Throughout his whole letter, James has been instructing his readers to live out their faith—and he’s been especially concerned with how they do that in suffering. Look back to the very first verse of this book. James writes to Jewish believers scattered around the world (“the twelve tribes in the Dispersion”). They’re dealing with persecution and long to one day experience the restoration God promised. But in the meantime, first century life has been hard, especially as followers of Christ.

They’re also navigating divisions within the Church, divisions between Jew and Gentile, rich and poor, honored and lowly. In the middle of all of this, James calls them to a life that reflects the kingdom and the character of God. We’ve seen the practical exhortations he’s given like avoiding partiality, watching their speech, submitting desires to God, and not putting their trust in plans or possessions. Then, we reach the end of his letter, which offers a fitting conclusion to all he’s instructed God’s people to do thus far: 1) pray and 2) help one another live out the truth.

I’m not a farmer. This year, I managed to keep a few plants alive inside my house, but other than that and a couple summertime herbs, my agricultural experience is next to nothing. I don’t know what it’s like to rely on the weather for food. But James’ readers know this well, and here he offers a metaphor that helps them understand what it looks like to be patient as they wait. Just like a farmer has to wait for his or her crop to bear fruit and in the process waits for the rains to come, so we wait for the return of the Lord.

I think we can all understand this passage better after the events of 2020. We’re more aware now than we were a few months ago that our plans are not secure. Our control is an illusion, our life a mist. We truly do not know what tomorrow will bring, as James reminds us.

That may be the understatement of the year.

Right before this passage, James warned against worldliness. He reminded us that we are prone to arrogance and pride. We’re selfish and eager to spend what we’ve been given on our own passions (James 4:2-3). Instead, we’re meant to draw near to God in humble repentance (verses 6-10). Arrogance and pride are antithetical to kingdom living.

When I started this series, it didn’t occur to me that I’d be writing about fights, quarrels, taming the tongue, and similar subjects during such a tense, chaotic year. I spent time studying the book of James earlier in the year, and I wanted to dive deeper into it. It’s practical, convicting, and essential for the Church. But I did not realize from the outset how relevant and how personally convicting this short book would be. Honestly, if I knew how much I’d have to wrestle with James’ words in my own life and the responsibility of sharing them on my blog, I’m not sure I would have undertaken this project.

Thankfully, God knew I needed this, and it’s sure been a humbling process. I found that to be especially true as I studied this section.

Meekness isn’t exactly a highly valued trait in our society. Independence. Strength. Courage. Fortitude. We tend, at least in the United States, to admire those qualities. But meekness? And the meekness of wisdom? Not so much.

But James tells us that true wisdom isn’t about just knowing things. It’s not about shouting more loudly than the person next to us. True wisdom comes from a faith rooted in God and shows itself through our conduct and our humility.

When I was a kid, nearly every time my brother and I got in an argument or said something mean to each other (which was often), my mom would quote Ephesians 4:29 to us. It was infuriating, because I couldn’t justify my harsh words while she was reciting Scripture (I’m sure I tried, though). Paul wrote, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (NIV).

I rolled my eyes at my mom plenty when she said those words. But that verse has stuck with me more than almost any other. Paul told the church in Ephesus that our speech matters. It can build up or tear down the ones we’re speaking to—and others around us who are listening.

I am starting to think this 12-week series could have been a year-long series. Every week I come to the set of verses for the week and wonder how in the world we’ll cover them in one post (which I couldn’t even do last week and had to break the content into two posts). The Word of God is so, so rich, and we could study this a thousand times and not exhaust all there is to learn and meditate on. But while we won’t be able to grasp all there is to learn, we can still take small, meaningful steps in the right direction.

In the first chapter of his letter, James has laid out a bird’s eye view of many of the topics he’ll bring up again. He reminds his readers to be joyful and steadfast in their trials, because there’s a reward that will be worth all the struggle. And along our Christian journey, we’ll face trials and temptations that threaten to bring us down and lead us in the wrong direction. Yet we must consistently choose to follow our good God, trusting him and demonstrating that trust by putting that faith into action.

“Blessed.” It’s a word our culture has overused and misunderstood. It’s a word that has become a joke on social media. New car! #blessed. Big house! #blessed. And maybe that’s not entirely wrong. “‘Blessedness’ has to do with well-being in life that flows from the favorable position in which one is rightly related to God”[1].

We’ve gotten part of our understanding correct. We receive good gifts and recognize that we have some well-being in life. But what we often miss is that those gifts aren’t necessarily because of our right relationship with God. That’s why the psalmists and the prophets over and over again lament that the wicked prosper (see Psalm 73). Often it looks to human eyes like the wicked are ones who are #blessed.

I’m starting something new on the blog this week. Typically, I post stand-alone blog posts, stories, or recipes, but sometimes there are topics I want to look at more thoroughly, but they can’t be covered in one post. So, I’m excited to be launching a blog post series on the book of James.

Back in January, I started studying James, and now eight months later I’m still in it. It’s only five chapters long, but it’s such a beautiful, practical book. Tim Mackie called it, “a beautifully crafted punch in the gut.” I think that’s pretty accurate.

For many of us, saying grace can easily become trite and meaningless. But prayer before our meals is not just “something we do” as Christians. Instead, it’s a way to acknowledge our need and God’s provision—provision for our daily bread and provision as the Bread of Life.