Patience!

Patience!

Monday, April 18, 2016
Gary Arntessoni

I am not a patient person! Yes, it's easier to preach about patience than to actually live it. I still find myself feeling impatient when I am driving to the office (long suffering) and I end up behind someone who is going 20 mph in a 45 mph zone.  “How long O Lord? Till I get to the church office?”  Yes, it's a different kind of waiting. In fact, such a superficial kind of waiting that I'm afraid to even mention it.

What about those who are waiting for a real crisis to pass. A devastating illness, the end of a relationship, trying to find a place of employment? These are the real life, tough situations we find ourselves in. “How long O Lord” until this passes?

I don't mean to be trite, because I know pain is real, but in the midst of our trials it's important to know that God's timing is different than ours. If you go back to the 2 Peter 3 passage I preached on yesterday, you'll find that verse 8 says, “ But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.”

God's timing, and God's economy are very different than ours.

It reminds me of an old joke: A man was talking to God and he asked, "God what does 100 million years seem like to you?" God answered, "One hundred million years? That's like a second to me." Then the man asked, "God, what's 100 million dollars seem like to you?"  And God responded, “One hundred million dollars? It seems like a penny to me." The man’s eyes perked up and next he asked, "Hey God could I borrow a penny?" to which God answered, "Sure. Just a second."

This is a funny reminder that God is different than we are. Isaiah 55:8 says, “"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.”

God has promised to be with us. No matter where we are, no matter what we're going through. God is present in the midst of the pain and suffering with experience.  The Lord is faithful to keep his promises. Remember 2 Peter 3: 13, “But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.”

Patience results in a deep abiding trust in God. An ability, even in the midst of difficult times, to know that God is present, watching out for us. A knowledge God will see us through to the end. When we struggle it does not mean that God has abandoned us. In fact it is just the opposite, God is close, closer than we realize.

Are you feeling like God is absent today?  Wondering if God is still available to you?  If that's the case, take a moment and think back about your life. On a blank sheet of paper write down the ways that God has answered prayer for you during your lifetime. Take time to think back about how God has shown up in the past for you. What have you experienced, that as you think about it is a result of God's presence in your life and your family?

Take a moment to thank God for those moments… And as you do, be reminded that if God has been with you in the past, God is with you today, and will see you through whatever your present trial might be.

The pages of the Bible are full of people waiting on God, and God waiting on people.

“…but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.”

 Isaiah 40:31