"Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." -Ephesians 4:1-3
Patience - the quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like... (dictionary.com)
Patient - 1. quietly and steadily persevering or diligent, esp. in detail or exactness: a patient worker. 2. bearing provocation, annoyance, misfortune, delay, hardship, pain, etc., with fortitude and calm and without complaint, anger, or the like... Syn. enduring, long-suffering, forgiving.(dictionary.com)
Perseverance! The ability to press on, knowing "...that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." (Phil. 1:6) Patience is not a natural inclination of the human being... Think about it! Every day, men and women across the globe are trying to invent ways to make things easier, quicker, and more efficient. But did you know that the average American packs somewhere around 34 hours of activity into each day? We are multitaskers of alarming proportions! Unhealthily so! Where is patience in all of this? I tell you the truth, it is becoming harder and harder to find, in the America of today... Even at McDonald's! The businessman's foot is tapping and his neck is pulsating with impatience as his food takes more than THIRTY SECONDS to appear before him, ready to eat! Remember the good ol' days? Neither do I! I think that there is hardly anyone alive who remembers the patience of a good meal! Even large restaurants are about the speed of delivery... This is understandable, when trying to run a business, but the fact that we will pass up a microwave dinner, because it takes 4 1/2 minutes to cook... it's just not fast enough anymore! Or, we will snack on something else while we 'wait.' Do Americans even know how to wait anymore? "Good things come to those who wait" as the old saying goes, but we seem to think that "even better things will come, if I can just do all these things faster than before!"
...And we wonder why we have the spiritual problems that we do! "God, I prayed that you would give me patience, but it isn't working! I keep getting frustrated at everyone! Why haven't You answered my prayer yet???" This may seem like the most obvious mistake a person could make, but trust me, you do it too! It may not be as blunt as this, but there are areas in each of our lives where we have not learned to wait on the Lord. For instance: that special someone... "God, I think he/she is the one for me! Don't you think they would be a good choice?"; the new job... "God, things just aren't working out with my job right now... I think it's time that I made more money in a better job than this one... it's just taking too long to get anywhere!"; our possessions... "God, I think I could be happy if I just had one more car... not even that! But I could sell this one and just get a better car! Yeah, I know You promised to provide all that I need, but I just want to kind of anticipate that promise... You know... get a bit of a head-start s0-to-speak."
Friends, hear me now! If you read and understand nothing else, hear me now! We all have areas in which we are impatiently storming forward, instead of waiting on God's promises. Part of patience, for a believer, is understanding that God will indeed provide at the exact point and time in which it will bring Him the greatest glory!
There was one time when my family had no choice but to patiently wait on the Lord's provision... we were at the bottom of the barrel, with our last feasible meal prepared for dinner. My parents were in their bedroom, crying out to God for our daily bread. Then, we received a call, "Please forgive me! I have been feeling that God would have me to give you money for food, and I have ignored that call! I would like to obey that call right now!" We had no other possible response, but to give all of the glory and praise to God, who provided in such a way that could only be attributed to His goodness. Our patient reliance on Him caused His name to be lifted high and His goodness to be known in the lives of His children.
What is the catch to this story? Only this... that we would have had enough money for food, if we had not paid our tithe! You see, we had the choice to make... Tithe to God what He has asked of us, or satisfy our desire for security and assurance of food to eat. We decided to honor God with what was due Him, and He, in turn, blessed us in His own time and way! This goes against the modern idea of "taking care of number one!" But God is faithful and has promised to take care of us!
The same goes for the fruit of the Spirit being developed in our lives... we must patiently await and overcome the struggles that we will encounter, "...knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance." (James 1:3) If you pray for love, don't expect to see instant results. Love doesn't come in a microwaveable package! Most likely it will come in the form of someone whom you find the most difficulty in loving... this will be your opportunity to practice a love that gives of self, without any thought of getting something in return.
If you pray for joy... you will probably find yourself in the most un-joyful of circumstances, so that you will learn to "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!" (Phil. 4:4).
If you ask God to give you peace... He will probably take away all of the things that you find the most security in, so that you will rest in Him alone! I am beginning to understand this concept on a very personal level! I have been praying for peace, and what I have been given is difficulty... so that I may rest in the promises of my Savior, instead of the comfort of good friends or monetary things... I am being broken, so that I may be made new!
Friends, I challenge you to pray for these things in your own life! It will break you, but the end result is so much greater than the pain that you will endure! God is a merciful teacher!
I am very excited to go into more detail as we continue this week. Until then...
Grace and Peace!
Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .
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