“Patience is a virtue.”
“I want patience, and I want it right now!”
“Patience is the companion of wisdom.”
“If you pray for patience, you’ll get something that really tries your patience.”
We have a lot of sayings about patience, don’t we? I think that’s because it’s such a tough thing for us humans to do. While some people are better at being patient than others, I don’t think anybody really likes waiting patiently for something they really want!
I looked up the word “patient” in the dictionary, and Merriam and Webster give five primary definitions for it. One of them is “bearing pains or trials calmly or without complaint.” Another is, “steadfast despite opposition, difficulty, or adversity.
We see from the Bible that patience is something that we should strive for. Romans 8:24-25 says, “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” We also see that patience is included in the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23); this is a list of things that we should have evidence of in our lives as a Christ follower. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians tells us that it’s part of our calling from God to be patient (Ephesians 4:1-3)!
But why should we be patient? As a Christ follower, we try to imitate Jesus Christ, who is God. We see evidence in the Bible that God is very patient. For example, Psalm 86:15 says, “But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.” Also, 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
We are called to be patient through whatever life has in store for us. We need to go through both the good days and the bad days without complaining, and continue on in spite of what happens. We need to be patiently steadfast in following God’s plan for our lives, even when it doesn’t feel the way we want it to. God is supremely patient, and He has everything all worked out for us, if we will just wait on His patient timing for our lives.
3 comments:
Oh, my...those words in your blog definitely brought up a slew of emotions within me. Thank you for allowing God to speak through you. I needed this and will probably re-visit this particular blog often as a reminder.
***Realizing how patient God actually is blows my mind. It's sometimes almost unbelievable, but my own life is living proof on how true this really is. If I sat here long enough going over the countless times God has wanted me to live a certain way I would be in tears. In my opinion, all God wants is the best for me and he doesn't really ask for much. OR does he?***
SO, to my question...
Do you think God asks people to do certain things that aren't possible?
***I'm thinking of this one thing that God wants me to obey him with, but it seems impossible. I know nothing is impossible with God. I have experienced positive results in other areas of my life when I turned things over to God. I've been turning things over to him, but how patient do we need to be when dealing with the temptation of SIN? Oh, also....I've asked this several times to different people and I always forget the answer. Does God test/tempt people or is it Satin? I'm thinking God tests people and Satin tempts, but maybe I'm mistaken. If I'm right....when God tests people does that include temptation?***
Thanks for reading and hopefully getting back to me.
About my one question on how patient do we need to be in dealing with the temptation of sin? I guess I wanted to add that in most areas of my life when I choose to obey God and practice right living it seems like God is helping me out. He removes most temptations in my life or altogether takes away the obsession to make things an easier transition. Anyways, this isn't happening in my current situation of keeping sin out of my life. It is difficult and I hate white knuckling things. I hope this better explains things. Thanks!
Thank you so much for reading, and thanks for the questions! I'll do my best to answer them. :)
First, do I think that God asks people to do certain things that aren't possible? I believe God does ask people to do things that will stretch them and put them out of their comfort zone, but as you said, all things are possible with God! I've always lived by the saying that if God brings you to it, God will bring you through it. It may be difficult for us as humans, but not impossible.
As for your second question, I'd encourage you to read Job 1 as a good example. Remember that God is purely good so nothing evil can exist in His nature. The fact that sin and evil exists in the world is because God loves us enough to give us free will, and humans chose to disobey God and sin. As long as we are in this world, we will still be tested and experience temptation. That's a fact. The type or intensity of the temptation will change over time, but we will always have things in our lives that we will be tempted by. Whenever we lose patience and give in, we sin.
Make sure to watch for another post on Patience by Logan on Thursday; I think his post may help clear this up a bit more for you.
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