The first half of James 5 reminds me that our God sees. Hagar testified to this after she ran away from her abusive mistress and the Lord came to her and “found” her: “She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me.’” Genesis 16:13 NIV. To Hagar, I believe, it was a comfort to be seen; it enabled her to go back and endure in an overwhelmingly difficult situation. Likewise, “the brethren”, to whom James was writing, were likely comforted to hear the words of judgement directed towards “the rich” who had been abusing them. To “the rich” whom James exhorts, the fact that the Lord sees is hopefully convicting and terrifying and encourages a change of direction. For “Adonai is very compassionate and merciful”, (James 5:11 CJB) James reminds them. Therefore, we should keep an eternal perspective and patiently wait for the “precious fruit of the earth” (James 5:7 KJV) as the husbandman or farmer does with his crops, for He is unwilling that any should perish and His longsuffering extends for just the right amount of time.
If I apply this to my own life, I must ask myself the question: under which group of people that James addresses, do I lie? Am I “the rich” or “the brethren”…or both? Cultivating things of value is important, the farmer is commended for his waiting to harvest “the precious fruits of the earth” (the adjective “precious” seeming to connote something worthwhile and valuable). But is my life producing wealth or treasure that can be stored in heaven or only that which can be stored on earth? I will suffer loss if I am only amassing worldly wealth.