I don’t do patience very well. I don’t wait very well, I certainly don’t like the idea of longsuffering. I, like most people, want what I want and I want it now. I want to be at the front of the queue. I don’t like being put on hold.
That’s fine and we just have too get used it. What is really hard is to wait on God when He doesn’t take care of things according to my schedule. We get tired of being under pressure and it can seem like we just can’t buy a break.
That is when we get the sense of this word for patience – long suffering. It means bearing up under pressure. It is not like that waiting in a queue that I hate. It is much more than that. It is when our lives are a constant pressure that seems to squeeze the life out of and the kind of darkness that we can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. It is especially for our brethren in Christ who suffer real threats to their lives day another day for their faith in Christ. How many of them must cry out in the sleep ‘when will this sever end?’
That’s when our long-suffering is really tried. That’s when we must depend on the Holy Spirit to help us bear this fruit. It is also one of those times where people watch us to see how people who say they trust God do when the pressure is on.
I have to stop and check myself here. Dos this fruit of the spirit show this evidence by life? We are told that we are known by our fruit. Does my ability to ‘bear up under pressure’ reveal my faith?
Lord, help me reflect this spirit on long-suffering in my life that I might better reflect You.
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