Job

 We can’t deny the reality of what is for what we hope will be or what we imagine, feel, or would otherwise like to be. It’s how we got into this mess in the first place. You can’t just identify as a child of God; you must be a child of God in word and deed for God to acknowledge you as His own. Saved isn’t a pronoun you can appropriate; it’s something that you become and are transformed into, having repented and turned your back on the world and surrendered at the foot of the cross. You become born again, dead to the world and alive in Christ, with Him on the throne of your heart, rather than in some competition with the old man for it. You are a child of God. Not a child of God and the world. There is no shared custody as far as you are concerned. God is not satisfied with getting you on weekends and the world getting you the rest of the week. He will not share His glory with another.

I’ve always found it telling who people look up to or use as examples of who they aspire to be like. Nowadays, especially the younger generation has lists that include either athletes or artists for the most part, with a handful of those who desire to contribute something to society naming someone like Ben Carson or Elon Musk. While what Ben Carson contributed to society is demonstrably positive, whether for ill or good, Elon Musk’s contribution has yet to be determined. Let’s just say I get a bit leery whenever someone wants to put chips in people’s brains, but that’s just me. I get squeamish at the sight of blood or at the thought of being powered down like a machine. Before you say it’s voluntary, everything is until it isn’t. Remember masks, and shots, and pronouns? They were voluntary once upon a time too. Now, in some places, you have to decide whether or not you like the taste of prison food before you call a guy a guy if he says he wants to be called a gal.

James could have named one of a hundred men as an illustrative example of faithfulness, obedience, and perseverance, but he chose Job, who is by far the most difficult to aspire to of all the notable figures he could have named.

We cannot minimize or trivialize what Job went through. We cannot look at the life of a man who once had it all and came to the point of saying that his spirit was broken, his days were extinguished, and the grave was ready for him and be flippant about his suffering or insist that we are as prepared to endure likewise.

It is humbling, or at least it ought to be when we consider what others have endured and persevered through, and it should stir an introspective reflection in our hearts because although, as yet, most of us have not been called to persevere in such a fashion it is not outside the realm of possibility. In all fairness, given what Jesus said regarding those of the world hating us just as they hated Him, the probability that you will have to endure hardship for Christ's sake is high.

Whatever hardship, struggle, or trial we may be experiencing presently, we must never forget that the Lord intends an end, which we may not yet see but the foundation of which is His mercy and compassion.

If your spiritual heroes consist of individuals who flaunt earthly possessions and use their position to squeeze every last nickel from the little old lady who’s one busted hip away from homelessness, then when you read about Job being an example, you likely react negatively, thinking to yourself that it couldn’t possibly be so.

Perhaps all those people who insist that James, along with Jude, the Epistles of Peter, the first, second, and third epistle of John, just to name a few, should be stricken from the canon of scripture because they grate against the doctrine they’ve fashioned for themselves are right. I mean, of all the people he could have picked, he picked Job?

It’s hard to convince people who will not allow for the possibility of the valley that God is the same on the mountaintop as He is in those valleys that are hard and difficult to traverse. He is unchanging and omnipotent, and His ability to see us through is not diminished by our trials or successes. They equate the mountaintop with God and all else with a lack of Him. If you ain’t first, you’re last, and we all know God’s kids are supposed to be the head and not the tail. That’s pretty much the average level of spiritual maturity you’re likely to run across in many a church.

You are responsible for sharing what you get from God on the mountaintop with others presently in the valley. You are called upon to look up and behold His glory shining through in the deepest of gorges because He is ever the same regardless of current circumstances. No one can stay on the mountaintop forever because that’s never what life was meant to be.

Men like Job persevered because they understood the nature of the God they served, knowing Him to be loving, gracious, merciful, and compassionate.

If they had any doubts about God’s character, if they had doubts about God’s nature, or if they questioned God’s mercy and compassion to any degree, then they would have bent and broken, fallen apart, and been scattered to the winds.

To persevere, to maintain one’s composure in the face of quick, drastic, and heart-wrenching changes in one’s life, you must know the God you serve and not simply know of Him. Knowing Him keeps us from giving up, from losing ourselves, from relinquishing hope, and from growing ever more discordant and despondent.

