Be Patient and Don’t Grumble

The Old Testament scholar, Walter Brueggemann, once wrote about Advent’s counter-intuitive and counter-cultural message “in a culture of instant gratification that wants to wait for nothing, a self-indulgent culture that resists any inconvenient discipline.” Therefore, patience is not exactly one of our biggest virtues.  Yet, James 5:7-10 says “be patient… until the Lord’s coming” as “the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains” (5:7).  James then continues to warn against the opposite of patience by saying “don’t grumble” (5:9).  It is easy to grumble about many things that are wrong or are not going our way.  How can this Advent season teach you and me to patiently wait on the Lord in our lives?