Patience — A Great Virtue!
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin Articles Tags: Bible Lessons on PatienceIn Isaiah 40:31, the inspired writer states:
“But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.“
The phrase “wait on the Lord” in the above verse, is the Hebrew way of saying that if we will patiently wait for the Lord to act on His timetable, He will provide us with great blessings (cf. Genesis 49:10; Mark 1:15; Gal. 4:4-7).
In today’s fast-paced society, patience is almost an unknown virtue. We pride ourselves on being “go-getters” and “movers and shakers” rather than patiently waiting for something to happen. We want everything done “now” — no waiting for anything. We see this attitude especially on our freeways.
Everyone wants to get to their destination “now” and they want to get there “first.” Unfortunately, not everyone can get there “now” or “first” and thus someone has to “wait” and get there “last” (By the way, there is a spiritual benefit of being “last” as far as worldly attainments are concerned — Matthew 19:30; cf. Matthew 20:1-16; Matthew 21:31-32). As a result, we see a myriad of accidents occurring every day because of a lack of patience on the part of motorists.
Some of the benefits of “waiting” are better health (no ulcers), less stress, and better decision making due to greater care and time being put into the matters of everyday living.
Often times, doing something speedily can cause us to make mistakes — some of them of a fatal nature. In the Lord’s church. it can mean snubbing someone, or just not giving members the time to spiritually grow and properly develop their God-given talents.
We need the patience to “wait on the Lord” to do His work and will in our lives, because since He made everything (Acts 14:15; Acts 17:24-25), He knows better than we will ever know how everything should properly function and operate.
The inspired writer James points out another benefit of our “waiting”:
“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience [endurance or perseverance]. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:2-4).
According to this verse, we will never become fully mature Christians unless we are willing to endure the various trials and tribulations of this life.
When properly used, the severe discipline of life can prepare us for continued progress toward attaining the spiritual goals that God has laid down for us to achieve (cf. Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16). To terminate this effort before reaching the goal is to lose the crown of life (Revelation 2:10).
Brethren, let’s not lose the crown, but continue on toward the goal (Philippians 3:13-15; cf. 1 Corinthians 9:24; Hebrews 12:1-2).
Let’s demonstrate patience in our lives — a great virtue!
Related Articles:
- “Wait On The Lord”
- Let’s Slow Down And Smell The Roses!
- Let’s “Hang In There”
- Keep On Keeping On!
- Renewing Our Strength As Eagles Wings