“Do not, therefore, fling away your fearless confidence, for it carries a great and glorious compensation of reward. For you have need of patience and endurance, so that you may perform and fully accomplish the will of God, and thus receive and carry away [and enjoy to the full] what is promised.” Heb 10:35-36 (Amplified)
There is an African saying, which purports that ‘A patient man can make a meal out of stones by boiling to soften them’. This is a way of saying that nothing is impossible to someone who is patient. I can bet my top dollar that there are presently some things or unfulfilled promises in your life that you desperately wish or desire that you should already be enjoying. Maybe you have been trusting God’s word for a long time with respect to a particular situation and you are now wondering if it would ever come to pass and your faith is flagging. Your expectancy or hope seems to be diminishing by the day. Well, Dr Jesus’ prescription for your malaise is a daily dose of patience.
Why is this necessary? It is chiefly because patience exerts a positive impact on and facilitates our ability to receive whatever God has promised us in His word. It works in two ways – first, it allows us the time to mature to the level where we are able to take full advantage of the blessing God is preparing for us, and second, it allows God ample time to bring our situation to maturation, the same way farmers and distributors harvest unripe bunches of banana in the knowledge that by the time they reach our fruit bowls they would be ripe enough and ready to eat. Jam 1:3-4
Nevertheless, that is not the only impact patience has on our faith and hope. Have you ever seen old wrought iron and steel standing side by side? You will quickly realise that the first was suffering from a double or triple dose of rust more than the latter. Steel is wrought iron that has been subjected to a process called galvanisation. This not only makes the iron stronger, but also helps it to better resist the ravages of rust or corrosion, which gradually undermines the strength intrinsic to iron, causing it to fail. Consequently, patience galvanises your faith and makes it stronger by reducing the corrosive effect of doubt and adds strength to your hope, therefore enabling them to last the whole hog until you are able to take possession and enjoy the full complement of the promise God made to you so long ago. Jam 5:7-8
You need to understand that the fulfilment of God’s promise is set for an appointed time. So, it reflects your spiritual maturity to patiently wait for that time when God would unfailingly fulfil His promise. Abraham had to wait twenty-five years for the birth of Isaac, while Isaac had to wait twenty-six years for his own twins, Esau and Jacob. Moses had to wait forty years before he was deemed ready to lead the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage. Your waiting may not last that long. All these people and many more have since discovered that patience is the master-key to unlocking the vault of heaven and taking possession of God’s promise. Heaven’s policy remains unchanged. Therefore, you will just have to be patient as you await the fulfilment of God’s promise to you. You can be sure that God will make it worth your while.
Prayer:
Lord, I have learnt that patience is a spiritual anti-corrosive. Therefore, let patience have its full course in me so that your promise shall indeed become a reality to me in Jesus’ Name. Amen.