By Mrs. Bessie Wltbon
■V
Introduction : A five-year old planted!
some radish seeds early one spring. Each
day he wanted to go out to the garden to see
how they were growing. The hoy was
impatient because he couldn’t see immed
iate results, but in a few days the seeds
germinated and were poling through the
ground. One day, the boy could wait no
longer. He went to the garden and pulled
each one up. Of course they withered. The
boj| thought he was helping. “They were
growing so slow, I thought if I stretched
them a little bit, they’d grow out of the
ground faster.”
We may smile at this childish impatience
but haven’t we all been guilty of similar
actions on occasion? All of which points to
the fact that we are not born wiUi the
attribute of patience but must acquire it by
experience.
(James 5:7-11) Christians were suffering
many things from rich oppressors. In these
verses James attempts then to encourage
them to bear up under these burdens
without complaining.
Be patient.therefore, brethren, unto the
coming of the Lord. Behold, the husband
-man yaiteth for the precious fruit of the
earth, and hath long patienoe for it, until he
receive the early and latter rain. Be ye alSso
patient; establish your .hearts: for the
coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
James urges his brethren to be patient in
the face oLmistreatment at the hands of the
rich. He is saying that men ought to hold out
a long time before they give in to strong
passions or violent actions.
To demonstrate an example of patience,
James points to the farmer. He has learned
patience by long experience. He knows that
he cannot plant his grain until the early
rains, coming in late October or early
November have softened the soil so that it
can be plowed to receive the seed. He also
knows that there is little he can do except
wait for the rains of winter and early spring'
to bring the crop of fruition.
This reference to the common practice of
Palestinian farmers suggests several im
portant lessons.
1. There is a certain order of events in the
^course of nature, and worrying and
'^retting will not hasten nor change this
order.
2. Man has certain responsibilities. Though
he must wait on God to sent the rain,
when the rains do come he must be pre
pared to plow and plant.
3. We should learn from this reference that
there is only so much we can do. We
have to depend upon God for rain, the
soil, and the sunshine needed to pro
« duce the crop.
Modern civilization, making insistent
demands on us, does little to encourage the
development of the virtue of patience. We
have become so caught up in this hectic
rush of life that we accept it as normal. We
need spend only a few days in a less
advanced culture to realize how enslaved
we have become to the clock or, in some
cases, even the stop watch. Living among a
people who have little regard for the clock,
and even in some cases a calendar, we
Westerners at first feel utter frustration.
Life proceeds at a leisurely pace, appoint
ments are not always kept, nor schedules
met. Yet, after a while we may learn that
people who are not always forging ahead at
full speed may understand the real issues of
life better than we do. James’ admonitions
to patience were directed to those who were
facing persecutions and afflictions, but they
apply with equal force to those of us who are
afflicted by the time clock syndrome. How,
then, are we to develop patience in the face
of these pressures? We begin by reaffir
ming our faith in a caring, concerned God,
#iot just in some remote deity. We believe in
a God who is active in human affairs and
who is in control of our destinies regard
less of how things may presently appear.
So many of the things we become
impatient about won’t matter a whit a
hundred years from now, or even next
week, for that matter. We must learn to
allow God’s yvord to give us direction in
separating the important things from the
less important and the trivial things.
One of our problems is that we have an
obsession about time. In doing the Lord's
work we often insist that the activity must
be carried out within the framework of our
schedule. We often fail to recognize that
God’s schedule may not coincide with ours.
Patience will help us to relax and realize
that His scheduling is \fest.
We also sometimes suffer from the feeling
that we are indispensable, and if we don’t
accomplish a certain goal our way on our
schedule, then the whole kingdom will
collapse. Is it any wonder that we feel
impatient when our plans don’t materialize
the way we hoped? Self-centered persons,
even those whose egos are committed to the
Lord’s work, are rarely patient people.
-- i!
The Queen of Ladies-Mrs. Lillie Carter proudly /
displays her trophy and crown as the reigning Queen of t
the annual Berean Seventh Day Adventists’s Lady’s
Day Event. The contest is held to raise money for the I
church’s programs. (Photo By Peeler’s Portrait \
Studio) 11
Greater Mt Sinai
Family To Celebrate
Dr.- ' —
Pastor Norman Kerry,
ancl the Greater Mt. Sinai
Baptist Church (1243 W.
Blvd) family will celebrate
the 51st church anniver
sary May 27.
At 3 p.m. Dr. Clifford
Jones, pastor of Friendship
Baptist Church, will speak.
His choir will provide the
music.
The dynamic pastor,
Rev. Jones, is a graduate of
Shaw University, South
eastern Theological Se
minary and holds a doc
torate from Boston Uni
versity.
John Terry is chairman
of the anniversary pro
gram. N. E. Kerry is
pastor. The entire Greater
Mt. Sinai Baptist Church
family invites you to come
out and share in this cele
bration. £-*- \
ST. MARK
Rev. A. G. Coley, pastor
of St. Mark Baptist Church,
will be honored Sunday,
May 27, by members and
friends. The Annual Pastor
Appreciation will begin at 3
p.m. at the church lo
cated at 615 Grandin Rd.
The guest speaker will be
Rev. M E. Walker of
Mooresville. All churches
and friends are invited.
, LITTLE ROCK
Little Rock AME Zion
Church will observe 'its
Centennial Sunday, May
27, at 6 p.m. at the church,
401 N. McDowell St.
Myrtle Hall will be pre
sented in concert along
with the Little Rock Choir.
£?EC/4£
Automobile
Air Conditioning
Service
•19“
Service includes complete
Vacuum Recharge System
SOUTH BOULEVARD SUNOCO
ALL MAJOR A MINOR REPAIRS
TOWING AVAILABLE
Open Mon. - Sat. 6100 South BltxL
7:30 AM - 8 PM Charlotte, N.C
552-7133
We Are Offering
a»*o% orr
All In Stock Fabrics
- Large selection
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• Samples shown in the t
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• Free Estimates , *
Free Pick-up k Delivery
'W
1933 So Blvd
Financing Is Available
Rev. Norman E. Kerry M
.Mt. Sinai pastor ! J
Catherine M. Wilson is ]
program chairperson. I
AMAY JAMES \
Amay James Presbyte- )
rian Church will observe its [j
Annual Woman’s Day Sun- \
day, May 27, during the 11 J
a.m. worship service. I
Guest speaker will be ]
Lucille B. Cato, an ele- |
mentary teacher at Bar
ringer School. j
She is Barringer’s '
“Teacher of the Year” for ■
1984-85. j
"A Christian Woman’s
Challenge In Today's i
World” will be the theme of I
Mrs. Cato’s speech.
Patricia Hykes is presi- (
dent of the women’s or
ganization. A cordial in- i
vitation is extended to the I
public. Amay James is
located at 2400 W. Blvd. j
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