PATIENT WAITING

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”

Romans 8:22-25

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

I’m going out on a limb here and say that I don’t think anyone likes to wait, even though you would think we would get used to it after having to do it so much.

We go to the grocery store or shopping elsewhere for things and we end up waiting in checkout lines.

We travel somewhere and inevitably, we end up getting stuck in traffic somewhere. This never comes at an opportune time and only serves to delay you from either getting to your travel destination or returning home.

We wait to be seen by doctors, to get our cars serviced, and for paychecks to hit our accounts.

We wait and wait and wait and wait.

But why does God build so much waiting into our lives? How would a perfect God impose seemingly needless delays on our lives through the things I’ve mentioned and so many other instances like them?

Well, anytime we ponder questions like these, we’re always led to the same place. For nothing God does in our lives is without purpose and having us wait is no different. Consider these words from Galatians regarding the fruits of the Spirit that God is trying to harvest within each and every person:

“…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23

Why do we get so upset when we have to wait?

It’s all about impatience and when we get impatient enough, we can tend to lose self control and peace and kindness and goodness and gentleness and joy and love. In other words, if we lose our patience, the rest of our fruits fall with it and that leads to us behaving in ways that are far from what the Lord wants from us.

So how do we keep from getting there?

We have to ask for the Lord to help us, to give us the patience during times of waiting, times I like to refer to as exercises in patience. You would be surprised how well this works for when we call on the Lord, He answers and will give us what we need to persevere through our circumstances as His will is being done.

With this in mind, let’s turn to our scripture passage for today from Romans 8 as Paul continues to address the people in Rome about the matter of salvation and eternal life. Note how the matter of waiting for eternal life to come is central to his message in these verses:

“We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” Romans 8:22-25

When someone accepts Jesus as Savior, they gain a blessed assurance of a future life filled with love and light and peace in the glory of God’s kingdom. They read the scriptures about this kingdom in the Book of Revelation and even get more excited about what’s to come, realizing that the things of this world pale in comparison to the riches of Heaven. And this eager anticipation for fully experiencing God’s salvation through Jesus can sometimes make a believer impatient as they have to wait for the best that is still ahead.

This is what Paul is getting at when he talks about people who have gained the first fruits of the Holy Spirit through Jesus groaning inwardly until that day when they realize the promised “adoption to sonship” and “redemption of our bodies” as they are delivered from death to life. All Christians gain this hope when they are saved, a hope for something they do not have.

As we deal with the things of life, maybe we could find ourselves getting inpatient, eager for God to just intervene and take us from this world into the better one He has promised. People every day will say that they are ready to go to be with God anytime but the real timing of this will always be in God’s hands. Glory awaits all Christian believers but God dictates when that time will come for a believer to receive their everlasting glory experience.

Until then, let us follow the guidance of the scriptures, reinforced by the power of the Holy Spirit, as we wait patiently for what God has in store. And while we wait, let’s spend our time seeking His will within those times of waiting, constructively carrying out His purposes.

They’ll always be more productive than complaining.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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