Read
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
Romans 12:12
Reflect
You’ve been sitting just behind the first car at a traffic light for the past two minutes and the light finally turns green — but the driver is on their cell phone and doesn’t notice the change. Worse yet, when they do go, you aren’t able to make the light and you’re stuck again — how do you react?
At work, your boss yet again makes a request — no, a demand — that requires an impossible turnaround in order to make the deadline. And it’s the third time he’s done that this week — what is your response?
You’ve hoped for a reprieve at home, but the children are going at each other, your spouse is running late and dinner just caught on fire — what is your attitude?
It’s not easy to be patient, especially in the face of difficult circumstances. But God thinks it’s so important that patience shows up in the Bible at least 70 times. Paul even wrote about it being one of the nine fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), and again in Corinthians 13 when referring to patience as a necessity for true love. Each of us will have our patience tried again and again through daily situations and aggravations. It’s those trials that reveal how we undergo the stress of life without going under.
Often, people who are patient will be the ones who can allow things to be done to and through them, and yet will also refrain from having extreme reactions. The only way to do this is through the stability of the Lord Jesus, who gives understanding, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, who gives us the strength that we need in times of stress.
The closer we draw to the Lord, the more He will be able to impart His qualities to us. In His joy we can walk in patient endurance and truly inherit the blessings of God that He has set aside for us.
Reflection copyright © 2022 Doug DeBolt and Charles Fulton.
Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
