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WORD FOR HOMECELL (2nd Jan, thursday)

Waiting on God: Patience

According to Webster, the definition of patience is:
1.) bearing pains or trials calmly or without complaint
2.) steadfast despite opposition, difficulty, or adversity
3.) able or willing to bear
4.) Tolerance or endurance

Patience is
- Virtue (doing something right and avoiding something wrong)
- Quality/Characteristic
- takes time to develop
- Though not easy, it is definitely possible

God is patient – Nahum 1:3, Psa 145:8.

Examples in the bible of God’s patience in the bible:

1) Israelites
(a) Ex 32:1 >> they worshipped idols but after Moses pleaded with God (Ex 32:11), “So the Lord relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.” (Ex 32:14)
(b) Num 14: 2-4 >> Israelites murmured against God. God was very patient with the Israelites and waited for them to repent :
(Num 14:11) “And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? And how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have showed among them?”
(Num 14:27) “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against Me”
(c) After Joshua died, the Israelites continued to sin (idolized, forsook God, never repented) against God – (Judges 2:12-23) the Israelites continually sinned against God and abused God’s patience. God punished them but took them out of the punishment repeatedly, but despite His mercy on them, they never repented.

2) the flood
(a) God waited for the people to repent because they had sinned (Gen 6:5) He did not destroy the earth immediately, He forewarned them and gave them time to repent but they did not – meanwhile, God saw that Noah was a righteous man and chose him to build the ark.

3) Cain
(a) Gen 4:8 – Cain killed his brother.
(b) Gen 4:9 – God asked him where his brother was, and gave Cain time to confess. Even though God gave him a punishment (Gen 4:15) God did not kill him immediately but gave him time to realize his mistake (Gen 4: 13, 14)

Men of patience:

1) Jacob
(a) endured harsh conditions without complaining. His patience required that he serve 14 years for his marriage to Rachel (Gen 29:20). He continued to serve Laban another 6 years to earn flocks for himself. During this time he endured fatiguing heat and painful cold. He suffered from lack of sleep. His wages were changed 10 times, and he had to tolerate loss from his own flocks to pay for stolen animals.
(b) Jacob was patient, he continued to trust God because God promised him

2) Job
(a) Job 2:7 > Sores and boils on Job’s skin
(b) Throughout his whole life, Job never once complained or murmured against God. Job was patient and entrusted his life into God’s hands – He knew that God was in control no matter what the situation - Job 2: 10.
(c) Job never stopped praising God.

3) Abraham
(a) Abraham was a man who had great promises from God, but he had to wait for them.
(b) He was promised a child, a descendant who would found a nation and bring blessing to the world, but Abraham would not see the child for many years. He was promised a homeland, but he himself spent much of his life wandering that land as a stranger. He was promised a blessing, but most of that blessing did not come to him in his lifetime.
(c) How did he respond? Abraham is a model of those who "through faith and patience inherit the promises" (Hebrews 6:12).
(d) Abraham was a patient, longsuffering man. he may have felt impatient, restless, and eager to get on with it, but that did not change his fundamental attitude toward God and His promises.
(e) The fulfillment of God's promises was long in coming, but Abraham responded to the delay not with anger and mistrust but with faith and persevering patience.

Why be patient? :
(Psa 37:7-9) will inherit the earth/blessings ,
(Heb 6: 13-15) will obtain God’s promises,
(Psa 27:14) God will strengthen our hearts,
(Psa 40:1) God will hear our cries.

How to be patient:

1) See others through Jesus’ eyes: put yourself in their shoes and feel how they feel. Imagine if a stranger were to react the way you were going to react. Imagine what Jesus would do if He were you.

2) Birds of the same feather flock together: fellowship with people who are patient or are good examples of long sufferers – even if you are not like them, after a period of time, you will grow to be like them.

3) Remember God’s patience towards us: think – how many times have we failed or disappointed God? How many times have we come before God, confessing the same ugly sin, the same loveless behaviour and the same stupid mistakes? How many times have we disobeyed Him and forgotten about Him? Yet throughout these incidents, God never forsook us, never gave up on us and never ran out of patience.

4) Focus on being Christ-like: start by achieving the fruits of the spirit – love, joy, peace. Then slowly, patience will develop because it is tied together.

Conclusion:
Paul prays that we might be "strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all perseverance and patience" (Colossians 1:11)
Patience is a virtue that is tied to faith; with patience, faith will develop and blessings will flood.

<3 CA!