Trials mature us in ways nothing else can. It’s one thing to talk about theoretical perseverance; it’s another to actively practice it because you’re living practically what you learned theoretically. It’s not an easy transition. It’s not an easy mindset to adopt and cling to, but one we must nevertheless nurture so that when trials come when the valley opens up before us, we will not despair, grow weary, or lessen our pace toward eternity. Know the God you serve and trust in His providence no matter the present environment. He sees beyond your today into your tomorrows and will not waver in His promises to you.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Reactions

 When you spend enough time in front of crowds, whether preaching or giving a talk, you learn to read expressions better than most. You know whether a message is having an impact or they’re just waiting for noon to roll around and find the nearest exit so they can get a primo spot at the local buffet. It’s not coincidental that messages that stroke men’s egos, telling them how beloved and highly favored they are, land better than ones that carry a word of warning or rebuke, but the messages of warning and rebuke are just as necessary as those of encouragement if not more so.

Correction is biblical; so is rebuke. James isn’t out of pocket when he admonishes the brethren not to grumble against one another, but it’s likely just as many took it the wrong way then as they do today. I’m sure ‘Who does he think he is?’ or ‘Who is he to judge’ or perhaps even, ‘I agree with the sentiment, but surely this was meant for someone else’ crossed the minds of many who read his letter, because whenever we come across something corrective, whether in the Word or a sermon, we rarely acknowledge that it may just be talking about us, or to us.

James then proceeds with a layered and vivid illustration, reminding those who would read his words of those who came before them, namely the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord and their example of suffering and patience. It’s easy to look to past generations and see those who served the Lord as beyond human, giants in their own right, whose faithfulness we could never hope to replicate, dismissing the fact that they were just as human as you and I in every way. There was nothing inherently special about them, whether being physically imposing or psychologically superior; they just understood the cost, and their obedience was paramount, secondary to nothing in their life. The blueprint for an exceptional spiritual life is not difficult to decipher. It’s not a mysterious thing that must be teased out after countless years of introspection. Every man of God who stood out throughout the pages of scripture was a man of prayer, faithfulness, and obedience. There you go. I just saved you years of trying to assemble a puzzle that was never a puzzle but rather something self-evident and clearly proven in the Bible.

While some had it harder than others, none had it easy. The messages they were tasked with delivering were not conciliatory or congratulatory but rather warnings and rebukes for a people who had strayed from the will of God, who had gone their own way and served their own interests without regard for the insults they leveled at God, and the rebellion they exhibited in perpetuity.

If you want to know whether you’ll be loved, adored, praised, elevated, and have an easy life if you are called to be a messenger to a rebellious nation, all you have to do is look at what happened to the prophets of old, and what they had to endure for following through and delivering the words they were tasked with delivering.

Whether it was rejection of the messages they delivered or physical violence upon their person as a way of lashing out against the message, there isn’t a prophet in the Old Testament who did not endure some sort of hardship.

It’s not as though Jeremiah ever came off as overly dramatic, but even if he had, you’ve got to be going through something pretty grim to wish you were never born.

Juxtapose the lives of Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Moses, Ezekiel, and even lesser-known prophets such as Hosea with those claiming to be prophets today. Compare and contrast their lives, what they had to endure, and the obedience they had to live out in order to be entrusted with a message from God and tell me if they harmonize or rhyme in any way.

When one of these men came on the scene declaring they were prophets of the Lord, it wasn’t braggadocio or a way to assert some sort of spiritual authority over others; it was a statement of fact, something they did not relish declaring but had to because the Lord had deemed them as such. 

James admonishes us to look at their example of suffering and patience, not their rock star lifestyle or how many people they convinced to sow into their ministry so they might continue proclaiming their sappy, indulgent, generalized, and unbiblical words of knowledge.

No, I didn’t wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, but too many believers are taken in by the claims of people who have nothing of God’s authority without taking the time to vet their claims and determine if the words match the actions.

You can’t keep telling people that the Lord showed you California was going to drop off into the ocean while you’re buying multi-million dollar beachfront properties. It just doesn’t add up. Either you’re lying, you don’t believe what the Lord showed you, or you are spurning God's message personally while declaring it generally.

No, this isn’t grumbling against the brethren; this is pointing out inconsistencies that should be as alarm bells to anyone with an iota of wisdom.

