Patience                                                                   09-18-15


Patience...............................................................................................................
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Alright, ALRIGHT! Ronnie, we get it!! smile

Hebrews 6:11-12 (ESV) ¹¹  And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end,
¹²  so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

I have a couple of illustrations I would like to use today for what the Lord put on my heart.

 I remembered a story told me long ago from the pulpit of Brother Mushegan. I believe I have the details right. He told us of a claim on a gold mine that he and a friend staked out in his youth, somewhere in California as I recall. As the story goes, he and his buddy worked this mine all summer long, searching for that shiny yellow metal. It seems after a long while with many hours of very hard work ,without any reward, they became impatient and discouraged(same thing isn't it?) and closed up shop on their mining venture. As they were leaving a seasoned prospector asked if he could work their abandoned claim. With an inward chuckle, as they moved on to greener pastures, they said "go for it." Well, you know, without having to be told, the rest of the story don't you? There actually was "gold in them thar hills." To our young prospectors dismay, they had become impatient with their apparent lack of progress, and it cost them.

Now, in those verses above, as in the story, there is a practical application to endure and stay the course in pursuit of our dreams in and for this life. But, the primary focus of the passage isn't about worldly pursuits is it? No, the apostle Paul is talking about spiritual growth isn't he? Oh yeah, take it back up to the previous chapter and look at the context. It's about moving into spiritual maturity isn't it? He does not want us to become "sluggish" in our spiritual walk.

Ugggghhhhh....did you have to go there Ronnie? Yeah, I feel ya. It's like when you were a kid, remember? The spinach or peas, or worse....turnip greens are growing cold while they stare back at you from he plate.Remember those moments?  All the while your mother is droning on about no dessert if you don't clean your plate. Or these..."you will not get up from this table UNTIL you eat those vegetables," add to that all the starving kids in China, and you get my point.

At any rate the Lord spoke the word patience in my heart this week. Why? Oh, I don't know. Maybe it was because I was having a bout with IMPATIENCE this week past. You feelin' me here? Hear me out and possibly you can relate.

Ever been impatient with other folks? Kids, inlaws, outlaws, friends, bosses, job, the list is endless isn't it? Here's another one. Ever been impatient with yourself? Frustrated with the apparent lack of progress in your life? Physical, material, spiritual or otherwise? In an alone moment with the Lord this week, He showed Me the patience that He had exercised with me. It was on a particular issue that I have wrestled with for a long time.....and am still wrestling with as I write this.

But, to my surprise, instead of a dose of chastisement, He put the word patience in my heart. I needed to be patient with Him, and I needed to be patient with ME.

Growth of the spiritual kind is sorta like losing weight isn't it? How so Ronnie? Well, let me try and explain. 

There is one and ONLY one truth to losing weight. It ain't complicated. To lose weight, you have to BURN more calories than those calories you SLIDE down your pie hole. Are ya hearin' me here? I'm giving you pearls.

That's it. If we could ever come to that truth, the diet industry would be out of a job. Eat less, burn more, lose weight. Presto!! I have been to he mountain!! BUT

Here is the reality. You know how it goes. We go on a diet or a live it as Richard Simmons says. We have initial, rapid success. The pounds are melting away.We lose three, four pounds that first week. Three more the second week. Oh praise God, this is EASY!!  And then.........REALITY sets in. The three and four pound weeks turn into one, or one half pound weeks. And then................there is the NO POUND WEEK,or worse.....the GAIN one pound week. Before long we are decrying the fact we haven't lost anything in two or three weeks. Our downhill sleigh ride to skinny has come upon a plateau. It is at this precise point that impatience, that leads to discouragement sets in. You feelin'me here? And herein lieth the lesson.

There's only one course of action. Keep at it. You know the drill. Keep counting the calories. Keep walking. Keep doing the stairmaster. You will get there. "Ronnie....you mean........... there's no other way?" Afraid not.

Well, that's how the Lord put it to me this week. How so? Just this. "Keep reading your Bible. Keep praying. Keep looking for me. Don't go off on a binge. BE PATIENT! I'll get you there." 

Brothers and sisters, just as in shedding that muffin top, there is only one way to move forward in the Lord. There is no short cut. We must stay before Him. We must seek Him out. And most importantly, we must not become impatient in the way He chooses to deal with us. You feeling like you're on a plateau today? Are you impatient with your apparent lack of progress? KEEP WORKING! BE PATIENT!God will get you there .  

Psalm 16:8 (ESV) ⁸  I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

God Bless