Galatians 5:22-23 ~ But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.
I don’t know about you, but I am so thankful that my Savior is patient with me. Patience is an aspect of the fruit of the spirit that I need to work on. Take the word longsuffering, which is another word that is used for “patience”, just the word itself sounds dreadful! 🙂 I don’t know about you, but I don’t get too excited about suffering…and I certainly don’t get excited when it is for a long time! 🙂
However, if we are to be like Christ (Christians), we are to definitely be patient and willing to suffer, no matter how long. Who are we to think we deserve everything now and the way we want it? Jesus suffered, Paul suffered, Job suffered…and God used them all to glorify Him through their trials. They were willing to be obedient…and yes, they were patient.
James 1:2-4 ~ My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
That is a powerful passage of scripture folks…study it, break it down, and realize what James was saying. He said that we are to be filled with joy when we should be filled with sorrow.(confused much??? ).He then says trials we go through will test our faith..and therefore produce patience. Then he says to let that time of trial and suffering refine you..make you a stronger person…letting the trying times make you like Christ. Sounds like we are supposed to be joyful because through our suffering we are learning how to wait on God, be content in our circumstances, and be more Christ-like. Jesus Christ was persecuted, judged falsely, beaten, murdered…and He was without sin!
I know one thing, when I am suffering and waiting on an answer, that is when I get face-down on the floor in prayer. I crave Jesus even more during those times. I for one, am grateful for those times in my past..the ones where I can look back and see that He definitely brought me through. There have been times when I asked God when was the pain going to end..and you know, He didn’t tell me. Guess what though? He carried me!! You may not see it now, but if you are a true believer in Christ, and if you do what James 1:2-4 says, you will reap the rewards. I can honestly say that everything in my life has happened for a reason..good and bad..and I have chosen to learn from it all..and rejoice! My God is greater than anything! I can truly say that because of Jesus, not Heather, I have made it through difficult times. The patience part is a daily struggle, one that I am working on though. It is all about attitude…it really is.
I challenge you to look back..don’t dwell on it.. but see where you were closer to Jesus and learned more about Him through your struggles. I am not saying that during my times of struggle that I have jumped for joy because I felt so good because I was struggling. No..not at all..but I did have a peace, and I did have hope, and I did learn to trust in Him more.
If you don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus yet, I challenge you to look and see if you had the peace that comes only from knowing that Jesus has your back. Now is the time to do something about that! Don’t wait until it is too late.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NKJV) ~ And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Do you get it friends? When you are in a time of longsuffering, having to be patient and wait and trust God, that is when you are being made Christ-like…isn’t that what you really want… He promises to carry us! We just have to release it to Him.
I want to leave you with a song by Mandisa..called Stronger. I know that this post on patience has actually touched on more than just patience. That is how it works though..they all tie together.
stronger_mandisa_(www.freshmp3music.ru)_www.freshmp3music.ru_
I love your comments and am thankful for each one of you..that you are taking the time to read these posts. I pray you will all be blessed!
UNTIL NEXT TIME! 🙂
Hope For The Broken 
Enjoyed it! Good Job! Good Song!
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