Never Lose It

Good morning DPR! How was the week? I trust we had a productive one. Let’s be grateful to God for the gift of life. Just two days ago, I was walking down the street and saw the “normal” things of life like trees, sand, birds, etc.. I realised they were not normal afterall. The whole sophisticated technology and intelligence we have in the world today, if pulled together can NEVER produce a single blade of grass. They can do something similar in colour, texture and probably structure, but never the same in nature, because I can be too sure that whatever they come up with would never grow nor reproduce. It was such a compelling sight that I had to thank God for the rest of the day. Every thing we see should give us an opportunity to magnify God, Psalms 19:1-3. He’s indeed worthy of our praise and honour. Character Series continues today, like I said from the outset, I can’t say when exactly this series will end, but I trust we’re savoring each passing post. Today at Divine Perspective, we would be considering the importance of Patience in our Christian walk. I observed that God has an overwhelming requirement for patience in the Bible. It marvels me to think that God who could do anything by the snap of His fingers for His beloved children will demand that they be patient and wait for the pronounced promise He made to them. It didn’t add up for me… And then to make matters “worse”, I discovered this scriptural verse…

Col 1:11(KJV) Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all PATIENCE and longsuffering with joyfulness;

This verse of scripture always left me wondering… Why would ALL the might of God according to His glorious power, of all things it could produce, like miracles, earthquakes, gift of faith to cure all diseases, incredible power over demons… Of all these, all of God’s Power decides to produce patience, longsuffering with joyfullness. That seriously didn’t make much carnal sense to me. We know God to be almighty, and if He’s using His power for something, it had better be a “powerful”thing, not something as lame as patience, at least so i thought. However, after studies and research into the Word, I observed that the ultimate effect of God’s power in a man’s life is to produce CHARACTER not the SPECTACULAR. God wants to transform our lives to conform to the image of His dear Son in Character by the power of the Holy Ghost. I also realised that Patience is the ultimate proof of Trust or Faith in God. If you believe God will do what He said He will do, then you will wait for Him. God doesn’t necessarily test us for patience to know if we believe Him or not, it’s just that Faith in itself doesn’t function without patience. Patience is that constant company of Faith. Faith ALWAYS works with patience.

Hebrews 6:12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and PATIENCE inherit the promises.

Wooow, there’s so much to go into here. We see here that to inherit the promise, faith alone is inadequate. It’s a combination of faith and patience that can inherit the promise. A wise man once said; some people explain the promise while others obtain the promise. Without patience, the best one can do is explain and explain, but to handle the promises promised tangibly we must exercise patience. Patience is an active word, many people think patience is that thing you do while passively waiting for something… Not so! Patience is as active as the word; “Faith”, the verse begins with not being slothful, which conotes that patience is not for the lazy or fainthearted. Patience is the ability to be so persuaded about the promise of God to an extent that one’s posture, attitude, actions, words and thoughts do not change with circumstances. When you’re being patient concerning a promise, you don’t just wait… You keep on holding on to God’s Word with all joy, hope and enthusiasm in your heart. Bible says Abraham was fully persuaded that what God had said, he was able to perform… No matter how long it took. Patience is to remain the same over the long haul concerning the promise of God, that is, not shifting grounds due to prevalent circumstances. And just like Col 1 tells us, it takes a lot of Strength to be Patient. Many people think Patience is the virtue for the weak, but not so, it’s a virtue exercised by the strongest of spiritual men. While waiting, our attitude to the Word and the processes of God must not change. It is ‘remaining the same UNTIL the promise arrives.

Romans 15:4(KJV) For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through PATIENCE and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. 13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Now that just gets me pumped (excited). A lot of believers while believing and waiting on God for a promise, they begin to gripe and complain about their situation, that’s not patience. True patience gets you excited and super energised to keep your attitude alive while waiting for the delivery of your promise. You keep being faithful with everything you were faithful with, you keep being joyful, you remain thankful, and in no time, you will become fruitful… That’s Patience. Joseph was Patient for 13 years before he became prime minister, David for 13 years before he actually became king of Judah and then waited some more to become King of Israel, Abraham for 25 years before he became a father, Caleb for 40 years before he possessed the land, Jesus for 30 years before he started His ministry. One thing features in all these men… Dogged patience to remain faithful, joyful, and thankful during the waiting process UNTIL the promise came. God told me this while writing this post; He said patience is not determined by time, it is determined by the promise. That is if you wait for 20 years and give up on waiting, you were never patient, if you can lose patience, it was never really there. Patience stays committed to the process of God UNTIL the promise arrives, no matter how long it takes. Patience is not Time Dependent, it’s Promise Dependent. It shows unrelenting faith in God and In His Word. Exercise more patience, don’t stop confessing, don’t stop believing, DON’T LOSE YOUR PATIENCE and eventually, you will inherit the promise. We will continue with Patience on Monday. Have a blessed weekend…

Gal 5:22(EASY ENGLISH) But God’s Spirit in us causes us to love God and other people. He causes us to be happy and without trouble deep inside ourselves. He causes us to be PATIENT, kind and good. He causes us to believe that God will continue to help us.