![]() ![]() Related article: Praying God's Promises: The Why and How Behind the Practice Our only responsibility is to trust that God will provide the strength to hold on, and then act accordingly to our faith in that promise. The Lord is the one who provides us with spiritual armor to go into battle. The promise we can lean on is that patience is God-given restraint, not something we are to produce in our own strength. This is why seeking patience is in many senses a battle. The New Bible Dictionary defines patience as “God-given restraint in the face of opposition or oppression.” Patience is only necessary in the face of opposition. James 5:7, Colossians 1:10-12, Psalm 40:1 and Revelation 14:12 are just a few examples taken from a myriad of passages about the topic. There is plenty of encouragement in the Bible concerning our need for patience. Consider those who have waited before you: Job, David, a myriad of prophets. All your brothers and sisters in faith, as well as all of creation, know what it is like to wait on the Lord. ![]() Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently (Romans 8:22- 25). Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. On these days, reminders on the nature of patience can be an encouragement to us as we continue to wait. Having prayed fervently about whatever issue we are facing too many times to count, we can easily feel our bank of patience depleting once again. Our only child might remain sick in the hospital, the thread our marriage hangs on might continue to splinter, the hope we’ve held on to for years might fade with increasing speed. When this dawns on us, we might confess our desire to rule our own lives, inviting the Spirit to direct us and empower us once again as we continue to wait on the Lord. Often our desire is to take control and just “do the best we can” even though we know Galatians 5 lists patience as a fruit of the Holy Spirit. We can begin to feel like our prayers are falling on deaf ears. Sometimes, it is a very difficult to be patient. When we’re bringing our concerns to the Lord again and again, we can grow tired of waiting. ![]()
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