Annie
Scriptures:
Romans 12:12 Isaiah 40:30-31 Psalm 27: John 15:5
As I looked at the topic for this week I wondered where to start with the wealth of scriptures that speak of patience and examples of keeping patience. Then, I “happened” to read a testimony with this quote which the person had based on Romans 12:12. “We are given the day at hand and a very sure hope for our future but all the days in between are unknown to us. We wait. Things come. Some things delay. Sometimes on earth they never come.” For me this wonderfully describes patience.
To simply blunder around with no purpose and say we are being patient somehow doesn’t seem quite right. Patience needs a purpose, a hope for an outcome that brings something better than we now have. Paul’s words tell us to be patient in tribulation, a word that doesn’t only mean traumatic events. We can feel tribulation when the mundane things of life are simply too much for us to handle. When relationships are strained, not broken but being stretched under the weight of our naturally selfish tendencies. When our minds are bombarded with worldwide events that ceaselessly invade our attempts at finding peace.
But, our hope is in Christ alone, He is our anchor, the Rock we cling to, the One who will sustain us. In Him we find hope and, as a consequence, the patience to carry us through.
This wonderful inspired Word of God, our Bible, leads us deeper and deeper into the One who is our hope, so many times telling us to “wait on the Lord”. This is what patience truly is. Waiting upon our Lord, letting go of anxiety and frustration, of fear and uncertainty, simply trusting Him with all our days. The Hebrew word used for “waiting” in this context is “qavah” which means to bind together like a rope. Understanding this helps us to see that God’s intention for us as we wait patiently on Him, is to bind, intertwine ourselves together with Him. Being patient is not to be passive. It is an active, vibrant, life giving exercise which energises us, fills us with the strength to run and not be weary, to walk and not faint by intertwining our hearts, minds and lives with God.
Jesus spoke of Himself as the Vine and us as the branches. If you have ever seen the way a grapevine grows, you will know how the branches seem to bind around the main stem. Binding ourselves together with God grows our relationship with Him, allowing us, in this time of “qavah”, to bear fruit.
As we rejoice in the Hope of Christ, our time of being patient can be a glorious time. If we find ourselves becoming weary in waiting, the only way out of that is to question our rejoicing. If we stop rejoicing in Hope, we will stop waiting on (intertwining ourselves with) the Lord and we will lose heart.
As many people in countries all around the world are struggling with isolation, loneliness and the fear of this plague that has so many in its grip, the need to fix our eyes on Jesus, to keep rejoicing in our Hope who is Christ Jesus our Lord, is so necessary. No-one, despite all their best endeavours, can tell us when the Covid 19 pandemic will be over. As children of the Living God, let us all practise waiting patiently on the Lord. Let us bind ourselves together with Him, actively rejoicing in Him, praying and interceding constantly for this world and all the souls who need Him so desperately.
Let us be the living example of patience that is founded in the Hope of Glory, Jesus Christ.
Prayer: Abba Father, in Your Grace bless Your people as we bind ourselves together with You. Let Hope be alive in our hearts as we wait upon You, today and always Amen
Comments