James 5:10-12 This morning in the ministry of the word I am going to return to the epistle of James to look at three very meaty verses of this letter. You cannot move too rapidly through chapter 5 without the risk of overlooking issues of great magnitude, and these three verses I’m going to read match that description, because they address the condition of Christians who suffer, primarily having to do with how they are to think about suffering. That is how James begins his letter, and that is how he is going to end it. We need God’s perspective especially when we suffer. Suffering is the mis‐understood essential experience of the Christian life. Paul says that all who desire to live in a godly way are going to suffer persecution of one sort or another. The only way you can avoid suffering is to live in an ungodly way. That’s the easy way out of it. But it’s not an option for us.