07 Mar Patience
PATIENCE
In your patience posses ye your souls (Luke 21:19)
We all reach for a destination, either consciously or unconsciously in
the journey of life.However in our modern culture, patience is becoming
less and less common.We’re an instant gratification society, so when
things don’t go according to our timetable or plans, we get frustrated
and sometimes angry. We become despondent with life; we get angry with
others and hate ourselves for our failures. Sometimes in a “curse God
and die” syndrome we take it out on God. It is incredible to see how
much in a hurry we are in life. Children want to be adults overnight.
Today, the average youth want to have his million yesterday and
everybody seems to be in a rat race to outwit each other. We have
suddenly forgotten that life is a journey that consists of series of
steps and ladders which must be climbed one at a time. Experience and
lessons of on one step will surely prepare us for the challenges of the
next one.
Patience is derived from the Latin word “pati”, which means to suffer,
to endure, to bear. Patience builds up our inner fortitude. It
strengthens us and keeps us from giving up when the going is tough. It
is a product of our absolute resolve to trust God in every situation and
circumstance of life. King David says in one of the Psalm “they that
trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but
abideth for every”(Psalm 125:1-2)
Permit me to ask, have you ever gone through the agonizing experience of
biting your tongue in the course of eating? I am sure majority of us
have gone through this unpleasant experience. It hurts terribly. It is
worse when we are in the middle of an appetizing meal. We usually feel
bad. The best we can do is to leave the food and go hungry while we
mourn our hurts and pains. Sometimes in such instances as this, we are
left with no other choice but to cautiously continue with our meals,
though distressing. We become gentle and patient with ourselves. We
don’t want to make a bad situation worse. We simply look for a cure.
While the healing process is on, we consciously wait on time for
healing.
Patience is one word associated with time. We use it every day. We talk
about and even name our children, Patience. It is a virtue that we ought
to develop. Patience implies faith in God and in ourselves. It is the
active force that energizes our hope. It bespeaks a certainty, a
definitive belief that what we want we will get and where we are headed,
we will arrive. Prophet Isaiah says, “Those who trust in the Lord will
renew their strength;, they will soar on wings like eagles ;they will
run and not go weary; they will walk and not faint”(Isaiah 40:31)
Life is full of victims with badly hurt tongues. Some have made a
shipwreck of their faith. You are encouraged not to give up, to keep
holding on. Patience begs for your embrace in a world that has given it a
cold shoulder.
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which ensnares us,
and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that
was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat
down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrew 12:1-2)
adeyinka antwi
No Comments