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I know there are a lot of jokes made about patience (“Patience is the ability to count to ten before blasting off!”, “I need patience—and I need it now!”), but when you’re the one who’s forced to wait while you suffer—or suffer while you wait—it’s no laughing matter. But, my friend, as the verse below says, we need to wait patiently on the Lord.
In the New Testament, James talks about patience. To illustrate his point, he presents a farmer.
“Be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand” (James 5:7-8).
Even if some of us don’t get closer to a farm than the produce stand at a local market, we can take a look at the many ways a farmer has to employ patience. He plants his crops…and then waits for the providence of God to provide the necessary rain. Finally the early rains of the fall and the late rains of spring come.
When we’re suffering, we too are to wait patiently until the coming of the Lord. How are you at waiting? Is there something God is asking you to be patient about right now?
Where is your gaze fixed during this time of waiting and patience? Downward, on the suffering you must endure? Or upward in the direction from which Jesus will come? Or do you seldom think about it? Your patience will be helped when you look forward to the promise of His return. You and I live with “what is,” but we have the promise of “what is to be.” And in-between is the waiting time.
The hope we derive from the promise of Jesus’ coming helps us to wait patiently. When He arrives, He will set everything in order. He will make things right. He will correct all abuses. He will bring deliverance from our suffering. Let the certainty of the Lord’s return encourage your heart as you endure hard times, moments that seem endless, and the unknowns of tomorrow.
I pray you’ll choose to do what God says! “Be still [be patient], and know that I am God [the Lord who is coming again and the Judge who is indeed standing at the door]” (Psalm 46:10).
Lord, I’m making the decision to be still and to trust in Your promises. Today is hard, but I will wait for the rain of Your love to fall upon me. I will wait with hope for Your grace to show me the way You want me to go. Amen.
“Finding God's Path Through Your Trials” by Elizabeth George acknowledges the hard times we all face and reveals how we can "count it all joy," through understanding trials are not punishment, and realizing God's grace is sufficient to get us through trials.
Is there something God is asking you to be patient about right now?
You and I live with “what is,” but we have the promise of “what is to be.”
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Jim and Elizabeth George are bestselling authors and national speakers dedicated to helping people live a life after God’s own heart. Together, they have written over 150 books with more than 14 million copies sold around the world. For over 35 years, the teachings and steadfast example of Elizabeth and Jim have helped countless men and women:
Jim and Elizabeth George are bestselling authors and national speakers dedicated to helping people live a life after God’s own heart. Together, they have written over 150 books with more than 14 million copies sold around the world. For over 35 years, the teachings and steadfast example of Elizabeth and Jim have helped countless men and women:
Hannah appears in the Bible during the last days of the judges of Israel when “there was no king in Israel and everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).
How did men and women in the Bible accomplish great things for God? There wasn’t any secret formula or bestselling book on success for them. In fact, they were ordinary people like you and me. What made them effective was their willingness to obey God—one decision at a time.