We no longer count those who endure blessed; we count them suckers and insist that they don’t have enough faith to believe for a mansion and a Bentley. Yet, the Word tells us we should count those who endure blessed because they are.

We must learn to discern the difference between truth and error, embrace the one, and reject the other. Even if the error is sugar-coated and seems a tasty morsel, even if the lie is flattering and puts us in the best possible light, even though we know we don’t deserve to be there, it’s still a lie and will lead to ruination. No good can come from deception. No good can come of obfuscating the Word of God or insisting that it says something it clearly doesn’t.

In case you haven’t noticed, half-truths are big business, and they attract many adherents. They prosper and boast but only for a season, only for a time, and that time is coming to a swift end.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Grumblers

 Shepherds don’t lead by committee. I take no umbrage with a board of elders or deacons to whom the shepherd can delegate some of the labor, but as far as what the sheep are fed, it is the shepherd that must decide, and not of his own volition but in submission and obedience to the Shepherd. If a shepherd had to wait for everything he taught to be vetted and decided on by a committee, the sheep would either starve, or there would be so many differing opinions that it would overwhelm the individual in charge of providing spiritual sustenance.

Even though James specifically warns against grumbling against one another lest we be condemned, there have always been grumblers among God’s people, and they will continue to exist until the Lord returns. They fail to acknowledge the dire warning that the Judge is standing at the door because those who are career grumblers see themselves as the ultimate authority, the ultimate judge, and the one to whom all must bow in deference.

There are various reasons why some descend into grumbling against the brethren, but from purely anecdotal evidence, I’ve concluded that much of the time, it’s because they are dissatisfied with their station or consider their calling inferior to their perceived gifting. They identify as gifted, just as a homeless man identifies as a billionaire, with much the same effect.

God calls. Men answer. Once we answer the call, God will send us where he needs us and imbue us with the gifting necessary to carry out the calling to which we have been called. Some of us have natural inclinations toward the gift God entrusts us with. My mother was always generous, kind to a fault, and ready to help anyone at any time, so her natural inclinations were a perfect fit for the gift of service and hospitality God entrusted her with. My mother died while cooking a meal in her home for visitors who had come to visit Romania. It was who she was. You’d always find her doing something kind, something selfless, something that would bring a smile to the faces of those around her.

Although my wife comes close, I’ve yet to meet anyone who can make a crape like my mother. She must have made tens of thousands throughout her life, and all for those who graced her table and accepted an offer of a hot meal and some fellowship.

When someone insists that they have a calling or a gift but is inconsistent with their character, you know it’s more of a wish than a reality. In His wisdom, God places us in roles, positions, and callings complimentary to our character. In those rare instances where someone is an introvert yet is called upon to preach the Gospel, He gives them the necessary gift and wherewithal to carry out their duty faithfully and with aplomb.

Lest we forget, judgment begins at the house of God. If it starts with us first, then there are those things worthy of judgment among us. If it were not so, then God would have proceeded directly to those who do not obey the gospel, as Peter says.

There are those among us who know Christ and those who know of Christ. There are those among us who are in Christ and those who are near to Christ. Those near to Christ, those who know of Him, will always take issue with those wholly sold out to Him because whether they admit it to themselves or not, deep inside, they know their judgment is near.

One of the surest ways to know that you will fall under God’s judgment when the Judge returns is if you are constantly grumbling against the brethren over personal convictions rather than Biblical truth.

I wear a wedding band—I have been wearing one since the day I was married. It’s not an issue of pride or salvific significance, and I have no quarrel with anyone who chooses not to wear one. It’s a personal choice and eliminates the need to explain that I’m married to anyone dropping hints of this or that.

Wearing a wedding band won’t get me into heaven any faster than not wearing one would, but if I were to start grumbling against those who choose not to wear one, thinking myself spiritually superior for wearing it, I would risk being condemned just as James warned.

Don’t make doctrine out of personal conviction or opinion, then grumble against those who don’t go along with you, no matter how noble your idea might be in your own mind. Be wise enough to allow for cultural differences, for the fact that someone grew up on a different continent with different norms, and be gracious when they show up for evening prayer in a three-piece suit while you’re in flip-flops and shorts. It’s not pride rearing its ugly head because they’re wearing a suit; it’s that they were raised with the idea of showing reverence whenever you come together with the people of God, akin to being in the presence of royalty and having the requisite attire.

