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 the latter rain. (8) You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. (9) Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! (10) My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience.

The author of the epistle of James was the half brother of Jesus and the head of the church in Jerusalem. This practical letter teaches us to act as we believe, and specifically advises the faithful who suffer from no fault of their own to live in the light of eternity as God will ultimately judge us all – to respond rightly when wronged. James tells his readers it is wrong to take personal vengeance and we are to wait on the Lord remembering that we will also be judged. The faithful are not required to be passive doormats but to make sure our focus is on the second coming of the Lord and eternity. We are not to take judgment into our own hands – if we attempt revenge we also fall under condemnation. James illustrates his command of patience, steadfastness and endurance with the examples of the farmer waiting for the crop, the suffering and endurance of the prophets; to always remember that the Judge is standing at the door.

Christian patience is not calm resignation to God’s will in face of the inevitable but steady and determined perseverance, in spite of difficulties, toward the goal of God’s will for our lives. And no grumbling. If life is so uncertain; man so vulnerable; material things so perishable, then disaster could come at any moment. We are to put our trust in that which we cannot lose, which is God alone. We don’t need to practice patience when things are going well but there is always, for everyone, a time of testing.

C.S. Lewis addressed the dangers of complaining: “Hell begins with a grumbling mood, always complaining, always blaming others…….but you are still distinct from it. You may even criticize it in yourself and wish you could stop it. But there may come a day when you can no longer. Then there will be no you left to criticize the mood or even to enjoy it, but just the grumble itself going on forever like a machine. It is not a question of God “sending us” to hell. In each of us there is something growing, which will BE hell unless it is nipped in the bud.”