, He will send the late rain.

Patience has Power -> Establish your heart in love

There is power in the waiting. (James 5:8)
Establish our hearts in love (1 Thessalonians 3:12-13)
When the early rains come, we let it soak deep with the rain, so the roots are established and the plant will not wither and die during the hot, dry season.
We want to thrive, not die, in the patient dry season.
We wait—not in weakness, but in patient endurance.

Patience is Practiced -> Stand firm

We side-step the practice of waiting when we complain and grumble. (James 5:9)
Trials put our patience to the test. As we get stressed, we lash out at those closest to us.
When we have waited, and waited, and waited—don’t give up, the end is so close. We are almost there. Don’t quit at the last ‘be patient’.
Suffering enters our life -> Perseverance is our response -> Blessing comes from God who is full of compassion and mercy.
polysplanchnos = full of compassion (James 5:11)
God has great inward affections and compassion for you.
God can take the mess in your life and turn it into the message of your life.
God can take the dry season and turn it into your testimony.
God has not forgotten the seed He has planted in you.

Reflection:

Throughout the week in your own time with the Lord, you can use these reflection questions as a way to deepen your relationship with God. Reflect on these questions in the presence of God, allowing the Holy Spirit to shine a light into your heart.

1) Share about a time when God planted a seed and you have already seen the harvest? Or share about a time when God has planted a seed in your heart, but you have not seen the harvest yet?

2) Have you ever been tempted to give up on a seed or a dream because you think it will never come to pass? Even if you have given up, God has not. If He planted a seed He’ll bring it to harvest.

3) What season are you experiencing in your life at present? Preparation, planting, patience, provision, or promise? What do you believe God is asking you to do in this season?

4) How can an understanding of God’s compassion as great inward affections for you, help you in whichever season you are experiencing right now?

5) How has God shown himself faithful to you in the past?

6) How can you stand firm and establish your heart in love while you wait? (1 Thessalonians 3:12-13)

FAQs:

What if I don’t believe God has planted a seed in my heart?

Everyone struggles at one time or another believing or trusting what God has planted in their hearts. Sometimes it feels like it is taking forever to see a seed sprout, grow, and bear fruit. God, more than anyone, understands your struggle to be patient and to wait. He wants to reveal to you another facet of His character—His faithfulness. He has not forgotten any seed He has planted. He will bring the rains at the right time, and He will bring the harvest at the right time. He knows you better than you know yourself. Take your struggle to Him and ask Him to show you His great affections for you. Talk to someone at church who is wearing a “Team Member” badge on Sunday, or share in your small group.

I want to read the Bible but I’m not sure where to start. I don’t have a Bible.

If you are not familiar with the Bible and you aren’t sure where to start, you can always start reading about the life of Jesus in the book of John in the New Testament. If you don’t have a Bible, let someone who is wearing a “Team Member” badge on Sunday morning that you don’t have a Bible and would like one.

Full Podcast Episode: http://banner.church/podcast/2019/6/3/follow-pt-6-patience-6219