Back when I was still traveling with my grandfather, there was an instance where we were scheduled to speak at a church. It was the Sunday morning service, and during worship, everyone stood and clapped and sang, but my grandfather sat through the entire song repertoire. After he was done speaking, having a noticeably difficult time shuffling to the pulpit and leaning heavily on it throughout his talk, an incensed lady came up to us and, speaking directly to him, said, “I can’t receive any of what you said because you didn’t stand up and clap during the worship service.”

When he asked what she’d said, I told him it was nothing worth repeating, and I thanked her for her input as we walked away. What she didn’t know is that I was the one who’d carried my grandfather into the sanctuary before the service because he was having a full-blown gout attack and could barely contain himself from all the pain. She was just looking for a reason not to accept what she’d heard, and she’d found it. She didn’t bother to ask why he hadn’t stood or clapped along, and evidently, she was so myopic that she didn’t put two and two together to figure out that since he needed an interpreter, he likely didn’t know any of the songs in English.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Steadfast

 Have you ever wondered why some situations that seem insurmountable in your life were readily conquered while others you thought would be a breeze to get through turned out to be like an albatross around your neck? It wasn’t accidental or coincidental. It had everything to do with where you placed your trust and whom you expected to get you through it.

When a situation arises that seems outside of our ability to deal with, we are more likely to run to God. We are more likely to defer to Him and His will; we are more likely to not lean on our understanding but on His wisdom.

On the other hand, when a situation seems readily solvable, our instinct is to go at it alone, find a remedy by ourselves, and never ask God how He would have us deal with it. We vanquish our Jerichos and get trounced by our Ais, and those of us with the wherewithal to look back on the situation and determine what went right and what went wrong come to the conclusion that in the one case we trusted in the arm of the flesh, and in the other we trusted in the arm of God.

If we don’t learn from our missteps, we will repeat them. Thankfully, if the lesson is painful enough, we will recall it for the rest of our lives. Doing it one time is all it takes to learn that we should never grab a hot pan off the stove barehanded. Every time after that, we are cautious and run to the oven mitt before even thinking about grabbing at the pan. It becomes ingrained in our minds, and we associate the action with the pain it caused and take steps to avoid that pain.

If only we’d take the spiritual lessons we learn along the way to heart in such a fashion, there would be far fewer chronic backsliders in today’s church, but for some reason, we forget the spiritual pain more readily than the physical, and we find ourselves repeating the cycle of our failure over and over again. We remember the momentary pleasure of sin and block out the endless pain it caused so that when we are presented with it again, unless we are watchful, wholly submitted to God, and resist the devil, we fall into the same snare.

James 5:9-11, “Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and 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.”

We have enough enemies on the outside, and we don’t need to make new ones on the inside. Somewhere along the way, we lost sight of the real enemy and have broad-brushed everyone who disagrees with us, even on the most tertiary of matters, as our sworn, lifelong, and irreconcilable foes.

James is writing to the brethren. The true brethren, no those pretending to be, and even among them, even back then, there was enough contention wherein it warranted a reminder that they should not grumble against one another lest they be condemned. The operative word in the first sentence of verse nine is brethren. Not false brethren, not wolves, not pretenders who would just as readily watch you drown than lend a hand to pull you out, but actual brethren.

We need constant reminding that we are one body and must operate as such. That does not mean we have to agree on the slightest detail, but it does mean we complement each other and function as one unit. The enemy should be outside the camp. In some instances, he’s crept into the camp as well, and that’s when things get complicated because the first thing the enemy does when he’s infiltrated a congregation is proceed to draw people to his side, form cliques, then drive wedges where none existed prior to his arrival. Then the backbiting gets ramped up, and those who built a given work from its inception, those who labored and bled to see the vision God had placed in their heart come to fruition, are marginalized, vilified, and shunned by those they served for decades.

The whispers of there needing to be a new vision, a new direction, someone younger and more vibrant to take the helm turn into full-throated declarations, and wouldn’t you know it, the wolf in sheep’s clothing, humbled as he pretends to be, throws his hat in the ring and offers to be that one that will lead them to bigger and better tomorrows.

