We live in a world that is increasingly determined to get what it wants right now. We no longer have to wait weeks for packages to arrive. Most will be delivered in 2 days, and some will deliver in hours.
If we’re hungry, we can find food 24/7 to satisfy any appetite. The Internet allows us to get instant entertainment and instant gratification, to talk in real-time to someone, by video, on the other side of the globe, and to engage in the darkest sins instantly and in the privacy of our own homes.
For good or bad, we can do much of what we want in an instant. While the conveniences of instant gratification can make our lives easier, it can also help us to develop a short attention span. If we can’t get what we want now, we can move on to the next thing that captivates our interests.
Patience is a virtue that many may no longer deem relevant. But God uses patience and develops it in us for our benefit. Patience requires trust and faith. What we can’t get now teaches us to trust. Waiting can build character while we deny ourselves and still persevere.
When Moses was 40 years old, he thought he would be Israel’s savior from God, as Stephen tells us in his sermon:
“He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand.” (Acts 7:25 ESV).
Yet Moses would have to wait another 40 years before God would call him to be Israel’s savior and lead them from Egyptian bondage to the promised land:
“Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush.” (Acts 7:30 ESV).
When most men would be contemplating retirement, or more likely, deep into it, Moses was just about to embark upon his most amazing adventure as an eighty-year-old man. He became Israel’s savior in God’s time, not his time.
And we know what Abraham had to endure for the birth of his promised son, Isaac. Twenty-five years passed before this hundred-year-old man became a father. But during the waiting, Abraham learned to trust in God, even when he didn’t understand how God would deliver on his promise. And Abraham never gave up believing God would be true to His word.
And yet, we are often like Saul, aren’t we? Samuel told the king to wait seven days for him to come and sacrifice to the Lord before going into battle against the Philistines. But the people became afraid and began to desert Saul.
On the cusp of having the patience that God demanded, Saul instead took things into his own hands and offered the sacrifice himself:
“He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering.” (1 Samuel 13:8-9 ESV).
If Saul only had a little more patience and had put his trust in the Lord when things looked bleak, he would have benefited from the rewards patience produces. But instead, moments later, Samuel arrives and asks, “What have you done?” (vs. 11).
After making excuses, Samuel tells the king what his lack of patience would cost him:
“And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which he commanded you. For then the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.
But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.” (1 Samuel 13:13-14 ESV).
As we look at these men and their experiences with patience, it’s important for us to remember a few things as we endure or struggle with patience ourselves.
Serving God often requires faith that we learn when we have to wait. When we don’t get the promised son now or become the savior at age 40, we learn that God is still God and His promises are still true. And when we refuse to take things into our own hands when life gets scary, our faith will make us stronger, and we will grow closer to our God.
Cultivating a godly life often requires years of planting and tending. To become the person we want to be, the person conformed to the image of God’s dear Son (Romans 8:29), we need to let Him make His impressions upon us through the experiences He sends as we put His living Word into our lives and live it.
God wants us to be people who learn how to endure. This is where our society will make it harder on us. Becoming godly doesn’t happen by taking a pill or placing an order online. It takes work, determination, dedication, and resilience when we stumble. Endurance doesn’t happen overnight; rather, it’s a long road traveled by putting one foot in front of the other, over and over and over. Endurance happens when we realize that we are not spinning our wheels or missing out but that we are making progress in our walk with Jesus every day.
Patience is often something we long to have while we hate the things we have to endure to get it. But God is a rewarder of those who put their trust in Him, even when we have to wait 25 years, 40 years, or even a lifetime. Patience and endurance demonstrate to God that we believe Him no matter what is, or is not, going on in our lives. We will always wait on Him.
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9 ESV).
It’s January 18th, 2023, at 5:35am.
What if the Father is ready to send the Son back to earth at 1:45 pm today?
How would you spend the next 8 hours?
Are you ready to kneel before the King in 8 hours?
One day, 8 hours will be all we have.
“Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:7-8 ESV).
Giving thanks to God is an act of submission to His sovereignty.
We thank Him because we know what we thank Him for is given by Him, for all blessings flow from Him.
Inherent in this is the understanding that, as our sovereign God, He can also withhold blessings if He chooses.
We eat today only because God gives us our daily bread.
We work today only because God gives us work.
We live today only because God gives us breath.
We may not always get what we want when we want it, but when we do, it is from a sovereign God.
“For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” (Romans 1:21 ESV).
Let us not let anyone lead us astray.
Salvation is not found in any church.
Salvation is not found in any creed.
Salvation is not found in any teacher.
Salvation is only found in Jesus.
When we are saved in Him, let us seek His word, earnestly strive to read it, and let it live in our hearts.
It will guide our speech.
It will guide our actions.
It will enable our continual walk with Him.
“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12 ESV).
This isn’t meant to be a political statement,
But it seems crazy that there are people who are more concerned about the potential return of Donald Trump to Twitter- whether for or against it-
Then they are concerned about King Jesus’ imminent return to the earth.
One thing I find amazing and comforting is that the Lord will wipe away all tears from our eyes when we get to heaven.
“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4 ESV).
No pain.
No Sorrows.
No death.
But even more amazing: we can grieve God, who lives in heaven.
“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30 ESV).
Imagine... God loves us so much that He will wipe away tears from the same people who grieve Him, whose throne is in heaven, so that we may never grieve again.
That’s grace.
That’s selflessness.
That’s love with no limits.
In addition to worshipping our God this Lord’s day, what can we do to:
Glorify His name?
Confess His Son before men?
Serve our neighbor?
Encourage a brother?
Reconcile a broken relationship?
Only the Kingdom of God can accomplish these things. The kingdoms of men have rulers who lord over their subjects.
“But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,
and whoever would be first among you must be your slave,
even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28 ESV).
What was it that Paul taught Felix about Jesus?
He taught Felix about righteousness.
He taught Felix about self-control.
He taught Felix about the resurrection.
When we wonder what to speak to others about when we share the story of Jesus with them, these are wonderful things for us to share too.
Teach people what is right-living according to the Word of God.
Teach them repentance and the need to live a moral life rather than continuing to pursue evil habits and manners.
Teach them of the coming resurrection and judgment of Jesus.
How they respond is not within our power.
We simply teach and then turn the situation over to Jesus and the person we teach.
“And as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, “Go away for the present. When I get an opportunity I will summon you.” (Acts 24:25 ESV).