Patience, from the biblical perspective, embodies these four things: 1) Confidence in God’s unfailing love and faithfulness to us: ‘His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness’ (Lamentations 3:22-23 NKJV). 2) Confidence that He will keep His promises to us: ‘There has not failed one word…which He promised’ (1 Kings 8:56 NKJV). 3) Confidence that He has everything that concerns us under control: ‘The Lord will vindicate me’ (Psalm 138:8 NIV). 4) Confidence that even in the most difficult of circumstances, He is working for our good. ‘We know that all things work together for good to those who love God’ (Romans 8:28 NKJV). Confidence in God enables us to live by the Word: ‘He that believeth shall not make haste’ (Isaiah 28:16 KJV). Impatience is at the root of so many of our failures. Hence the apostle James wrote: ‘Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord.’ Look at Simon Peter: he came close to committing murder in the garden of Gethsemane in a vain attempt to protect Jesus (see John 18:10). Look at Moses: his impatience caused him to strike the rock instead of speaking to it as God commanded; hence he forfeited the Promised Land (see Numbers 20:1-13). Look at Abraham: his impatience while waiting for God’s promise of a son to be fulfilled led to the birth of Ishmael and serious complications in the family (see Genesis 16:1-16). Hence Paul wrote: ‘Whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope’ (Romans 15:4 NKJV). So, the word for today is – exercise patience!