Nobody bothers to ask whether bigger and better is what God had in store or whether that was His will because we’ve been conditioned to believe that they’re synonymous with God’s will, for why wouldn’t He want a bigger budget, a bigger sanctuary, a bigger, grander vision? Because sometimes He doesn’t. God always wants purer; He doesn’t always want bigger. God always wants more obedience, more faithfulness, more humility, and more brokenness; He doesn’t always want a bigger building or a grander vision.

Every time I have pastor friends confide in me about their congregation having turned in a negative direction, every time they ask what they can do to lessen the contention and the acrimony, my first question is who the instigator is. Who is that singular individual who comes to mind from whom the entire drama seems to flow repeatedly and consistently?

Usually, it’s one clear individual, and unsurprisingly, it’s someone who’s only been attending their church for a few months or a couple of years. If God has called a shepherd to shepherd a congregation, if they are rightly dividing the word and their doctrine is biblical, and someone comes along attempting to cause division based on form rather than substance, defend your shepherd, and do not lend your ear to those who would see the wholesale destruction of a body just so they can pick at the leftover pieces.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Takeaways

 Whether you’ve heard it said that repetition is the mother of learning, retention, or skill, it’s valuable and beneficial to repeat certain truths until they become ingrained. It’s the reason for basic training when someone goes into the army or why, as an aspiring chef, you spend endless hours learning to chop all manner of vegetables. You may not be quick on the draw or fluid loading and unloading on your first day, but three months in, it’s all muscle memory, and you surprise yourself at how quick you’ve become. The same goes for any skill you diligently repeat with consistency and regularity.

The world likewise knows this, and so they repeat and regurgitate lies often and with great conviction until more and more of the population believes them to be true. They will even employ the services of trustworthy and reputable individuals to push their narrative because they know it works.

There is no shortage of examples, and we are seeing an entire generation believe demonstrable lies because everywhere they turn, the lie is repeated by talking heads with fake smiles and no morals or ethics. I guess the call to believe the science only applies in certain situations. When science bumps up against the narrative, science is subjective and malleable. When it agrees with it, it is absolute and unerring.

There are two main takeaways from the first few verses of the fifth chapter of James’s epistle that are likewise worth repeating because just as one can retain and learn nonsensical lies through repetition, one can learn the truth through the same practice as well.

The first big takeaway is that everything in your life must submit to God’s authority, including your plans, personal aspirations, or vision for your future. It matters not how right they might look in your eyes; they must be right in God’s eye. God’s not there just to rubber-stamp everything you want. He is there to guide you in the way He desires you to go.

The second takeaway is that though you are presently persecuted, reviled, exploited, marginalized, and abused, your attitude must be one of patient perseverance until the coming of the Lord. Be anxious for nothing. It’s hard to pull off, I know, especially given the times we’re living in, but there is a peace that abounds in the heart that has learned to lean fully upon Christ that no amount of safety nets we’ve built for ourselves can match.

The coming of the Lord is at hand; everything else is static. When He returns is solely God’s purview, but because we know He will, we can be patient and persevere however long it might take. When our focus is on patience and perseverance rather than a particular date or a particular year, it repositions our mindset on our relationship with God rather than an end goal. Too many believers are living like they’re holding their breath underwater, hoping they make it to the surface before they pass out, rather than in joyous unity and fellowship and intimacy with God. The journey is not the destination, but the journey has its own merits as well. God’s creation is a glorious thing to behold. Family, friends, brothers, and sisters in Christ are all experiences we should cherish.

Some people find joy in the direst of circumstances, while others fail to find it while living lives others would only dare to dream of. It’s an issue of perception and what we choose to focus on. It’s whether or not we’re constantly assessing whether the neighbor’s grass is greener or appreciating our own lawn.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Seed

 What you plant is what will grow. This is why the seed matters. If you’re planning on carrots but plant alfalfa, it’s not the earth’s fault or the seed’s fault that you got a crop of alfalfa; it’s your fault for not being diligent regarding what sort of seed you planted in the soil. We may try to blame someone else, we may try to say the seed pouch was mislabeled, or that there was a picture of a carrot on the bag, but it was likely labeled appropriately, and we’re just looking for a scapegoat.

That’s why it’s also paramount to ensure that the seed you allow to take root in your heart is the truth, biblically sound, and scripturally rooted. Half-truths will produce whole lies. When the heart becomes overgrown with weeds and brambles, it takes a lot of effort to burn it out and start anew.

