The Prophets' Suffering and Patience

Acts of Worship
Learning to Pray

We Pray for One Another

James 5:1-12 The Message

Destroying Your Life from Within

5 ^1-3 And a final word to you arrogant rich: Take some lessons in lament. You’ll need buckets for the tears when the crash comes upon you. Your money is corrupt and your fine clothes stink. Your greedy luxuries are a cancer in your gut, destroying your life from within. You thought you were piling up wealth. What you’ve piled up is judgment.

^4-6 All the workers you’ve exploited and cheated cry out for judgment. The groans of the workers you used and abused are a roar in the ears of the Master Avenger. You’ve looted the earth and lived it up. But all you’ll have to show for it is a fatter than usual corpse. In fact, what you’ve done is condemn and murder perfectly good persons, who stand there and take it.

^7-8 Meanwhile, 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. Stay steady and strong. The Master could arrive at any time.

⁹ Friends, don’t complain about each other. A far greater complaint could be lodged against you, you know. The Judge is standing just around the corner.
^10-11 Take the old prophets as your mentors. They put up with anything, went through everything, and never once quit, all the time honoring God. What a gift life is to those who stay the course! You’ve heard, of course, of Job’s staying power, and you know how God brought it all together for him at the end. That’s because God cares, cares right down to the last detail.
¹² And since you know that he cares, let your language show it. Don’t add words like “I swear to God” to your own words. Don’t show your impatience by concocting oaths to hurry up God. Just say yes or no. Just say what is true. That way, your language can’t be used against you.

 
For Reflection
Does God hate rich people?  No.  God loves us all.  God suffers with us.  God prays for us.  God's word gives us the option to escape the corrupting influence of the material world.  God gives us the opportunity to choose compassion over callousness, distributive justice over unfairness, peace over calamity, and forgiveness over vengeance.  Unjustness, calamity and vengeance extract their own toll. Godlessness yields suffering and false security.

Pray

to spend your time honoring God.  Pray for staying power in the Kingdom of God.  Pray for patience.  Pray to choose the righteous option.