Exercise patience

Patience, from the biblical perspective, embodies these four things: (1) Confidence in God’s unfailing love and faithfulness to us: “His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23 NKJV). (2) Confidence that He will keep His promises to us: “There has not failed one word…which He promised” (1 Kings 8:56 NKJV). (3) Confidence that He has everything that concerns us under control: “The Lord will vindicate me” (Psalm 138:8 NIV). (4) Confidence that even in the most difficult of circumstances, He is working for our good. “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28 NKJV). Confidence in God enables us to live by the Word: “He that believeth shall not make haste” (Isaiah 28:16 KJV). Impatience is at the root of so many of our failures. Hence the apostle James wrote, “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord.” Look at Simon Peter: he came close to committing murder in the garden of Gethsemane in a vain attempt to protect Jesus (see John 18:10). Look at Moses: his impatience caused him to strike the rock instead of speaking to it as God commanded; hence he forfeited the Promised Land (see Numbers 20:1-13). Look at Abraham: his impatience while waiting for God’s promise of a son to be fulfilled led to the birth of Ishmael and serious complications in the family (see Genesis 16:1-16). Hence Paul wrote, “Whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope” (Romans 15:4 NKJV). So the word for you today is – exercise patience!