Don’t just accept anything or take someone’s word as to the source of what they are trying to feed your spiritual man. Double-check, go into the Word, see if what they say is there, and if it’s not, reject it wholesale. If the contents were never in the packaging, you can’t trust it. That’s why there are warnings on foodstuffs that if the seal has been tampered with or if it’s not intact, you should return it and not consume it.

That’s what draws out my empathy somewhat: that there are individuals who are so hungry that they’ll feed on anything. I have empathy for this hunger, not their willingness to allow spiritualized fantasies to present themselves as gospel truth. People who go dumpster diving don’t concern themselves with whether the seal is still intact on what they find in the garbage. They’re just happy there are no maggots crawling on it.

On the other hand, unlike food, there is no price tag on the gospel, and you can walk into any church, and they’ll give you a Bible for free. It’s not being spoon-fed, but then again, when you read the Bible for yourself, you know what you’re consuming. That’s always the tradeoff when you trust strangers with your spiritual succor and don’t take the time to study the Word for yourself: you never know what they’re feeding you and if they have an ulterior motive in doing so.

By the time Paul and Silas had reached Berea, they’d encountered enough believers along the way that they were vouched for and had garnered a certain reputation. They weren’t just strangers who showed up out of nowhere and started preaching. That didn’t stop the Bereans from searching the Scriptures daily to find out whether the things Paul and Silas were preaching were so.

For the most part, we’ve lost that desire to know whether something is true or not in our modern era. As long as it’s in agreement with our preconceived notions, we’ll believe it without giving it a second thought or confirming that what we’re hearing and what we’ve believed is in harmony with the Word of God. We just want our opinions validated; we don’t care if it’s the truth.

The problem with surrounding ourselves with yes men is that yes men usually have a vested interest. There’s a reason they’re defacto lickspittles who echo your sentiments back at you. Worse still, we expect God to be a yes man as well since we’ve become so used to them, and when He says no, we are shocked and appalled that He dared.

Doctrine matters, and it’s the substance of the doctrine that matters, not the manner in which it’s delivered or whether the individual teaching it is enigmatic, animated, or well-dressed. We’ve prized presentation over substance for so long in the church that if the delivery is well rehearsed enough, if the individual is hip and cool and can squeeze into a pair of skinny jeans, we’ll amen even the most disturbing of heresies. Oh, look, the guy in the muscle tee with the faux beard and the lumberjack boots just said we were God! He must know what he’s talking about; you don’t pretend to be that rugged without knowing a thing or two. And, like trained seals, a couple of thousand people clap and clamor even though the insinuation that man can be like God was the first lie the devil ever told.

A box is a box, no matter how pretty it is or how many bows it has on it. What matters is what’s inside. Tragically, we’ve gotten away from that reality to the point that if the box isn’t shiny and doesn’t draw the eye, we don’t care what’s inside anymore.

We’ve borrowed a page from the world, and it’s all about the delivery system. From supermodels trying to sell you double cheeseburgers with bacon as though they’d ever eat such a thing to other more nefarious individuals insisting that untested and unproven chemicals injected into your bloodstream are safe and effective just because they tell you they are. They’re wearing white lab coats, after all; surely, if you’re going to trust anyone, it’s someone in a white lab coat.

Now you have people standing behind pulpits teaching abject heresy, and we’re supposed to believe it because, well, they’re standing behind a pulpit. When Paul wrote Timothy, admonishing him to study that he may shew himself approved unto God, a workman that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth, it wasn’t exclusive to Timothy but to all who would answer the great high calling of being a workman in God’s kingdom.

Take heed to the seed you’re planting in the soil of your heart, and make sure it is the word of truth. This is an imperative that too few are taking to heart.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Patient

 Patience is a difficult virtue to nurture and grow. It’s something I’ve been trying to instill into my girls since they were old enough to walk because although we are living in an increasingly impatient world, where people react more violently than ever before if everything isn’t done for them instantaneously, an egg still takes a minimum of six minutes to boil unless you want to drink it with a straw.

