Holy Waiting

“You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.” – James 5:8 (NRSVUE)

We’ve heard the message preached for years: “The end is near.” It’s filled auditoriums for some evangelists, appeared in cartoons with a person wearing a sandwich board, and—tragically—led some groups to a heartbreaking end. Yet the message itself is no less true. As we proclaim in our Communion liturgy, “Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.”

But between Christ’s resurrection and Christ’s return, we wait. We live in that long stretch of ordinary days where faith is practiced in the meantime. And it’s into this season of holy waiting—this temporary holding pattern—that the author of James speaks.

When James says, “the coming of the Lord is near,” he is pointing toward the day when Christ will set all things right. But he is also reminding us that the Lord is near in another way: near because the Spirit abides with us, near because God’s presence walks alongside our waiting. The farmer in the verse before this becomes our teacher. He waits for the harvest with patience—not because he sees the crop, but because he trusts the hidden work already happening beneath the soil.

James invites us into that same posture. The Lord’s coming is near—not only in the great day when Christ returns, but in the daily nearness of the Spirit who strengthens us. God is already present in the waiting, already tending the hidden places of our lives. We may not see the harvest yet, but God's work is underway. And so James says, “Be patient. Strengthen your hearts.” Not because waiting is easy, but because God is near in every unseen moment.

Gracious and patient God, strengthen our hearts in the waiting. Give us courage when the days feel long and trust when the evidence is still unseen. Teach us the patience of the farmer and remind us that your Spirit walks with us in every quiet, hidden place of growth. Make our waiting fruitful, and our hope steadfast in Christ our Lord. Amen.

Grace & Peace, Pastor Tim