Establish our hearts!

“Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” James 5:7-8

Oh the process of raising support! It is a roller coaster for the heart.  Days are made good or bad based on the response from people about support. Some days are made good just by getting any response!

As I read in James yesterday the verses above stuck out. “Be patient” and “establish your hearts” in particular were (are) convicting. My patience grows weak as we wait on responses from people. My heart so often wavers from the truth as it is established in my external circumstances, which are so often changing. 

But hope is coming. God will bring the “early and late rains”. He will provide.

My hope often stops here, in the coming. I hope God will come and intervene in the physical circumstances of my life and provide for the things I need (do I convince myself I ‘need’ things I really just want? Yes.). It’s as if hope is something further down the road I’m waiting to arrive at which magically coincides with the provision I’m not so patiently waiting for.

However, Hope is here. My heart can be established in the truth of what God has done through his death and resurrection. My patience can be renewed by the hope of a savior who was and is and is coming again. Hope isn’t something down the road, it’s here waiting with me. The real hope isn’t just in provision for the things I need. The real hope is in “the coming of the Lord.”

May our hearts not waver in the circumstances of our day, which are so often changing. Rather, may our hearts be established in the truth that we have a Savior who is here with us now offering hope for today and reminding us “the coming of the Lord is at hand.”