27 November 2005  Devotion for Today  “The Latter Rain”  James 5:7-8   

Waiting patiently has never been a natural human tendency, although some are better at it than others.  Disappointed expectations top the list of my frailties when things are not going the way I want them to go.  Yet when God decides to move, He is determined to do so and nothing will keep it from happening.   I had been lamenting that not a single soul had come forward in months to be saved.  I would give invitations every Sunday- perhaps a few people came forward for prayer but no souls were saved, and no one wanted to come to join the church.  It was like we were stuck in the doldrums.  Other pastor’s counsel was not much help.  “Oh, you are way out in the “sticks,” he said, “you shouldn’t expect more than one or two baptisms a year, if that!”  Such a statement left me baffled until I checked the baptism statistics of his church and mine.  For one thing, I didn’t care for the put-down of my community as being in “the sticks,”  especially when I found out that my pastor colleague’s  church was three times larger, but they baptized fewer than ten people the previous year.  I’ve been trained to recognize potential even on the dark side of the moon, so I  don’t scale down my expectations because of the geography, demographics, or the size of my church.  I try to pray and look where God is working.   However, little responsiveness was seen in the church for months afterward.  I began to grow concerned about my effectiveness.   In fact the attrition of a couple of dissatisfied members only added to my discouragement.  This was until I read this passage from James 5:7-8.

 

⁷ 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 latter rain. ⁸ You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”

 

In Palestine, there were two major planting seasons according to the rain cycles.  The early rain came in early spring, and the later rain came toward the end of the summer.  The crops grew abundantly at those times, although for months it appears like nothing is happening after the seeds are sown.

 

I live and serve in a farming community.  I have tremendous respect for the people I serve; especially as I listen to the farmers in my congregation continually fight against discouragement and depreciating returns on their crops.  Its heartbreaking to see some of them pour out their hearts, energy and all their money only to see crop failure or have to replant or not receive a good price in the agricultural market.  Its not that they are bad farmers- they are the most industrious, hard-working, enterprising and educated people that I know.  But so much of what they do lies completely out of their control.   So much of their lives and careers are based upon waiting.   They must wait upon God to give the rain or to hold it back as the case may be. 

 

After a half a year in the doldrums, God decided to work.  We conducted Vacation Bible School that yielded fifteen first-time decisions for Christ.  Ten of those were baptized a few weeks later.  A revival service a few weeks later brought in two new families came to the church who had six or seven family members who needed to be saved.  We baptized them, also.  In two months time,  twenty-five people were saved, yielding seventeen baptisms.   That may not sound like many who are used to baptizing that many every Sunday.  But our church runs a little less than a hundred in Sunday worship.  Why am I telling you this?  To demonstrate that God decides to work precisely when He intends to.  That is not to say we can sit back and watch Him work without being faithful to prepare the soil.  Just when I am prone to slip into discouragement I have this story to remember and to look forward to the next major harvest that God will give in His time.    Don’t give up.  You might just be between rainy cycles.

 

Remember this:  It may be difficult to wait on the Lord, but it is worse to wish you had.

Have a blessed day!

 

 

 

Rev. Jeffery C. Russell
Salem Baptist Church
Elizabeth City, NC
jefferyrussell@earthlink.net

 

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