We always laugh when someone says, give me eye glasses so that I can hear. We also know that one sense develops to be stronger when another is weak or sick– blind people who rely on their hearing can distinguish delicate and subtle sounds.  Deaf people can read lips and observe the world of image more closely.  Sounds and noise have a major impact on concentration and what we see and have to process by sight.  Just as soon as the traffic gets tough, the music is turned down and the chatter dries up so that we can focus. 

Our spiritual senses work in the same way.  It has significant influence on the way we live and make decisions.  Of course, it is also in silence and seclusion where we focus on all the difficulties of a rough, rocky path of life as we stumble into our safe haven of prayer, sore and exhausted. That’s where everything changes.  It is bathing in the Word to wash away the mud and dust of the mundane that clings to us and provokes us to fear, anger and discouragement.  The Word of God, words of spirit and life, is the cool refreshment our souls yearn for. (Ephesians 5:26; John 6:63)

It is a privilege to know and revere this safe haven.  It doesn’t help it’s available and not cherished. Our worry about all the cares of life keeps us awake, our fuse short and cultivate an atmosphere of negativity in our homes, characterized by a spirit of whining and complaining. It is a vicious cycle indeed – impatience born of pride and a spirit of control, which pushes our complain button and sweeps away gratitude and humility in a whirlwind of anger.  It’s all there in James 5:7-11.  

James might actually be part of the wisdom genre of the Bible.  It is a practical, to-the-point guideline for a life of victory over the daily challenges – ordinary relationships, small and big frustrations, the headlines of the media and the unexpected evil that creeps in and attacks.  In all of this, we are equipped to take the step back and soar like an eagle, so that we can act calmly and wisely.

It is very significant that James mentions Job in this passage.  The Hebrews always cited Job as the example of patience.  

Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.  (James 5:11)

Persevere, really?  Can we consider perseverance to be one of the modern virtues?  There are so many choices and if you have chosen something, whether it may be ice cream, furniture or a partner, there is always the possibility of change.  Choices are, after all, the sacred right of every modern being.  Taking a choice away and expecting commitment to stick to a decision boil down to oppression and that is the great societal sin!

The changes are made – superficial and short-sighted with no consequences –  except the tearing apart of a soul, which is not immediately visible.

It is not only in the last chapter of James that we read about endurance.  In another context, we read about it in the first chapter.  The big challenge:

 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. ⁴ But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.  (James 1:2-4)

Perseverance in difficult circumstances is not just a tenacity exercise as you count the days and rebel with clenched jaws in false serenity in your soul against everything that happens.  It is a lifestyle of supernatural peace and lofty thought-patterns of praise and gratitude before the God who lifts you up when you humble yourself before Him. (James 4:10)

It’s not one of life’s superficial choices.  It is a decision to surrender daily to the footsteps of the Nazarene.  

 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:

³⁷ “For yet a little while,
And He who is coming will come and will not tarry.
³⁸ Now the just shall live by faith;
But if anyone draws back,
My soul has no pleasure in him.”

³⁹ But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.  (Hebrews 10:36-39)

Precious words from the fountain of Life that encourage and carry us through.  There is a promise for those who persevere and not withdraw.  Withdrawal is born in impatience and rebellion.  This is when we are offended by what God works and allows in our lives.  We desire to be transformed and say frivolously, without enough consideration of what it might demand, that we are conformed to his death. (Philippians 3:10-11)

With patience born of perseverance, the promise and outcome in our hand is clearly a reality because God’s word is never empty.  

Think for a moment what it means to persevere.

It describes the ability to remain under difficult circumstances, not with passive complacency, but with a hopeful fortitude and courage that actively resists weariness and defeat because the promises in the Word of God are proven in the miracles that describe our salvation.

Back to Job.  James mentions Job in his encouragement to endure. It is in Job that we read of the glorious reversal of thinking.

“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear,
But now my eye sees You. (Job 42:55)

I admit I once lived by rumors of you;
    now I have it all firsthand—from my own eyes and ears! (The Message)

When every sermon, every scripture reading, every promise in silence and prayer, lives and rejoices within you so that you can see clearly the Hand of your Jesus in every trial and every problem… and be glad in it.