Monday, August 26, 2013

Let Patience Have Her Perfect Work


But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, 
after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. 
1 Peter 5:10





We should never be in such a hurry to get to that higher pinnacle that we reach it ahead of our integrity; before we are thoroughly rooted and grounded in God; before we have been tested to prove that we have what it takes within us to fulfill the will that God has purposed in our life.   Understand that enthusiasm without being properly rooted will lead you further than your integrity can handle.  The word of God tells us that we are to run this race with patience:


Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,  Hebrews 12:1

Regardless of what our calling is, we still have to wait on God to perfect that which is within us before He can send us out to fulfill His will.


Patience, for most people and regardless of the situation, is hard to maintain. We do a number of things to try and maintain our patience such as counting to 100 or counting backwards or other little tricks to take our mind off of how ‘ready’ we are to do something or how anxious we are for something to happen.  And the tendency is to handle our spiritual calling in God the same way. 

Patience is also a fruit of the spirit:


But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22

Patience is a part of longsuffering.

When we get the call from God to go or to do or to be a certain thing, we want to rush it. But how many of us understand that sometimes we get the call now but it is for the future?  Though we have a sincere heart and a zeal for the things of God, understand that we operate in the timing of God, not our timing. Moving in our own time, we wonder why it’s not working out for OUR good; Consider that it was never supposed to work out for our good, but it is to work out for good. 

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.  Romans 8:28


The good of what? The manifestation of the glory or power of God. Because it is not about us and our wants and desires, but about fulfilling God’s plan and purpose for our lives so that He is magnified, not us! 

It cannot be stressed enough that we should not allow our impatience to take us to a place that our integrity, knowledge and zeal cannot handle. 

Rather we know it or not, someone is always watching us and what we are doing and saying.  We have excellent examples before us; chief among them Jesus Christ in whom we can pattern ourselves so that we do not shame or misrepresent God.  This scripture bears repeating:


Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,  Hebrews 12:1

I would like to believe that it is not our intent to make a mockery or bring shame to God but yet that is what happens when we do not patiently wait on God to perfect us. 

When we think about our call in God, that which we know we have been called to do; from the overseer, to the parishioner, we tend to want to see the manifestation of it instantaneously. For example, if you are called to minister the word of God, you can’t wait to get on the pulpit or behind a podium and give a word or start your own church or be the next world renowned preacher or whoever it is that you aspire to be like or whomever you set up as your role model. But, what if your call to minister God's word is not in the pulpit, what if it is in the fields somewhere in Africa or the chapel in a prison or a seemingly God-forsaken place that you never dreamed you would be? I say seemingly because that’s the way we think, but we have to understand that if God ordained it or purposed it in your life, it is not God-forsaken; He is in it and He is there!


Then it becomes imperative that patience is applied; slowing down long enough to get the full understanding of what it is that God wants from us. Standing still long enough for Him to work His will and His anointing in us so that when we get there we don't fail because our desire and/or impatience took us further than our integrity could handle or we didn't allow God the time to prepare the people for us!

But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.  James 1:4


Stay in God's will, don't get ahead of Him, trust in His word.  Make sure that you are a citizen of the kingdom of God, no longer seeking for fame, position and power after the ways of the world:

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.  Romans 12:2

Even as you are striving to get where you feel God has called you, remember that your labor is not in vain.  This scripture is a call for patience:

Do not be weary in well doing, for in due season, we shall reap if we faint not.   Galatians 6:9

Don’t stop the good works that you are currently doing; just add to that the prayer that God’s will for you continue to be manifest. Stay in step with God; don’t try to get ahead of Him.

Look at Joshua who, though he was called at around 40 years of age, did not step into the manifestation of his calling until he was 80 years old.


God had a plan for Joshua that was revealed at the beginning of his walk with Moses. 


And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.  Exodus 17:14 


In this account the Amalekites came against the children of Israel. Moses sent Joshua out as the chief commander in this battle. As Joshua was fighting the battle, Moses was back in the camp with his arms lifted up to God and through this, Joshua was able to defeat the Amalekites. 


What is significant about this is that even while Moses was grooming Joshua as his servant, God was preparing Joshua for his calling.  God is now telling Joshua to meditate on those things that Moses had written at the direction of God. That’s another truth – the word of God was written by men, but inspired by God. 

God told Joshua to meditate; - study on it, think on it, - 


This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night that thou may observe to do according to all that is written therein and by doing this, thou shalt make thy way prosperous and then thou shalt have a good success. Joshua 1:8

From this:


It is imperative that we read, study, & mediate on the word of God daily; that it become our #1 priority.

After we have done this thing, then will we prosper and have good success.

An old hymn says it like this:


‘You can’t hurry God, no, you just have to wait. 
You have to trust Him and give Him time, 
no matter how long it takes. 
He’s a God you can’t hurry, 
He’ll be there, don’t you worry. 
He may not come when you want Him, 
but He’s right on time.' 

In all things, let us wait patiently upon the Lord so that our will aligns itself perfectly to the divine will of God.

Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever.   Amen.  Hebrews 13:21






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