Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh (James 5:8).
Patience means the readiness to await God's time without doubting God's truth. God does things in His own way and in His own time. We are to "rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him" (Ps. 37:7), and not to fret ourselves because of the prosperity of the wicked and the apparent languishing of God's work in the world. We must remember that "those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth" (verse 9). Patience is really a form of faith. It says, "God is working; I will leave things in His hands." It is in our patience that we possess our souls (Luke 21:19).
Bishop Wilberforce and Thomas Carlyle were once talking together about the deep things of life. Carlyle asked, "My lord, have you a creed?"
"Yes," replied the bishop, "and the older I grow, the firmer that creed becomes under my feet. There is only one thing that staggers me."
"What is that?"
"The slow progress that that creed seems to make in the world."
After a moment of silence, Carlyle made this wise remark: "Yes, but if you have a creed, you can afford to wait."
The last appeal in the Song of Solomon (8:14) is "Make haste, my beloved." And the last prayer in the Bible is "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." And to this the Savior replies, "Surely I come quickly" (Rev. 22:20). Are we growing weary because we do not always see the harvest of our seed sowing? This glorious truth cries to us: "Be patient." Do temptations strike at us, pain and disappointment worry us? Our text preaches to us: "Stablish your hearts." The King is coming, and only those who have such a hope can afford to wait.
MEDITATION PRAYER: "My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him" (Ps. 62:5).
Patience means the readiness to await God's time without doubting God's truth. God does things in His own way and in His own time. We are to "rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him" (Ps. 37:7), and not to fret ourselves because of the prosperity of the wicked and the apparent languishing of God's work in the world. We must remember that "those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth" (verse 9). Patience is really a form of faith. It says, "God is working; I will leave things in His hands." It is in our patience that we possess our souls (Luke 21:19).
Bishop Wilberforce and Thomas Carlyle were once talking together about the deep things of life. Carlyle asked, "My lord, have you a creed?"
"Yes," replied the bishop, "and the older I grow, the firmer that creed becomes under my feet. There is only one thing that staggers me."
"What is that?"
"The slow progress that that creed seems to make in the world."
After a moment of silence, Carlyle made this wise remark: "Yes, but if you have a creed, you can afford to wait."
The last appeal in the Song of Solomon (8:14) is "Make haste, my beloved." And the last prayer in the Bible is "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." And to this the Savior replies, "Surely I come quickly" (Rev. 22:20). Are we growing weary because we do not always see the harvest of our seed sowing? This glorious truth cries to us: "Be patient." Do temptations strike at us, pain and disappointment worry us? Our text preaches to us: "Stablish your hearts." The King is coming, and only those who have such a hope can afford to wait.
MEDITATION PRAYER: "My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him" (Ps. 62:5).
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