GIVE ME PATIENCE, NOW!!!

BIBLE PASSAGE:
Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming.
See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop,
patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains.
(James 5:7)

MEDITATION:
We can all testify that sometimes the things we look
forward to the most, seem to take the longest to get
here. When something is important to us, we struggle
with being patient until it arrives.

Some giant sequoias in California are 300 feet tall;
trees that are as tall as a 30 story building! Yet each
one began with the smallest of seeds. Imagine how
many years it takes for that small seed to germinate,
grow and mature into a majestic creation of the Lord.

The giant sequoia doesn’t have the evilness of Satan
constantly trying to stunt its growth, but we do. When
the Lord convicts us to serve Him in some capacity, it
is a signal for Satan to increase his efforts to dissuade
us from obeying the Lord’s desire for us.

We may make a commitment to use the spiritual gift (or gifts)
God has given us to start serving the Lord. But too often, our
lack of patience is detrimental to our efforts. We live in a world
of “now” and when we don’t reap a harvest immediately, we can
be vulnerable to Satan’s efforts to discourage us, and make us quit.

Think for a moment about this contrast:
    When we commit to serving the Lord, it is something new
    for us. However, Satan has been discouraging Christians
    from serving God for a long time…it is not new for him,
    and he is good at it.

So how can we overcome these discouraging efforts from Satan?
We need to admit that we are doomed to fail, as long as we strive
to resist him in our own strength. We need to break the worldly
influence on us (our thoughts and actions).

We need to call on the Lord and the Holy Spirit to “fight for us”
(they know a lot more about Satan’s weak points than we do).
We may think that we should call on them to “help” us in our
battles, but that is an effort by Satan to use our ego against us.

When he increases our ego, we will fail to admit that we are
too weak to even “participate” in the battles with the evil one.
God doesn’t need our “help”, He wants our dependence on Him.
Depending on the Lord is an expression of our faith in Him.

Lastly, we need to read about the Christian patriots who endured
discouragement by keeping their eyes on the Lord and His purpose
for them. We can see how the Lord intervened for them and gave
them the drive to ‘keep on keeping on’, in spite of any opposition.

ACTION:
Read 2 Corinthians 11:24-29 and see how Paul endured the
attempts to discourage him from serving the Lord. Then,
read 2 Corinthians 11:30 and see how he admitted his own
weakness. Paul knew he could not overcome anything in
his own strength.

I have been teaching bible classes for over 40 years, and
distributing devotionals I receive from the Lord since 2013.
I have felt the efforts of Satan to discourage me from serving
the Lord, but God has encouraged me to continue with what
He has tasked me to do. That’s not just a good sounding
comment, but it is a fact.

At the height of some of Satan’s efforts to discourage me,
the Lord has inspired someone to say (or send) an encouraging
comment, which re-energized my efforts to ‘keep on keeping on’.
He will do the same for you, whenever you commit to serving Him.

God’s blessings far outweigh any discouragements in our paths
of service. We need to learn to serve on His timetable and not
our own, and remember that in “due season”, we will reap the
harvest of our efforts.

We are blessed when God calls us into action, and we should
joyfully run the race He has set before us.
    Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great
    cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that
    hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let
    us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,
    fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of
    faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross,
    scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of
    the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2)

If you have ever run a race, then you know the discouraging factors
while participating (tiredness, gasping for breath, thirsty, etc.), but
you have also experienced the exhilaration of completing the race.
    Do you not know that in a race all the runners run,
    but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as
    to get the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:24)

We will face times of discouragement,
but we should not allow them to cause us to give up.
    You were running a good race. Who cut in
    on you to keep you from obeying the truth?
    (Galatians 5:7)

When the Lord fights our battles for us,
we can remain encouraged and finish the race.
    I have fought the good fight,
    I have finished the race,
    I have kept the faith.
    (2 Timothy 4:7)

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for considering me as
a servant of Yours, and giving me tasks to express my
faith and use the spiritual gifts You have given me.
Show me how to follow the path You have charted for
me. Encourage me and give me patience to persevere
in fulfilling Your plans for me. Help me to realize the
impact You can have on the lives of others through me,
and to enjoy being used by You. Forgive me for delaying
my commitment to serve. Give me the courage and resolve
to start serving You now, so that others can be blessed by
You, and I can grow in my relationship with You.”

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