Faith and Patience. I used to joke that that was going on my tombstone when I died.
When Gary and I were dating, one of the verses that he would constantly quote to me was:
That you may not become slothful, but imitators of those, who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises. – Hebrews 6:12
Back then, I almost hated hearing that verse because that meant that I was going to have to wait for something that I did not want to have to wait for. I was not an epitome of patience either. I was pretty much the furthest thing from a patient person that you would dare come across.
Gary was patient. Sometimes to a fault. I can remember getting so irritated with him because he would not get ‘excited or anxious’, it was always, “faith and patience.”
I would say, ‘come to see me, I haven’t seen you in a week’ or ‘why have we been dating for over a year and our relationship is at the same place?’ He would reply, ‘faith and patience and you inherit the promises.’
We both knew that we were supposed to marry one another. However, Gary hated change and was very nervous to marry into a ready-made family. I was ready to get going on what God had told me to do, so I was more willing to move along. However, it was not easy hearing those words. Especially when I wanted what I wanted.
They Had Faith and Patience
Going through those years of waiting and having more patience than I thought I could possibly muster, I learned a few things. There are plenty of examples in the Bible that show us how ‘waiting’ on the Lord really does pay off.
One of the most famous displays of waiting is with Abraham and Sarah. Thirty years they waited for the promise of a son to be fulfilled. Joseph waited through the trials of being sold to slavery, wrongfully accused, and forgotten to inherit the promises that he was given in a vision years prior. David ran for his life prior to being king. Jesus waited until He was thirty to start His ministry.
These few examples are wonderful in showing us the before and the after of their faith and patience. I am not sure that I would have been able to deal with waiting like Abraham and Sarah or having faith that God would deliver me like Joseph.
The Microwave Mentality of Our Society
Microwave mentality or instant gratification is a mindset that so many of us have. We want what we want when we want it, and we don’t want to have to wait for it.
Unfortunately, many of us, (myself included) have a ‘microwave mentality’ when it comes to asking God for whatever it is that we want. When we ask, we expect that He will answer it right away and when He doesn’t, we feel that He must not be listening or must not care enough to answer.
However, God does not work on our timelines. When we turn our lives over to Him and make Him Lord of our lives, we are giving Him permission to do what He needs to do in our lives to further His Kingdom.
When we try to put a time limit on what God wants to do, that is when we get out of God’s Will. We lose faith that He won’t do what He promised. Our patience comes to a screeching halt. We feel that if we know what God’s will is and we are willing to do it, then why the heck hasn’t it come to pass.
You Can Only Do Your Part
One of the things that I have learned over the years is that we each have a part to play. I can not do God’s part. I am unable to do anyone else’s part. The only thing I can do is my part. That is the only control that I have. We tend to get ourselves ‘in trouble’ by trying to do other people’s parts.
We do not know what other moving parts God is working on in order for His will to come to pass. And if someone else isn’t doing their part, then it could take longer to see the promise. But, we have to be careful that we do not get caught up in whether someone is doing their part or not. We have no idea what is in their heart or what God is working on with them. We must give it to God and pray that they will have the strength to do their part.
Furthermore, someone could be waiting for you to do your part. But if you are so caught up in worrying about someone else not doing their part, then you could miss out on what it is you are supposed to do!
When we concentrate on only doing our part, it frees us. It frees us from being judgemental toward another person. It frees us from constantly having to be ‘in control.’ And it frees us to live in peace. If you are doing your part, then you have nothing to worry about. Even if you go through your entire life and someone does not do what they should do, it has no bearing on your reward when you get to Heaven. YOU will still inherit all of the promises that God gave to you just by doing your part.
Getting Rid of the Microwave Mentality
Having faith and patience is one of the hardest lessons that I personally have dealt with. And God is still working on me with it. Every now and then, I catch myself losing patience over really dumb things. Running late getting dinner on the table, Alyssa not getting out the door at the time I want her to, Gary not putting the dishes away. Trivial things that mean nothing in the big scheme of things.
God lovingly reminds me that I need to settle down and stop trying to control everything.
In these ‘little things,’ I have learned to have more patience in the bigger things. Waiting on God to answer prayers, watching Him work in Alyssa’s life, seeing the OCD in Gary’s life lose its hold. These are the big things that I pray for and wait to inherit the promises on.
If God answered all of our prayers instantaneously, how many people do you think would serve Him to ‘get what they want?’ I would venture to say that many more would serve Him. He would be like a heavenly Santa Claus. It would be like pushing a button on a vending machine and out pops the answer to what you want.
Fortunately, God knows best. There are things that we ask for that are not in our best interest and as our Daddy, He knows that giving that to us would not be good for us. It could lead us down the wrong path or cause us to move further away from Him. But in His infinite wisdom, He uses faith and patience to move us closer to Him and gives us the wisdom that we need to have better lives.
Embracing Faith and Patience
Next time, you find yourself in a season of waiting, ask God what your part is in it. Find out what you are supposed to do, if anything, and do it. Maybe He just wants you to pray for someone. Or maybe He is trying to teach you wisdom in a certain area that you will need later on.
Ask Him for strength in the waiting, wisdom to know what to do, and peace to go through it. Thank Him for giving you that opportunity to learn and move closer in line with His will for your life.
He has given us an abundance of promises but it is up to each of us to do OUR part in order to inherit them.