“Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.”
“Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” James 5:7-8
I do not know about you, but I am very guilty of trying to rush God. With all the turmoil going on I am thinking come on God, what are you waiting on? Then I have to check myself and think of believers in other countries that have been going thru many turmoils over centuries and have not had the blessing that we have had as a country. The kind of government that we have been dreading has been running rampant in other places in the world since Christianity began, we have just had a 245 year reprieve as a country and have had freedom to worship God in a public fashion. Others have not been so lucky. In Asian and Muslim countries, Christians are martyred on a regular basis. They have to hide in basements and any dark place they can hide to worship because of fear of condemnation. If you try to worship out in the open, your neighbors will turn you in rather than come into question themselves (or just because they are loyal to the government).
(Not unlike what government is telling us now – to report our neighbors if they are not complying with government rules for Covid restrictions).
Yes, that is the same thing – the government has been conducting an experiment to see if you would go along with ratting out your neighbors. When we see all this happening we cry out again, “Lord, what is keeping you?” Then we again have to look at our Christian brethren in other countries and realize that before things end we might have to endure some of the same treatment they have been going thru all along.
“Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.” James 5:11
So while we are, as a country, growing colder to the things of God, there are others, in these countries that have so long been under oppression that are hearing of Christ, and coming to know him. We are, at this point, seeing the Lord’s mercy and pity on others that are still hearing the truth, under the most difficult of circumstances and coming to know Christ personally. Brothers and sisters in Christ, have patience, you will need it in the days ahead.
“Have I not commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” Joshua 1:9
I used to have a little magnet that said, “Lord, give me patience, and give it to me now!” Well, I think we are going to have to have a whooooole lot of patience in the days ahead. Let the Holy Spirit lead you in your thoughts and actions. The day is coming, it may not be coming soon enough for you, but it is coming! Have patience!
What A Day That Will Be
There is coming a day when no heartaches shall come,
No more clouds in the sky, no more tears to dim the eye;
All is peace forever more on that happy golden shore,
What a day glorious day that will be.
What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see,
And I look upon His face, the One who saved my by His grace;
When He takes me by the hand, and leads me through the Promised Land,
What a day, glorious day that will be.
AE
and continuing…
I have a terrible memory. If I am waiting on something to happen and it takes too long I often will forget about it completely. I have to be reminded more than once about my schedule. If I don’t write things down it’s possible I will forget about them entirely. I think Dad covered the topic of waiting patiently very well, so I wanted to add the thought that when we are here on earth waiting for the return of the Messiah, we also not only need to remember to be patient and wait on his timing. We also need to keep in mind the fact that we need to be preparing.
Just this morning I went into my kitchen, got out my leftovers, and put them in the oven for breakfast. I set the timer to 20 minutes, and then started on other tasks while waiting for my food. When the timer went off I was very excited because by that time I was very hungry. I went into the kitchen and opened the oven. I pulled the quinoa out and thought it looked really weird. I like leftover quinoa to get crispy and chewy. It looked weird. I touched it with my finger, and it was still cold. I had forgotten to turn the oven on. I could have waited all day excitedly and patiently, but until I prepare the oven nothing is going to happen to make my food ready to eat.
If we don’t prepare our hearts and our lives for the return of the Father we can be very excited and we can wait patiently, but we had better be ready to go when he arrives. Something like this actually happened in a parable told by Jesus in the Bible.
Matthew 25:
Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
And five of them were wise, and five of them were foolish.
They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him.
Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out.
But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
Afterward came the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
Watch ye therefore, for ye know neither the day not the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
The bridegroom is coming. Are you ready? Wait patiently. Don’t forget why we are here. And most importantly prepare your hearts for his coming.
GA
Voice of the Introverts 