Skip to main content

Patience Waits upon the Lord


Psalm 27:14 "Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord."

Isaiah 26:3 "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee."  

Isaiah 30:15b "In quietness and confidence shall be your strength."       


James 1:4-5 "But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.     If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."
__________________________________

What do all of these verses have in common?  They all have an ingredient of waiting upon the Lord or patience.  And why are these such good qualities to have?  Many times in our fleshly natures, we tend to just do what we think is best, or worse, we tend to think we can just do it ourselves.  Those are both very poor responses.  Why?--because it leaves the key ingredient out--the Lord!  Let me take a few minutes to tell you about patience.  Let's phrase it this way--the difference between patience and perseverance-- 

  • The difference between patience and perseverance is attitude.  
  • Ya know, our attitude tells a lot about our character.  How we react to situations and circumstances in our lives, tells volumes about our character.  
  • Patience is waiting when everything inside you says to do what you want to do, to do what your flesh says to do.  
  • Patience waits upon God so that He may be able to work, and so that He may impress upon you the correct response in the given situation.  
  • Patience means remaining faith-ful in the midst of trying circumstances.  
  • Patience has a quality of serenity to it.  It speaks of tranquility, calmness, peacefulness, quietude, stillness.  It also speaks of composure, poise, settledness, contentment, repose…being at rest…rest in the Lord!  
  • Yes, we need to "endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ" (2 Tim 2:3); we need to persevere; but patience is something more!  
  • Patience means to be at peace, to be content, while at the same time persevering…trusting and persevering!  
  • In other words, no matter the test, you need to exercise your faith, trusting God completely, and push on with determination when the Holy Spirit directs you to do so.

    May we wait upon the Lord…
          and remain faithful!
            Merle

    Comments

    Popular posts from this blog

    Faith Defined

    Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Faith is the vehicle whereby we trust God.  Faith believes what God says and acts upon it.  In other words, faith is our transporter!  Without faith, we have nothing.  We must believe God and trust.  And the second part of that verse says our faith is what glorifies God .  Our faith shows to the unbelieving world what God is all about.  Our faith is the evidence of God at work.  Faith is the initiating force.  Faith can be likened to a seed.  Without the seed, nothing grows.  But if that seed germinates or sprouts, and it is watered and fertilized, you'll find it will blossom into something quite beautiful.  Faith is like that.  If we will but believe God and act upon it, then that faith will grow and strengthen and flourish into something beautiful for the Lord. Biblical faith means having trust,...

    The Faith of a Child

    A little girl went to her bedroom and pulled a glass, jelly jar from its hiding place in the closet.  She poured the change out on the floor and counted it carefully.  Three times, even.  The total had to be exactly perfect.  No chance for mistakes. Carefully placing the coins back in the jar and twisting on the cap, she slipped out the back door and made her way 6 blocks to Rexall's Drug Store with the big red Indian Chief sign above the door. She waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her some attention, but he was too busy at this moment. Tess twisted her feet to make a scuffing noise.  Nothing. She cleared her throat with the most disgusting sound she could muster.. no good. Finally she took a quarter from her jar and banged it on the glass counter. That did it! "And what do you want?" the pharmacist asked in an annoyed tone of voice.  "I'm talking to my brother from Chicago whom I haven't seen in ages," he said without waiting for a reply...