Patience Part One
By Johnny Angel
It appears that I will be writing on patience for a little while. And trying
to write this is taking patience. The Lord has been showing me a few
things through the people that I encounter during my Christmas break.
To start, I have a prayer request for a friend I used to hang out with in
high school. He and I did a lot of stuff in FCA and church together. He
has quit going to church and is even messing around with other
religions. He will not return my phone calls. I think he is just confused
about a lot of things right now. His youth minister and I both left for
school at about the same time so he had to run around with a different
set of people. And some of those Christians let him down. So one
point I definitely want to make is that we must look to Jesus for our
example and not to others. But at the same time, we must realize that
others are looking to us for an example so we must be showing them
what Jesus would be like with the way we live our lives.
First I will focus on God's patience.
He has been very kind and patient, waiting for you to change, but you
think nothing of his kindness. Perhaps you do not understand that God
is kind to you so you will change your hearts and lives. (Romans 2:4,
NCV)
But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of
sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example
for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. (1 Timothy
1:16, NIV)
Remember that we are saved because our Lord is patient. (2 Peter
3:15a, NCV)
And consider that the long-suffering of our Lord [His slowness in
avenging wrongs and judging the world] is salvation (that which is
conducive to the soul's safety) (2 Peter 3:15a, Amplified Bible)
These verses reveal that God has a patience that gives us all the time
we need to begin or strengthen our relationship with Him. Colossians 1
makes it clear that all things were created for Him and by Him. He
knows the exact timing needed for every single person He has created.
Today, my mom and I visited with a friend who does not go to church
anymore. The denomination she grew up in is changing some of its
views on things. Almost every "Christian" she knows talks bad about
people, uses foul language, makes fun of people of different
denominations, etc. So she and her husband have decided not to go
to church. They still study the Bible. But they have turned it into a set
of rules and regulations. They read it like a textbook. And they're
determined that things have gotten so bad that the Lord is coming
back immediately.
One problem here is that the book of Hebrews tells us not to quit
assembling ourselves together as some people are in the habit of
doing. Another problem is that they are missing out on how God wants
to have a love relationship with them. They are saved to the extent
that they will go to heaven because they have trusted in Jesus as their
Savior. But they are not allowing Him to work through their lives in
such a way that they want to be with other believers for worship. All
they can do is say what's wrong with the world.
I asked them how things can be at their absolute worst when churches
continue to grow, Jesus is being pasted all over the web, people
continue to commit their lives to the Lord's work, people are giving up
their lives to become missionaries, Christian students involved in
campus ministries are giving up their summers or even a year or two to
travel across a state doing drama and backyard Bible clubs, the Bible is
more available now than it ever has been before, Christian music is
being sold everywhere--not just the Christian bookstores, Christian radio
stations are popping up everywhere, there are at least 10 different
email ministries going on that are producing a lot of fruit for the Lord
through answered prayers and changed lives, etc.
If we quit looking for the good that God does, we will have to give up.
But our Lord will not shut things down until all the work is done. And
the Lord inspired Paul to write a second letter to the church at
Thessalonica to tell them that they couldn't just quit working because
they thought the Lord was on His way back. Paul made it clear that
there is work to be done, and that we must remain busy until it's time for
things to be over.
The Greek word for patience in 2 Peter 3:15 is a patience with long
enduring and forbearance. The fact that the Lord has not come back
for the church yet means that there are still people who will give their
lives to Christ and there is still work for us as Christians to do.
I waited patiently for the Lord. He turned to me and heard my cry.
(Psalm 40:1, NCV)
God made a promise to Abraham. And as there is no one greater than
God, he used himself when he swore to Abraham, saying, "I will surely
bless you and give you many descendants." Abraham waited patiently
for this to happen, and he received what God promised. (Hebrews
6:13-15, NCV)
Another characteristic of God's patience is that He does not have to
answer us as soon as we ask for His help. He is often slow about
things (according to us) to teach us to seek Him more and to trust Him
more. We grow stronger by wating. And He will come along to help
us.
I heard an excellent sermon yesterday from a pastor who had just
finished his doctorate of ministry at Southern Baptist Seminary. He
shared that when he began his theologic education at Clear Creek
Baptist Bible College 11 years ago, he thought he knew a lot about
God. But the more his knowledge of God has increased, the more he
has realized he doesn't know. Anyone who thinks that he or she
doesn't have to read the Bible or study it with other believers has
developed the attitude that he or she knows everything there is to
know about God. If this pastor feels that he knows less now after 11
years of theologic education, other Chrisitans have shared the same
thing, and I also feel that I know less the more I experience God in a
love relationship with Him, then it must mean that God's patience and
God's characteristics are always going to leave room for us to learn
until we do make it to heaven with Him one day.
N Prayer,
Johnny <*}}}><