The Slow Way
“Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.”James 5:7 (KJV)
We live in a world that can do almost anything in an afternoon. Reports, designs, whole projects that used to take months now come together in minutes. Some of that is a gift. But something can get lost when everything gets fast.
Good things have always grown slowly. Seed, water, seasons, harvest. “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.”
James uses the farmer as our example: “Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.” The waiting isn’t wasted. It is part of how fruit grows, and part of how we grow.
Use the tools you have. But don’t let speed rob you of the slow work God does in you through patience, effort and time with other people.
Read it yourself
Read James 5:7–11. What examples of patience does James give?
Where are you impatient for the harvest when God may still be in the planting season?
Lord, teach me patience. Help me trust the seasons you set and grow through the slow work. Amen.