Some things you just can’t hurry, and this up-and-coming generation who gets everything from its news to its entertainment to its notable quotables in fifteen seconds or less will have a pickle of a time sitting behind a desk for eight hours doing data entry or answering phones. The lazy within Christendom thought it was such a good idea to limit everything to a one-sentence meme or a thirty-second talk on deep and profound topics such as salvation, sanctification, and transformation that asking anyone to sit through a twenty-minute sermon that does not include bottle rockets, smog machines, or some faux pastor jumping up and down on a trampoline in a leotard to make a point is deemed controversial and excessive.

You mean he’s just going to stand behind the pulpit with an open Bible and teach out of it? Where’s the entertainment in that? It was never supposed to be entertaining; it was supposed to be transformative, challenging, and spiritually nourishing, but where’s the fun in that?

The sheep are no longer satisfied with being led to green pastures. They want the grass already cut, ready to eat, in small portions, with new and exotic spices thrown in, lathered in sauces to the point that it no longer tastes like it was supposed to because they heard somewhere variety is the spice of life, and that five or six small meals per day are better than three. That the same people who came up with the food pyramid that has led to the biggest explosion in obesity the world has ever seen came up with the five-meal-per-day model also doesn’t seem to register, or if it does, few are making the necessary connections.

Some things take time, and there’s no way around it. A good braise, a decent gumbo, or even a savory Bolognese will take you the better part of half a day, and if you’re impatient or aren’t paying attention, constantly stirring and making sure the consistency is right, you’ll end up with a charred pan and food even your dog won’t consider eating.

James uses the example of the farmer when encouraging us to be patient, pointing out how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth until it receives the early and latter rain. Anyone who chooses farming as their career has my unwavering respect. Anyone who does not respect farmers doesn’t know what it takes, but as someone who grew up in a rural area where every family grew crops to survive, I remember the hours my parents put in and all the chores I was called upon to perform once I was old enough to help.

Even before you plant your seed and pray for rain to come at the right time, you have to plow and till the soil, back-breaking work given that back in the day, there were no machines to do it and that it was all done by hand. You also have to make sure it’s fallow ground and not a patch of earth that has been used once too often because if it’s not, all your work will be for naught. It all has to get done early enough that you are not putting your seed in the ground too late; it must be tended to, weeded, and cared for to have a chance at a good crop.  

To have the patience of a farmer is to have patience beyond what the average individual can muster on the best of days, and it is what we are called to as we wait for the coming of the Lord. The farmer knows he can’t hurry the process no matter what he does. He knows he’s done everything he was supposed to, did it in the order it was supposed to be done in, and now he waits.

Last year, my eldest daughter came home from school with a plastic cup full of dirt that she was weirdly protective of. When I asked her what it was, she said it was a basil plant, or at least a seed, that she was supposed to water, put by the window, and care for until it sprouted. She was diligent enough in watering it and putting it by the window, and every morning, her disappointment only grew when nothing seemed to be happening. For the longest time, it was just a cup of dirt, until one morning, a green sprout poked out of the top layer, and her excitement at seeing it was barely contained.

She’d waited so long that she’d almost lost hope in seeing anything come of it, but she kept watering it and placing it by the windowsill even so. Throughout the experience, I kept trying to tell her that it would sprout in its time, but she wouldn’t hear of it, and every day, she would inspect it studiously to see if there was any change.

When it comes to the return of the Lord, we know that it must occur. It’s not a matter of if it will happen; it’s a matter of when. We know He is returning, and if we’ve done all that was incumbent on us to be counted among the wise, then all that remains is patiently persevering until He comes. We don’t have to check daily to see if He’s here; we’ll know when He’s here.

Since they don’t come along often, my little one avails herself of every opportunity to tease her big sister. Every few days, she’d go and stare at the cup of dirt and say, “Victoria, I think I see something!” Her sister would rush to the cup and look at it, only to be let down and disappointed because there was nothing there. Then, with a grin on her face, Malina would say, “Ha, ha, got you again,” and run as fast as her little feet could carry her because she knew her sister would commence the chase.

We’re either constantly checking and getting excited when someone insists that Jesus is coming on a given day, or we are patiently persevering until He returns. The highs and lows of taking people at their word or constantly obsessing over when are not conducive to a healthy spiritual mind, and this is something that’s been proven out as more and more believers are becoming despondent because the day they’d believed something would happen has passed and it was a day just like any other.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.