Many people miss out on life because they don't have patience. A lack of patience can indicate a lack of trust and faith in God. God always pulls through for us. Sometimes we are tested and afflicted with trials and tribulations, and then we are tempted to give up or answer the problems ourselves with secular or sense-knowledge answers. When we don't see things moving in the speed or direction we think they should be moving, we are tempted.
Psalms 37:1-9 1Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.
You can look out in the world and see how corruption and evil are rewarded. You can see evil renamed and redefined. You can see people that have the ability to work refuse to work and use the corrupt system to bleed the money from the hard working taxpayers.
2For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. 3Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
Sometimes you will be tempted to do wrong, to cheat, or do evil, but the bible says to trust in the Lord and do good. The results are that you will dwell in the land and be fed.
4Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
It's placing God first, it's trusting God, it is staying faithful to God. If you do that, it says that God will give you the desires of your heart. When you are tempted to go outside the Word and you are tempted not to be patient, you are trying to get the desires of your heart some other way.
5Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
Give your life to God, trust in him and commit yourself unto him and God will bring it to pass. The smarter you are or the more fearful you are, the harder it is to do this. One does it because of intellect because one thinks himself smarter than God and the other does it out of fear because they think that God is not going to come through for them. Those are two ends of the spectrum, but unbelief with similar results.
6And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.7Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
Having rest is the opposite of being nervous, anxious, confused, or all wired-up. Rest is not fretting about what is going to happen. Have you ever seen a dog or a cat rest — especially once they are done eating — on their backs with their paws up in the air? They just don't move. Do we do that? Are we impatient? The world is conducive to that: fast food, fast Internet, TV dinners, fast cars — everything has to be fast.
Nobody wants to wait, nobody wants to be patient, and nobody wants to endure tribulation so they can see the power of God manifested in their lives, so that they can have a victory, so that they can have a testimony of how God delivered them out of a situation. Everything has to be yesterday. That is the way of the world.
The way of the world is getting farther and farther away from the truth of God's Word."fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass" We don't look at the world. We don't compare ourselves with those who hate God or have no respect for him and seem to be prospering in their way. You have better things to do.
8Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
Don't get angry; don't get pissed off. If you focus on frustration and complain about not getting your need met, you tend to get angry about it. Doing evil is a temptation. If you think that way, you are not going to wait on God. You are going to go out and get it yourself any way you can.
9For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.
It's all about trusting and waiting — believing that God is going to take care of you. To look at it by the five senses, this may not look like a logical decision. It does not always have to look right sense knowledge wise. You want to go through life trusting God, knowing what the Word of God says, claiming the promises and believing it in your heart.
Ecclesiastes 7:8-9 8Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.9Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.
You've got to slow down some times. You have to trust God. Learn to endure and be patient. Confidently trust and wait on your father. If you get hasty in the spirit and get involved where you don't belong getting involved and things don't start going your way, you will end up getting mad.
Lamentations 3:26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.
Waiting on God is a good thing. Hope is something you cannot see; you don't have it in front of you. How do you wait? Do you complain? Do you question God? Do you get angry and fret? You quietly wait for the deliverance. We should be so thankful for what we already have. People of the bible times did not have lights, electricity, modern conveniences, and often they did not have food. They had to believe God for all kinds of things. There were dangerous wild animals in those times. They patiently and quietly waited on the Lord for his salvation.
Patience is a big thing. It also plays a big portion in your life in what you produce in your life. If you get anxious and upset in difficult situations it is hard to hear from God. You are compromised mentally, emotionally and you can't rest in the Lord that way. It has happened to me at times in my own life.
To be continued …ÿ
Note: All scripture is from the King James Version unless otherwise noted. NIV indicates The New International Version, NKJV indicates the New King James Version, ASV means the American Standard Version, BBE means the Bible in Basic English, DBY means the Darby translation, NAU means the American Standard Version, 1995 Edition, and NAB means the New American Bible translation. For more information, go to the Works Cited page.
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