Life can sometimes be frustrating. I get it. As a Christian, your first “go-to” should be prayer. But when our prayer request doesn’t meet our timetable, we try and go it alone; take matter into our own hands. We find our circumstances lingering for days, weeks, maybe even years. Seek God first and everything else will fall into place. He sees your heart. He knows your needs. Don’t get hung up on what’s not going right, but put your focus on His goodness and what’s going well. Just because we don’t see immediate changes, doesn’t mean that God didn’t hear …
Patience=Faith
Time seems to drag when adversity strikes. We think about, worry and agonize over the problem as if we can solve it on our own. It’s ok to be concerned and to look for help. But wouldn’t you like a little help instead of trying to solve the problem on your own? Give it to God. Sound too simple? You have to trust that God’s got this. He sees your pain. He understands your anger and disappointment. But that’s not all. After giving it to God, you have to follow up with faith. Without faith, you’re spinning your wheels, …
Patience Is A Virture?
Have you ever waited on something to happen or someone to make a move, but neither happened? How long did you wait? While you were waiting, what did you do? So many think that God’s not listening. That He doesn’t care that you’re suffering, worrying. If you think this, then you don’t know God. He’s a God of miracles, of last minute breakthroughs. Persevere through the hard times but keep this in mind. God sees you and is with you. It’s up to you to acknowledge this truth. Proverbs 15:18 – “A hot-tempered person stirs up …
You Can’t Hurry God, You Just Have to Wait
“Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with Him to come to his house and heal his little girl” (Luke 8:41-42). Jairus was desperate and we are told that he repeatedly begged Jesus. If there ever was a time for Jesus to hurry, perhaps getting to Jairus’ house was one of them. However, Jesus agreed to Jairus’ request so they set out toward his home. While pressing through the crowd, Jairus’ request was delayed by the interruption of a courageous and desperate woman who also needed healing. Time was not a factor …
Does Age Increase Patience?
Does Age Increase Patience? One might think the older age one achieves, the more patient she will become. Based on the following scripture in Romans 5: 4, perhaps God intended it to be so: “But we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know our suffering produce perseverance; perseverance produces character, and character produces hope that does not disappoint us: for God has poured out His love in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us” Romans 5: 4. So why do most elderly people find it more difficult to wait on others? First, for an individual who …
Abraham: a Man Who Waited
Abraham: a Man Who Waited Abraham, son of Terah, is an excellent example of one who waited on God, but even he was not perfect in waiting. God had told Abraham to leave his country, his people, and his father’s house and go to a land God would show him and promised to make of him a great nation. While seventy-five years of age, Abraham left and took his wife Sarah and his nephew Lot with him. During their journey they experienced a famine, went into Egypt, and because Sarah was a beautiful woman, Abraham thought he might be harmed and …
Job: Another Man Who Waited on God
Job, Another Man Who Waited on God Perhaps we have heard of the patience of Job, but I believe he learned patience through his suffering and hardships. Many years later Paul wrote, “Let us also rejoice in sufferings: because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance produces character, and character produces hope that does not disappoint us: because God has poured out His love in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given.” Romans 5: 4. If we read the book of Job, we find that because at Satan’s suggestion to God, Job lost all …
Lord, Help Me Be a Better Waiter
Lord, Help Me Be A Better Waiter “For who hopes for what she sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And He who searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” Romans 8: 24-27 I am ashamed to write …
God’s Purpose in Our Waiting
God’s Purpose in our Waiting The Psalmist tells us in Psalm Ninety that a thousand years are as a day in God’s sight, yesterday as a watch in the night when past; therefore, we should number our days and gain a heart of wisdom. So it appears if we use waiting properly, we will gain wisdom. Long ago Micah 7: 7 wrote,” Therefore, I look unto the Lord; I wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.” According to this promise, if we continue praying and believing, God will hear and answer our prayers and bring …
Waiting in the Wings
The stage is dark and you’re expecting the lights to come on and the curtain to rise. The first act is over and by now you’re on an extended intermission wondering will the second act ever begin. —-Many actors suffer from this anxiety while on stage waiting in the wings. Has it ever seemed like you were waiting in the wings for the next scene of your life to start? Have you been waiting for things to change? Waiting for something to happen. Waiting for life to get back to normal. Waiting for a good job. Waiting for the …
The Bradford Pear and the Oak: a Metaphor
Opening the door to my car a few weeks ago, I saw it. The beginnings of the white blossoms on the Bradford Pear tree. My heart rejoiced. Spring is here! Over the coming weeks, I watched in awe as the multitude of Bradford Pears began to bloom into a snowy canvas of beauty. Then the white blossoms began to give way to brilliant green leaves. As I drank the beauty of another life-after-death example in God’s creation in these weeks, I noticed that the larger trees looked like they were still living in the dead of winter. But just this week, …