The Spirit Produces Patience
by Sandy Fields
This one has been interesting to me! I've been thinking about patience and what I'd write for a while now. Guess the Lord was working on my understanding while I waited for a great idea. Thought I'd find some great Scripture to go along with my ideas. Hmm... can't find a Scripture that goes along with it. My thoughts seem too trivial! Maybe that's the message. Hmm...
My husband's grandmother had this little plaque in her house.
Only one life 'Twill soon be past
Only what's done For Christ will lastWhat does this have to do with patience?
Hang on a minute, would you????? I'm getting there!
Listen to what the Spirit says to us in Hebrews 6:12: "...imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised."
Every Scripture on patience I read in the New Testament seemed to be talking about such deep things. No shallow waters in world of New Testaement patience. Real patience has an eternal perspective! Real patience is about remaining steadfast through persecution while waiting for the great inheritance God has promised us.
Even when we're pushed around by God's enemies today, we're really not persecuted, at least not the majority of us. We may think we've seen persecution because of our faith, but most of us haven't seen anything close to what many Christians down through the ages have experienced. And many believers today are persecuted at levels we don't even like to think about. I just heard on the radio that a husand and wife were released from prison in China only because the man had a serious heart condition. Their crime: Praying in public. Let's never forget the missionaries in the Philippines who were chained to a tree for months, held captive by terrorists. Martin Burnham gave his life! Holding to faith in those circumstances is deep water patience.
For me, I'm still in the shallow waters of patience....
Trivial. Shallow water stuff.
- not getting uptight if the line next to me at the grocery store moves faster than mine
- not wasting energy on a red light I wish would turn green faster
If I can keep my perspective on things eternal and not on insignificant earthly irritations, then I can use a long grocery line as an opportunity to spend a few moments praying while I wait. The verses I read that spoke of patience have challenged me to work on patience with little day to day irritations, if for nothing more, purely out of respect for the patience that our persecuted brothers and sisters have been asked to demonstrate the real thing. I have come to believe that we need to learn to float our boat in the shallow waters of patience so that when deep water patience is required, we're at least acquainted with the boat.
I now find myself thanking God for the irritations that call for my shallow water patience. I pray for those who face circumstances that require the real deep water variety. Either place or in between, may the Spirit form in us patience... and let's pray that He starts with whatever depth of water in which we find ourselves.
Posted: 09/23/2002
URL: http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200209/20020923_patience.htmlCopyright (c) 2002, Sandy Fields <gary.sandy@yucca.net>, used by permission.
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