Easy Patience
In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.(Isaiah 30:15)
It is resting in the Lord, in His will, His promise, His faithful, and His love that makes patience easy. And the resting in Him is nothing but being silent unto Him, still before Him. Having our thoughts and wishes, our fears and hopes, hushed into calm and quiet in that great peace of God which passeth all understanding. That peace keeps the heart and mind when we are anxious for anything, because we have made our request known to Him. The rest, the silence, the stillness, and the patient waiting- all find their strength and joy in God Himself.
The need for patience, and the reasonableness, and the blessedness of patience will be opened up to the waiting soul. Our patience will be seen to be the counterpart of God’s patience. He longs far more to bless us fully than we can desire it. But as the husbandman has long patience till the fruit be ripe, so God bows Himself to our slowness and bears long with us. Let us remember this, and wait patiently; of each promise and every answer to prayer the word is true: “I the Lord will hasten it in his time”(Isaiah 60:22)
“Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him”(Psalm 37:7). Yes, wait for Him. Seek not only the help, the gift, thou neediest; seek Himself; wait for Him. Give God His glory by resting in Him, by trusting Him fully, by waiting patiently for Him. This patience honors Him greatly; it leaves Him as God on the throne to do His work; it yields self wholly into His hands. It lets God be God.
Whether it be in the shorter specific periods of waiting or as the continuous habit of the souls, rest in the Lord-be still before the Lord, and wait patiently.
Andrew Murray
Almost daily we hear of more disintegration of the world around us. We hear of escalating violence here in America, we read of increasing conflict among nations, we experience rising costs of living and corporate downsizing, and on top of all this, we continually deal with Covid-19 and its intense effects on our lives. Added to this are the personal challenges of health, family, and needs. How do we keep our sanity in all these things? I totally understand the increasing substance and alcohol abuse. I understand the drive behind the protest and to some degree the violence, racism and hatred. Everyone needs a pressure release and unfortunately humans often choose the wrong way to release their fear, worry, anxiety and anger over being in a helpless situation far beyond their control. I’m told that in many cases abuse whether spouse or child stems from the need to control. Let me be clear, while I understand the mechanism driving these actions, I do not believe they should be tolerated any more than a spoiled child should get by throwing a temper tantrum. I merely point out that this seems to be to acceptable approach to life’s pressures by those who are sin bound. Outside of Christ, there is no true peace or joy, for He alone can satisfy and still a troubled heart.
The plan of Satan from the beginning has been to ultimately destroy all that God created. He reasons that if he can’t destroy God Himself, he will damage His creation. He begins his destruction by first attacking the mind and soul, robbing it of its peace and joy. Is that not how he approached Eve? I’ve often wondered how anyone could ever felt lack in the Garden, but somewhere in Eve was this feeling of needing more. I think that’s in every human. Satan amplifies this sense of lack to the point that it clouds the abundance we actually have. I’ve seen incredibly beautiful women subject themselves to plastic surgery for they felt they were flawed. There are people of great accomplishment still driven to achieve more hoping somehow they will find completeness in their achievements. There are those who have great marriages and yet still search for that ultimate one who will fill the void of their lives.
Often this feeling of lack produces anger, hatred and violence. Satan moves us to jealously, attributing our sense of lack to those who we perceive to have what we desire. Consider, for example the two brothers, Cain and Abel. We read that Cain became angry with his brother for he perceived that Abel had received acceptance while he received rejection. The obvious solution would to have changed what was unacceptable but Cain chose to place the blame on Abel. He murders his brother thinking that if he was out of the way, then he, Cain would be accepted. Racism and prejudice have at their roots jealously. The Nazis in Germany were able to justify Jewish persecution and concentration camps with this thinking. Adolf Hitler sold the idea that the suffering and economic depression Germans were experiencing was the result of the Jews having all the wealth and since that “wasn’t fair” they should participate in “wealth equality”.
The real question is, “Is there any way out of this mess?” Thanks be to God, yes!
The first thing we must address is this emptiness of human souls. We must acknowledge that nothing in this world can fill that vacancy except for Christ Jesus. We will always wrestle with this sense of lack for God created us with it to move us to seek Him as the true Source and Supply. Like the virus that seeks new bodies to inhabit and ultimately destroy, so this sense of lack attempts to find new places in us to operate and ultimately destroy our peace. Let me give us some medicine to treat this malady of lack.
“I am the Door; anyone who enters through Me will be saved [and will live forever], and will go in and out [freely], and find pasture (spiritual security). 10 The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].”
John 10:9-10
First pill to take: Go through the Door and receive the promise, “ I am come that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance, to the full, till it overflows! “
It doesn’t require an abundance of things to have abundance of life and living. Simple living often produces greater satisfaction.
“But godliness actually is a source of great gain when accompanied by contentment [that contentment which comes from a sense of inner confidence based on the sufficiency of God]. For we have brought nothing into the world, so [it is clear that] we cannot take anything out of it, either. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.”
1 Timothy 6:6-8
Pill two to take: be content where you are and with what you are trusting that God is bringing you into an abundant life and He is making you into His image. There was nothing that God created that Adam and Eve were not to share, but they got impatient. In discontent and impatience Satan finds ground to persuade us to sin. When you’re happy with who you are jealously and envy find no lodging place. When you are content with what you have, coveting and theft cannot operate. When God is the source of life, then hatred, racism and violence cannot rule for God is love.
“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God [set aside self-righteous pride], so that He may exalt you [to a place of honor in His service] at the appropriate time, casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully].”
1 Peter 5:6-7
“And my God will liberally supply (fill until full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:19
Pill three to take: Bring your every burden, fear, anxiety, and need to the Lord and trust Him in due time that everything you need He will provide. Rest in His promises,
look to His throne and trust His grace. God will either supply your need and answer your prayer or He will give you sufficient grace to wait and endure until that day of ultimate deliverance.
There’s an old hymn that goes like this:
“If the world from you withhold of its silver and its gold,And you have to get along with meager fare,Just remember, in His Word, how He feeds the little bird—Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.
Leave it there, leave it there,Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there;If you trust and never doubt, He will surely bring you out—Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.
If your body suffers pain and your health you can’t regain,And your soul is almost sinking in despair,Jesus knows the pain you feel, He can save and He can heal—Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.When your enemies assail and your heart begins to fail,Don’t forget that God in Heaven answers prayer He will make a way for you and will lead you safely through—Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.When your youthful days are gone and old age is stealing on,And your body bends beneath the weight of care;He will never leave you then, He’ll go with you to the end—Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.”
While we wait, let us do so patiently, faithfully and with anticipation for God never fails.
Not one of the good promises which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel failed; all had come to pass. “Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one word of all the good words which the Lord your God has promised concerning you has failed; all have been fulfilled for you, not one of them has failed.
Joshua 21:45,23:14
“Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, in accordance with everything that He promised. Not one word has failed of all His good promise, which He spoke through Moses His servant. May the Lord our God be with us as He was with our fathers; may He not leave us nor abandon us [to our enemies], that He may guide our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways [following Him] and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His precepts which He commanded our fathers. Let these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, so that He will maintain the cause and right of His servant and of His people Israel as each day requires, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no one else. Therefore, your hearts are to be wholly devoted to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as [you are doing] today.”
1 Kings 8:56-61
Dr. John Thompson